PM Dinesh turns 74 today
Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena celebrates his 74th birthday today (2).
He was born in 1949 as the third son of late Minister Philip Gunawardena and Parliamentarian Kusuma Gunawardena.
An Old Boy of the Royal College, Colombo, Gunawardena entered the Oregon State University in the USA and the Nyenrode University of the Netherlands.
Dinesh Gunawardena entered active politics through the youth wing of the Mahajana Eksath Peramuna Party and became the leader of the party in 1973.
He entered the Parliament through the 1983 by election of Maharagama representing the Mahajana Eksath Peramuna.
Gunawardena has held the Ministerial portfolios of Transport in 2000, Transport and Environment in 2001, Urban Development and Water Supply in 2004, Urban Development and Sacred Areas Development in 2007, Water Supply and Drainage in 2010, Foreign Relations, Labour and Foreign Employment in 2019 and Education and also the Public Administration, Home Affairs and Provincial Council and Local Government in 2022. He was also appointed as the Deputy Minister of Higher Education in 2004.
He became the Chief Government Whip of the Parliament in 2008, leader of the Joint Opposition in 2015 and Leader of House in 2020. Minister Dinesh Gunawardena was appointed as the Prime Minister by President Ranil Wickremesinghe on July 22,2022.