Vajira Srimathi Dissanayake ( Sinhala: වජිර ශ්‍රීමති දිසානායක, romanized: Vajira Śrīmati Disānāyaka; 1943 – 29 March 2019) was a Sri Lankan lawyer, politician and 1994 UNP presidential candidate.

Early life and family

Dissanayake was born in 1943. ^{[1] [a]} She was the daughter of Piyasena Lenaduwa from Galle in southern Ceylon. ^[2] She was educated at Ladies' College, Colombo. ^[2]

After school Dissanayake joined Ceylon Law College where she met her future husband Gamini Dissanayake. ^{[2] [3]} They had two sons, Navin and Mayantha, both of whom are Members of Parliament, and a daughter, Varuni. ^{[4] [5]}

Career

Dissanayake was a lawyer by profession and was a member of the Central Provincial Council. ^{[6] [7]} Her husband Gamini Dissanayake, who was the Leader of the Opposition, was chosen by the United National Party to be its candidate at the 1994 presidential election. ^[8] However, he was killed in a suicide bombing on 24 October 1994, sixteen days before the election. ^[9] The UNP, hoping to capitalise on the sympathy vote, chose Srima Dissanayake over former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and former first lady Hema Premadasa to be Gamini Dissanayake’s replacement. ^[10] However, many UNP officials refused to campaign for Srima Dissanayake who, for security reasons, campaigned through the media only. ^{[9] [11]} Dissanayake was heavily defeated by Prime Minister Chandrika Kumaratunga who swept the polls, winning in all but one of the 160 polling divisions. ^[12] Dissanayake received 2,715,283 votes (35.91%), the lowest share for a major party candidate in any Sri Lankan presidential election. ^{[13] [14]}

Dissanayake left politics afterwards and devoted herself to her family, the Gamini Dissanayake Foundation and the Gamini Dissanayake Institute of Technology and Vocational Studies. ^{[2] [15]}

Dissanayake died at a private hospital in Colombo on 29 March 2019. ^{[16] [17]}

See also

• List of political families in Sri Lanka

Notes

References