Sujeewa Dahanayake inducted as 44th OPA President

Attorney-at-Law Sujeewa Lal Dahanayake was sworn in as the 44th President of the Organisation of Professional Associations of Sri Lanka (OPA) for the year 2024/2025, at its AGM on October 30.

The OPA is the apex body of 51 professional associations including the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL), Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA), Sri Lanka Medical Association (SLMA), The Institute of Engineers of Sri Lanka (IESL), Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), Sri Lanka Economic Association (SLEA) and many other leading professional associations in Sri Lanka.

The OPA has over 60,000 members drawn from 34 diverse disciplines. Before being elected President, Dahanayake held several positions at the OPA as General Secretary, Vice President (for two consecutive years), and Assistant Secretary.

His involvement with the OPA stretches back over a decade, during which he served as chairman in several committees, ensuring that the organisation was able to fulfil its mission in key areas such as national security, law and order, national issues, career guidance and skills development, health and nutrition, construction industry, development policies and education.

These committees helped to address some of the burning issues in the country, especially during the Covid pandemic and economic crisis.

As a representative of the OPA, he has worked with the Parliamentary Sectoral Committee on the Charter of Patient Rights and Responsibilities and also participated in discussions on the Anti-Corruption Bill with the Justice Minister. He has also been a TVEC steering committee member where he contributed to the formulation of a five-year master plan for career guidance for the country. Furthermore, he was involved in discussions to include new professions in the proposed national platform together with other TVEC members, KOICA representatives and delegates from OPA member associations.

Dahanayake has served as the Deputy Chairman / Acting Chairman / Director of the Tourist Board (Western Province) from 2016 to 2019. Presently, he is a Member of the Committee on Business and Human rights of the Human rights Commission of Sri Lanka. An Attorney-at-Law who practices in the areas of Civil and Commercial Laws, Dahanayake is a past student of Ananda College, Colombo, and has a Masters in Law (LL.M) degree in International Business and Commercial Law from the University of West London as well as a Masters in Human Rights from the University of Colombo.

The 50th anniversary celebrations of the OPA will take place in 2025 under his Presidency.

The post Sujeewa Dahanayake inducted as 44th OPA President appeared first on DailyNews.