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Dullas Alahapperuma

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Hon.
Dullas Alahapperuma
MP
ඩලස් අලහප්පෙරුම
டல்லாஸ் அழகப்பெரும
Alahapperuma in 2014
Leader of the Freedom People's Congress
Incumbent
Assumed office
2 September 2022
Preceded byPosition established
Minister of Mass Media
In office
16 August 2021 – 3 April 2022
PresidentGotabaya Rajapaksa
Prime MinisterMahinda Rajapaksa
Preceded byKeheliya Rambukwella
Succeeded byNalaka Godahewa
Minister of Power and Energy
In office
12 August 2020 – 16 August 2021
PresidentGotabaya Rajapaksa
Prime MinisterMahinda Rajapaksa
Preceded byMahinda Amaraweera
Succeeded byGamini Lokuge
Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs
In office
22 November 2019 – 12 August 2020
PresidentGotabaya Rajapaksa
Prime MinisterMahinda Rajapaksa
Preceded byHarin Fernando
Succeeded byNamal Rajapaksa
Member of Parliament
for Matara District
In office
2015–2024
In office
1994–2001
Member of Parliament
for National List
In office
2005–2015
Personal details
Born
Dullas Daham Kumara Alahapperuma

(1959-05-14) 14 May 1959 (age 65)
Dikwella, Matara, Ceylon
NationalitySri Lankan
Political partyFreedom People's Congress (since 2022)
Other political
affiliations		Sri Lanka Freedom Party (1994–2019)
Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (2019–2022)
SpousePradeepa Dharmadasa
ChildrenMahima Induwara
Kaushika Nalanda
Alma materSt. Servatius' College
Ananda College
OccupationPolitician
ProfessionJournalist

Dullas Daham Kumara Alahapperuma (born 14 May 1959) is a Sri Lankan politician and founder and current leader of the Freedom People's Congress. Alahapperuma is also a former Cabinet Minister of Information and Mass Media and a current Member of Parliament from the Matara District.

Early life

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Alahapperuma was born on 14 May 1959 in Dikwella, Matara to Carolis and Aslin Alahapperuma, who were principals of local schools.[1] Alahapperuma received his primary and secondary education at St. Servatius' College and Ananda College. He studied Political Science at the University of Iowa, for one and half years, but did not complete the degree.[2]

Political career

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Alahapperuma started his career as a journalist, working at Lakmina before joining Divaina as an editor.[3] He entered Parliament for the first time in 1994 after topping the Matara preferential vote as a People's Alliance candidate with 76,678 votes.[4]

He got re-elected in 2000 and served in the short tenure of the 11th Parliament. He was also appointed Deputy Minister of Samurdhi, Rural Development, Parliamentary Affairs & Up-country Development. He surprisingly decided not to contest the 2001 General Election. He said he was 'too white' to be in the parliament referring to corruption.[5]

He was elected to Sri Lanka's 13th Parliament as a UPFA national list MP on 19 December 2005, winning by-polls on a seat that had fallen vacant following the assassination of then Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar. He was appointed the Minister of Transport in 2007.

He re-entered Parliament in 2010 as a national list MP representing UPFA following the 2010 General Election and was subsequently appointed Minister of Youth Affairs. He voted in favour of the Eighteenth Amendment which gave the Executive President a wide range of powers including removing the term limit for re-election. In 2015, he voted in favour of the Nineteenth Amendment under President Sirisena which curtailed Presidential powers.

He contested the 2015 General Election as a UPFA candidate from Matara district and received 105,406 votes to enter Parliament. In August 2016, he resigned from the Matara District SLFP leadership post.[6] In 2019, He was appointed the Minister of Sports along with two other portfolios of Ministries of Education and Youth Affairs.[7]

Alahapperuma contested the 2020 General Election as a SLPP candidate from the Matara district and received 103,534 votes to enter Parliament. He voted in favour of Twentieth Amendment which repealed 19th Amendment and restored more powers to the Executive President. In August 2020, Alahapperuma was appointed Minister of Power.[8] In the August 2021 Cabinet reshuffle, he was appointed Minister of Mass Media.[9] He resigned from his cabinet portfolio in April 2022 as the 2022 Sri Lankan political crisis deepened amid civil protests.[10]

In July 2022, following the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Alahapperuma announced that he would run for president in the upcoming presidential election to elect Gotabaya Rajapaksa's  successor.[11] Alahapperuma was backed by Leader of the Opposition Sajith Premadasa and SLPP Chairman and MP Professor G. L. Peiris.[12] Alahapperuma lost the election to acting president Ranil Wickremesinghe.

On 31 August 2022, Dullas Alahapperuma and 13 others left the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna party and crossed over to the opposition as an independent MP.[13] Two days later, Alahapperuma's faction launched a new political party, the Freedom People's Congress. The faction is expected to contest the upcoming local government elections as part of the Freedom People's Alliance, a political alliance also including the SLFP and the Supreme Lanka Coalition.[14]

Family

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He is married to popular singer Pradeepa Dharmadasa, daughter of P.K. and Hema Dharmadasa of Galle, and has two children.[1]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Welabada, Lakmal (5 October 2008). "'I appreciate him as a politician but prefer the journalist in him'". Sunday Observer. Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
  2. ^ "BUSINESS TODAY -Dullas Alahapperuma Outlines the track record". www.businesstoday.lk. Archived from the original on 23 July 2020. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  3. ^ Krishnamurthy, N (25 November 2019). "I will not be a Showman, Says Sri Lanka New Sports Minister Alahapperuma". cricketage.in. Cricket Age. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
  4. ^ "Parliamentary General Election - 1994" (PDF). elections.gov.lk. Election Commission of Sri Lanka. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
  5. ^ Seneviratne, Malinda (11 January 2018). "Pots, kettles and an all-black political system". Daily Mirror. Wijeya Newspapers. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
  6. ^ "Dullas resigns from Matara District SLFP leader post". Ada Derana News. 19 August 2016.
  7. ^ "Dullas appointed Sports Minister". Daily Mirror. Wijeya Newspapers. 23 November 2019. Retrieved 19 July 2022 – via PressReader.
  8. ^ "New Cabinet Ministers and State Ministers". Ada Derana News. 12 August 2020.
  9. ^ "Top ministers trade places in Sri Lanka's snap cabinet reshuffle". economyNext. 16 August 2021.
  10. ^ "Sri Lankan Cabinet decides to resign; Mahinda Rajapaksa to remain as PM". Sri Lanka News - Newsfirst. 3 April 2022.
  11. ^ "Here Are The Main Contenders to Be Sri Lanka's Next President". Bloomberg News. 15 July 2022.
  12. ^ "Dullas, Ranil, Anura to contest for President; Vote on Wednesday (20)". Sri Lanka News - Newsfirst. 19 July 2022.
  13. ^ "SLPP Chairman G. L. Peiris & several SLPP MPs become independent". Sri Lanka News - Newsfirst. 31 August 2022. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
  14. ^ "New coalition "'Freedom People's Alliance"' launched". adaderana.lk. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
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