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Maithripala Sirisena

Maithripala Sirisena (or Maithri) and is a member of the Parliament of Sri Lanka. He joined mainstream politics in 1989 and has held several ministrial portfolios since 1994. He is the longest serving General Secretary of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and was selected as the Common Candidate of the for the Presidential Election to be held on 8th January 2015, where he won the majority support of the people of Sri Lanka. He had practiced a brand of centrist, moderate and clean politics, which characterized the best in Sri Lanka’s political culture, untainted by either violence or corruption.

Pallewatte Gamaralalage Maithripala Yapa Sirisena was born on 03September 1951 in Pulathisipura, Polonnaruwa to a middle-class farming family. He was the son of World War II veteran Albert Sirisena. His mother was a school teacher. He is married to Jayanthi Pushpa Kumari, and they have two daughters, and one son.

In 1967 Maithripala became a member of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party’s Youth Organization and became its secretary of the Polonnaruwa electorate at the time he was completing his ordinary level (O/L) examinations at Royal Central College, Polonnaruwa. In 1970 he actively participated in the SLFP election campaign as a student.

He obtained the “Diploma in Agriculture” from School of Agriculture in Kundasale in 1973. Maithri was jailed after the 1971 JVP Insurrection, although he was not involved in it. In 1974 he became a Co-orporative Purchasing Officer in Polonnaruwa as his first employment.

Appointed as the Secretary to Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) Central Committee’s Polonnaruwa electorate, he played a leading role in 1977 election, and had to undergo hardships due to prevailing post election violence. In 1979 hHe became the Secretary of Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), Polonnaruwa District. He was once again jailed for taking part in protest campaigns against stripping Mrs Sirimavo Bandaranayake’s civic rights.

In 1980 he received a Diploma in Political Science, from the Maxim Gorky Academy in Russia. In 1981 Maithri became the Treasurer of “All Island SLFP Youth Organization” which made him elegible to become a Central Committee Member of SLFP (SLFP Politburo), which is the highest level decision making body of the party.

In 1989, Maithri for the first time contested for the general elections from the Polonnaruwa District and became a member of the parliament (MP) on 15th February 1989. He contested under the well-known SLFP symbol “HAND” and this was the last time this symbol was used in an election in Sri Lanka. In the general elections of 1994, he obtained the highest number of preferential votes from Polonnaruwa District. After this, he was made the Deputy Minister for Irrigation.

In 1997 he was offered the Cabinet Ministerial portfolio of Mahaweli Development and Parliamentary Affairs and was elected as the Assistant Secretary of the SLFP. In 2000 Maithri was elected as the Vice Chairman of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP).

He was elected to the 12th Parliament and in July 2001 Minister Maithripala Sirisena was appointed to the General Secretary of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party and he is still serving in this position to date as the longest serving secretary of the history of Sri Lanka Freedom Party.

In February 2004 Maithripala Sirisena signed the historic memorandum of understanding (MOU) between Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) with Mr. Tilvin Silva, the secretary of JVP, which lead to the birth of United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) the current coalition government.

He was elected to the 13th Parliament of Sri Lanka and was appointed as the Cabinet Minister of Mahaweli, River Basin & Rajarata Development. He was also appointed as the Leader of the House of Parliament. In November 2005, Maithripala Sirisena was given two portfolios in the government of Sri Lanka: Cabinet Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Mahaweli Development; and Minister of Environment & Natural Resources.

In March 2007 the Minister escaped from the terrorist suicide-bombing attempt by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Welikanda. With the information provided by the security information divisions, 3 LTTE carders were on hunt, but they had swallowed cyanide capsules hanged on their neck and killed themselves at the time of capture.

Once again on 09 October 2008 the Minister was targeted by the world’s most ruthless LTTE terrorist group. The attack was carried out when he was returning from the “Wap Magul Ceremony” held in Bandaragama. This time the Minister was miraculously escaped and saved his life to serve the country. Unfortunately 4 people died 15 were injured in this incident.

Minister Maithripala was elected back in to the parliament in 2010 and was appointed as the Cabinet Minister of Health of the UPFA government. Mr Maithripala, as the health minister initiated and commenced Sri Lanka’s first government to government medicine procurement mechanism by singing an agreement with the government of Bangaladesh and Sri Lanka to create an atmosphere to get quality medicine at a better rate to help the people in Sri Lanka who could not afford.