Late Hon. Gamini Dissanayaka

Lionel Gamini Dissanayake (March 20, 1942 - October 24, 1994) was a prominent Sri Lankan politician and a former presidential candidate and Leader of the Opposition.

Early life

He was born in Kandy as the eldest son of a family of seven children to Andrew Dissanayake who served as an MP and a deputy minister in the Sri Lanka Freedom Party government of S.W.R.D Bandaranaike. His mother,Welegedara Samaratunga Kumarihamy of Kotmale. Born and bred in Kotmale, his basic values were cultivated in this rural milieu social surrounding and environment. The wealthy Dissanayake family resided in both Kandy as well as Nuwara Eliya. Dissanayake had his schooling at the prestigious Trinity College in Kandy, and received his tertiary education at the Sri Lanka Law College. Later in life, he completed an MPhil Degree in International Relations at Cambridge University UK.

Political career

Dissanyake spearheaded the Mahaweli Development Project. This was a huge project which was expected to take 30 years to finish. But due to Dissanayake's skills he managed to finish the project within 6 years. The Mahaweli Development Project is the largest development project conducted in Sri Lanka after independence. The whole country was affected by the project which focused on irrigation, hydro power generation, agriculture, town & country development. Majority of the power generated for the local consumption is generated from these hydropower plants while an overwhelming majority of the rice cultivation in Sri Lanka is conducted in these Mahaweli areas.

Death

After President D.B. Wijetunga indicated he would not run in the 1994 presidential election, Dissanayake was nominated as the UNP candidate at the same time he was the Leader of the Opposition in parliament. This was cut short when he was assassinated by a female suicide bomber of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). His wife Srima Dissanayake ran in his stead, but was defeated by People's Alliance candidate & then Prime Minister Chandrika Kumaratunga.

He has two sons, who are in politics. Navin & Mayantha. His eldest son Navin currently Cabinet Minister of State Management Reforms in President Mahinda Rajapakse's Government and Member of Parliament for Nuwara Eliya District he was former non-cabinet minister of Investment Promotion too. Mayantha contested for the 2010 General Election for Kandy District from UNP.