D. M. Jayaratne

Dissanayaka Mudiyanselage Jayaratne (, ; 4 June 1931 – 19 November 2019), known as D. M. "Di Mu" Jayaratne, was a veteran Sri Lankan politician who was Prime Minister of Sri Lanka from 2010 to 2015. A founding member of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, Jayaratne was first elected to parliament in 1970. He was sworn in as Prime Minister on 21 April 2010.

Personal life
D. M. Jayaratne was born on 4 June 1931. He was educated at Doluwa Maha Vidyalaya in Gampola, a town just outside Kandy. Following the founding of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party in Kandy in 1951 by S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike, Jayaratne worked as a teacher at Doluwa Maha Vidyalaya. He later worked as Postmaster at Doluwa from 1960 to 1962.
Jayaratne's daughter is a graduate from Manipal University, Manipal campus, India.

Political career
Jayaratne first entered parliament following the 1970 general election, obtaining 14,463 votes as the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) candidate in the Gampola electorate, and defeating W.P.B. Dissanayake of the United National Party (UNP). He was subsequently defeated by Dissanayake in the 1977 election in which just 8 members of the SLFP were returned to parliament. He was again re-elected to parliament in 1989 from the Kandy District under the new preferential voting system. He obtained 54,290 preferential votes, topping the SLFP list in the Kandy District.

Re-elected to parliament under the People's Alliance in 1994, Jayaratne was appointed Minister of Land, Agriculture and Forestry by President Chandrika Kumaratunga, entering the cabinet for the first time.

 Member of the Village Council
 Chairman of the Village Council
 President of the Kandy District Village Council Chairmen Association
 Member of the Federation of All Ceylon Village Council Chairmen
 Member of 7th Parliament (Member of Parliament, Gampola 1970 to 1977)
 Secretary General of People's United Front 
 Senior Vice President of Sri Lanka Freedom Party
 Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Forestry and Livestock (1994)
 Minister of Agriculture, Land and Forestry (1997)
 Minister of Agriculture and Land (1999)
 Minister of Agriculture (2000)
 Minister of Agriculture Land Forestry Food and Cooperative Development (2001 Probationary Government)
 Minister of Post and Communication (2004 while being in the Opposition)
 Minister of Post and Telecommunication (2004)
 Minister of Telecommunication and Rural Economic Promotion (2005)
 Minister of Telecommunication and Upcountry Development (2006)
 Minister of Plantation Industries (2007)
 Prime Minister, Minister of Buddha Sasana and Religious Affairs 2010–2015

Prime Minister
Following the election victory of the United People's Freedom Alliance at the 2010 general election, Jayaratne, the most senior member of the SLFP, was sworn in as Prime Minister on 21 April 2010. Under the constitution of Sri Lanka, the role of Prime Minister is largely a ceremonial post. Along with it, he also held the Ministry of Buddha Sasana (Buddhism) and Religious Affairs.

See also
List of political families in Sri Lanka
Cabinet of Sri Lanka

References

Category:1931 births
Category:2019 deaths
Category:Government ministers of Sri Lanka
Category:Members of the 7th Parliament of Ceylon
Category:Members of the 9th Parliament of Sri Lanka
Category:Members of the 10th Parliament of Sri Lanka
Category:Members of the 11th Parliament of Sri Lanka
Category:Members of the 12th Parliament of Sri Lanka
Category:Members of the 13th Parliament of Sri Lanka
Category:Members of the 14th Parliament of Sri Lanka
Category:Prime Ministers of Sri Lanka
Category:Sri Lankan Buddhists
Category:Sri Lanka Freedom Party politicians
Category:United People's Freedom Alliance politicians
Category:People of British Ceylon
Category:Posts ministers of Sri Lanka
Category:Telecommunication ministers of Sri Lanka
Category:Sinhalese politicians