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Hon.Vasantha SenanayakeMP
Member of Parliament for Polonnaruwa District
In office 1 September 2015 – 3 March 2020
State Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office 29 May 2019 – 10 October 2019
President	Maithripala Sirisena
Prime Minister	Ranil Wickremesinghe
Minister of Tourism and Wild Life
In office 29 October 2018 – 15 December 2018
State Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office 31 May 2017 – 26 October 2018
President	Maithripala Sirisena
Prime Minister	Ranil Wickremesinghe
State Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources Management
In office 9 September 2015 – 31 May 2017
President	Maithripala Sirisena
Prime Minister	Ranil Wickremesinghe
Deputy Minister of Tourism and Sports
In office 12 January 2015 – 17 August 2015
President	Maithripala Sirisena
Prime Minister	Ranil Wickremesinghe
Member of Parliament for Gampaha District
In office 2010–2015
Personal details
Born	(1973-06-28) June 28, 1973 (age 51)
Alma mater	S.Thomas' Preparatory school- Kollupitiya

Vasantha Senanayake (born 28 June 1973) is a Sri Lankan politician who was a member of the Parliament of Sri Lanka. He belongs to the United National Party. He is a great-grandson of D. S. Senanayake (Sri Lanka's "Father of the Nation") and cousin of Ruwan Wijewardene.

Senanayake was appointed State Minister of Foreign Affairs in the United National Party led national government on May 31, 2017. He was the State Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources Management from 2015 to 2017. He was the Deputy Minister of Tourism and Sports in the United National Party 100 days government. Senanayake served as acting Foreign Minister when the Minister Ravi Karunanayake resigned on 10 August 2017. Vasantha Senanayake as state minister of foreign affairs developed a close friendship with Lord Naseby of the UK House of Lords and supported vociferously the English Peer's condemnation of the characterization of the war and the Sri Lankan military.

During the 2018 Sri Lanka constitutional crisis, Senanayake, a Member of Parliament elected on the United National Party's Polonnaruwa District ticket in 2015, switched his alliance on multiple occasions between the two political parties that were battling for power. Initially he pledged his support for Mahinda Rajapaksa who appointed him as Minister of Tourism and Wildlife after controversially dismissing prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. Senanayake then returned his alliance to the United National Party, announcing his resignation from his ministerial portfolio, but later supported Rajapaksa again. This turbulence which Senanayake faced in his second term in Parliament moving between the UNP, the party of his ancestors and the Rajapakse camp may be attributed to his dilemma. Which can be attributed to him of wanting to belong to the ‘Old UNP’ but fiercely attempting to resist and depose its present occupant and leader of four decades Ranil Wickremasinghe. Wickremasinghe remains in office today after leading the UNP to its worst ever defeat in which the party secured no elected seats and Wickremasinghe scrambled in on a single National List seat the party had secured. He went on to be appointed president of Sri Lanka following the peoples uprising and Gotabhaya Rajapaksha's resignation in 2022.

Senanayake suggested early in his parliamentary career that the imposition of an overly powerful executive presidency on a Westminster type parliament was likely to cause repercussions in Parliament's role, human rights and national policy and rule of law. He submitted a model constitution for the reflections of the select committee. In parliament he has been an active lobbyist against the alcohol and tobacco industries. He has been espousing the importance of transforming modern Sri Lanka in to a commercial trading hub giving emphasis to Sri Lanka's geographical position. Senanayake also established strong contacts with many countries and world leaders during his tenure in the foreign ministry.

Senanayake did not contest for election in 2020, and has been spending much of his time writing. His first published book 'Transcending Sita' has been well received.

References

1. "VASANTHA SENANAYAKE". Directory of Members. Parliament of Sri Lanka. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
2. "Parliamentary Elections -2010" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
3. "Family jewels on parade in new parliament". The Sunday Times (Sri Lanka). 23 August 2015.
4. "Tilak Marapana Reluctant To Swear-In As New Foreign Minister With Ravi's Personal Staff Handling Ministry Affairs".
5. "New Foreign Minister to be appointed in two days". www.adaderana.lk.
6. 2017-11-14 Hon Vasantha Senanayake,speech in Parliament | 2017/11/14. පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී දිනේෂ් ගුණවර්ධන මහතා පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේදී නැගු ප්‍රශ්නයකට පිළිතුරු ලබාදුන් අවස්ථාව.. | By Vasantha Senanayake | Facebook, retrieved 2022-09-15
7. "General Election 2015: Full list of preferential votes". Sri Lanka News - Newsfirst | Breaking News and Latest News provider | Political | Sports | International | Business. 2015-08-18. Retrieved 2018-11-21.
8. "Vasantha Senanayake pledges support to MR". Retrieved 2018-11-21.
9. "Sri Lankan president appoints more Cabinet ministers". economynext.com. Retrieved 2018-11-21.
10. "Wasantha Senanayake back in UNP camp - Sri Lanka Latest News". Sri Lanka News - Newsfirst. 2018-11-14. Retrieved 2018-11-21.
11. "Sri Lanka parliament adjourned after no confidence vote". economynext.com. Retrieved 2018-11-21.
12. "Parliament proves its prowess | FT Online". www.ft.lk. Retrieved 2018-11-21.
13. "Wasantha shuttles back to cabinet". Retrieved 2018-11-21.
14. Administrator (2018-02-18). "Harsha de Silva and Vasantha Senanayake "Shock" UNP By Demanding That Party Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe Step Down as Prime Minister". dbsjeyaraj.com. Retrieved 2022-09-15.
15. "Defeat Of Ranil Is A Win For UNP". Colombo Telegraph. 2019-09-27. Retrieved 2022-09-15.
16. Administrator (2012-07-24). "To end its losing streak UNP needs to rebuild its base among Sinhalese". dbsjeyaraj.com. Retrieved 2022-09-15.
17. "Accuntability, Efficiency And Pluralism: The Need And The Possibility Of Urgent Reform". Colombo Telegraph. 2014-08-23. Retrieved 2022-09-15.
18. "Home". Vasantha Senanayake. Retrieved 2022-09-15.
19. Nadeera, Dilshan (12 December 2021). "Comment: Vasantha Senanayake's Transcending Sita". Retrieved 2022-09-15.

External links

• The Senanayake Ancestry

v t e ← Members of the 15th Parliament of Sri Lanka (2015 (2015)–2020) →
Speaker: Karu Jayasuriya Prime Minister: Ranil Wickremesinghe/Mahinda Rajapaksa Leader of the Opposition: R. Sampanthan/Mahinda Rajapaksa/Sajith Premadasa
Central (25)	Kandy (12) Ananda Aluthgamage Mahindananda Aluthgamage Dilum Amunugama Mayantha Dissanayake Rauff Hakeem M. H. A. Haleem Anuradha Jayaratne Lucky Jayawardena Lakshman Kiriella Keheliya Rambukwella Lohan Ratwatte M. Velu Kumar Matale (5) Ranjith Aluwihare Wasantha Aluwihare Lakshman Wasantha Perera Janaka Bandara Tennakoon Rohini Kumari Wijerathna Nuwara Eliya (8) Palani Digambaran Navin Dissanayake K. K. Piyadasa Velusami Radhakrishnan C. B. Rathnayake Muthu Sivalingam M. Thilakarajah Arumugam Thondaman
Eastern (16)	Ampara (7) Wimalaweera Dissanayake Cassim Faizal Daya Gamage H. M. M. Harees K. Kodeeswaran Mansoor Ibrahim Sriyani Wijewickrama Batticaloa (5) Seyed Ali Zahir Moulana Ameer Ali Shihabdeen G. Sirinesan S. Viyalendiran S. Yogeswaran Trincomalee (4) Imran Maharoof M. A. M. Maharoof Susantha Punchinilame R. Sampanthan
Northern (13)	Jaffna (7) Douglas Devananda Vijayakala Maheswaran E. Saravanapavan Mavai Senathirajah D. Siddarthan S. Sritharan M. A. Sumanthiran Vanni (6) Selvam Adaikalanathan Sivasakthy Ananthan Rishad Bathiudeen K. Kader Masthan Charles Nirmalanathan S. Sivamohan
North Central (14)	Anuradhapura (9) S. M. Chandrasena Duminda Dissanayake Weerakumara Dissanayake Chandima Gamage P. Harrison Ishak Rahuman Chandrani Bandara Jayasinghe Sarath Chandrasiri Muthukumarana Asanka Shehan Semasinghe Polonnaruwa (5) Siripala Gamalath Sidney Jayarathna Nalaka Kolonne Roshan Ranasinghe Wasantha Senanayake
North Western (23)	Kurunegala (15) Ashoka Abeysinghe J. C. Alawathuwala Indika Bandaranayake Tharanath Basnayaka Salinda Dissanayake T. B. Ekanayake Johnston Fernando Thushara Indunil Nalin Bandara Dayasiri Jayasekara Akila Viraj Kariyawasam S. B. Nawinne Gamini Jayawickrama Perera Mahinda Rajapaksa Anura Priyadharshana Yapa Puttalam (8) Shantha Abeysekara Hector Appuhamy Palitha Range Bandara Arundika Fernando Piyankara Jayaratne Sanath Nishantha Niroshan Perera Ashoka Priyantha
Sabaragamuwa (20)	Kegalle (9) Tharaka Balasuriya Kabir Hashim Kanaka Herath Dushmantha Mithrapala Sujith Sanjaya Perera Champika Premadasa Sandith Samarasinghe Ranjith Siyambalapitiya Thusitha Wijemanne Ratnapura (11) Thalatha Atukorale Ranjith de Zoysa Dunesh Gankanda Premalal Jayasekara Vasudeva Nanayakkara Karu Paranawithana John Seneviratne Janaka Wakkumbura Pavithra Devi Wanniarachchi A. A. Wijethunga Hesha Withanage
Southern (25)	Galle (10) Vajira Abeywardena Bandula Lal Bandarigoda Mohan de Silva Wijepala Hettiarachchi Gayantha Karunathilaka Geetha Kumarasinghe Piyasena Gamage Nishantha Muthuhettigamage Manusha Nanayakkara Ramesh Pathirana Chandima Weerakkody Hambantota (7) Mahinda Amaraweera D. V. Chanaka Nihal Galappaththi Sajith Premadasa Chamal Rajapaksa Namal Rajapaksa Dilip Wedaarachchi Matara (8) Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena Dullas Alahapperuma Chandrasiri Gajadeera Buddhika Pathirana Niroshan Premaratne Sagala Ratnayaka Mangala Samaraweera Kanchana Wijesekera
Uva (13)	Badulla (8) A. Aravind Kumar Chamara Sampath Dassanayake Lakshman Senewiratne Nimal Siripala de Silva Harin Fernando Ravindra Samaraweera Vadivel Suresh Amith Thenuka Vidanagamage Chaminda Wijesiri Monaragala (5) Ranjith Madduma Bandara Vijitha Berugoda Padma Udayashantha Gunasekara Sumedha G. Jayasena Ananda Kumarasiri
Western (47)	Colombo (19) Harsha de Silva Anura Kumara Dissanayake Udaya Gammanpila Mano Ganesan Mohan Lal Grero Bandula Gunawardane Dinesh Gunawardena Ravi Karunanayake Gamini Lokuge S. M. Marikkar Hirunika Premachandra Susil Premajayantha Mujibur Rahman Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe Champika Ranawaka Sujeewa Senasinghe Wimal Weerawansa Eran Wickramaratne Ranil Wickremesinghe Gampaha (18) Lasantha Alagiyawanna John Amaratunga Indika Anuruddha Sudarshani Fernandopulle Edward Gunasekara Vijitha Herath Sisira Jayakody Kavinda Jayawardena Nimal Lanza Ajith Mannapperuma Harshana Rajakaruna Ranjan Ramanayake Arjuna Ranatunga Prasanna Ranatunga Prasanna Ranaweera Chathura Senaratne Duleep Wijesekera Ruwan Wijewardene Kalutara (10) Rohitha Abeygunawardena Piyal Nishantha de Silva Ajith Perera Jayantha Samaraweera Nalinda Jayatissa Rajitha Senaratne Palitha Thewarapperuma Kumara Welgama Vidura Wickremenayake Lakshman Wijemanna
National List (29)	JVP (2) Sunil Handunnetti Sarath Chandrasiri Mayadunne Bimal Rathnayaka TNA (2) Shanthi Sriskantharajah K. Thurairetnasingam UNFGG (13) Sirinal de Mel Anoma Gamage M. K. A. D. S. Gunawardana Sarath Fonseka A. R. A. Hafeez M. S. Thowfeek Karu Jayasuriya Tilak Marapana Ashu Marasinghe M. H. M. Navavi Athuraliye Rathana Thero M. H. M. Salman Mohamadu Nazeer Malik Samarawickrama D. M. Swaminathan Jayampathy Wickramaratne UPFA (12) Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena Sarath Amunugama S. B. Dissanayake A. H. M. Fowzie M. L. A. M. Hizbullah Malith Jayathilake Faiszer Musthapha Dilan Perera Angajan Ramanathan Mahinda Samarasinghe Gamini Vijith Vijithamuni Soysa Thilanga Sumathipala

v t e ← Members of the 14th Parliament of Sri Lanka (2010 (2010)–2015 (2015)) →
Speaker: Chamal Rajapaksa Prime Minister: D. M. Jayaratne/Ranil Wickremesinghe Leader of the Opposition: Ranil Wickremesinghe/Nimal Siripala de Silva
Western	Colombo Sarath Fonseka (Jayantha Ketagoda) A. H. M. Fowzie Praba Ganeshan Mohan Lal Grero Bandula Gunawardane Dinesh Gunawardena Sunil Handunnetti Ravi Karunanayake Jeewan Kumaranatunga Gamini Lokuge Susil Premajayantha Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe Champika Ranawaka Sujeewa Senasinghe Rosy Senanayake Duminda Silva Thilanga Sumathipala Wimal Weerawansa Ranil Wickremesinghe Gampaha Lasantha Alagiyawanna John Amaratunga Pandu Bandaranaike Sudarshani Fernandopulle Sarath Kumara Gunaratne Sarana Gunawardena Vijitha Herath Karu Jayasuriya Jayalath Jayawardena Ajith Mannapperuma Felix Perera Basil Rajapaksa Ruwan Ranatunga Athuraliye Rathana Wasantha Senanayake Mervyn Silva Upeksha Swarnamali Dulip Wijeysekara Ruwan Wijewardene Kalutara Rohitha Abeygunawardena Reginald Cooray Nirmala Kotalawala Ajith Perera Arjuna Ranatunga Mahinda Samarasinghe Rajitha Senaratne Palitha Thewarapperuma Kumara Welgama Vidura Wickremenayake
Central	Kandy Mahindananda Aluthgamage Dilum Amunugama Sarath Amunugama Abdul Cadar S. B. Dissanayake Rauff Hakeem M. H. A. Haleem Lakshman Kiriella Faiszer Musthapha Keheliya Rambukwella Lohan Ratwatte Eric Prasanna Weerawardhana Matale Wasantha Aluwihare Rohana Dissanayake Nandimithra Ekanayake Lakshman Wasantha Perera Janaka Bandara Tennakoon Nuwara Eliya Palani Digambaran Navin Dissanayake Sri Ranga Jeyaratnam Velusami Radhakrishnan Perumal Rajathurai C. B. Rathnayake Arumugam Thondaman
Southern	Galle Piyasena Gamage Sajin Vass Gunawardena Gayantha Karunathilaka Ajith Kumara Nishantha Muthuhettigamage Manusha Nanayakkara Ramesh Pathirana Mohan De Silva Chandima Weerakkody Gunaratna Weerakoon Matara Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena Wijaya Dahanayake Chandrasiri Gajadeera Hemal Gunasekara Sanath Jayasuriya Buddhika Pathirana Mangala Samaraweera Hambantota Mahinda Amaraweera V. K. Indika Wehella Kankanamge Indika Sajith Premadasa Chamal Rajapaksa Namal Rajapaksa Nirupama Rajapaksa Dilip Wedaarachchi
Northern	Jaffna Silvestri Alantine Murugesu Chandrakumar Douglas Devananda Vijayakala Maheswaran Suresh Premachandran Eswarapatham Saravanapavan Mavai Senathirajah Sivagnanam Sritharan Appathurai Vinayagamoorthy Vanni Selvam Adaikalanathan Sivasakthy Ananthan Rishad Bathiudeen Hunais Farook Muthali Bawa Farook Noordeen Mashoor Vino Noharathalingam
Eastern	Batticaloa Pakkiyaselvam Ariyanethiran Alim Mohamed Hisbulla Basheer Segu Dawood Pon Selvarasa Seeniththamby Yogeswaran Digamadulla A. L. M. Athaullah P. Dayaratna Cassim Faizal H. M. M. Harees Podiappuhamy Piyasena Sarath Weerasekara Sriyani Wijewickrama Trincomalee Susantha Punchinilame M. K. A. D. S. Gunawardana Rajavarothiam Sampanthan M. S. Thowfeek
North Western	Kurunegala Ashoka Abeysinghe K. W. Shantha Bandara Indika Bandaranayake Tharanath Basnayaka Salinda Dissanayake T. B. Ekanayake Johnston Fernando Jayarathna Herath Nalin Bandara Dayasiri Jayasekara Akila Viraj Kariyawasam S.B. Nawinne Gamini Jayawickrama Perera Neranjan Wickramasinghe Nimal Wijesinghe Anura Priyadharshana Yapa Puttalam Palitha Range Bandara Arundika Fernando Milroy Fernando Piyankara Jayaratne Niroshan Perera Neomal Perera Victor Anthony Perera Dayasritha Thissera
North Central	Anuradhapura Chandrani Bandara Jayasinghe S. M. Chandrasena Duminda Dissanayake P. Weerakumara Dissanayake W. B. Ekanayake P. Harrison Tissa Karalliyadde Sarath Chandrasiri Muthukumarana Asanka Shehan Semasinghe Polonnaruwa Earl Gunasekara Roshan Ranasinghe Siripala Gamalath Maithripala Sirisena Jayasinghe Bandara C. A. Suriyaarachchi
Uva	Badulla Lal Chamika Buddhadasa Nimal Siripala De Silva Harin Fernando Udith Lokubandara Dilan Perera Rohana Pushpakumara Lakshman Senewiratne Amith Thenuka Vidanagamage Monaragala Vijitha Berugoda Sumedha G. Jayasena R.M. Ranjith Madduma Bandara A. P. Jagath Pushpakumara Gamini Vijith Wijithamuni De Zoysa
Sabaragamuwa	Ratnapura Thalatha Atukorale Dunesh Gankanda Premalal Jayasekara Vasudeva Nanayakkara Ranjan Ramanayake Sanee Rohana Kodithuvakku W. D. J. Senewiratne Ranjith de Zoysa Pavithra Devi Wanniarachchi Janaka Wakkumbura Kegalle Jagath Balasuriya Lalith Dissanayake Kanaka Herath Kabir Hashim H. R. Mithrapala Champika Premadasa Y. G. Padmasiri Athauda Seneviratne Ranjith Siyambalapitiya
National List	UPFA Dullas Alahapperuma A.H.M. Asvar Malini Fonseka Achala Jagodage D. M. Jayaratne D. E. W. Gunasekera Gitanjana Gunawardena Ellawala Medhananda Thero Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan G. L. Peiris Janaka Priyantha Bandara Kamala Ranathunga Muthu Sivalingam J. R. P. Suriyapperuma Ratnasiri Wickremanayake Rajiva Wijesinha Tissa Vitharana UNF Hasen Ali M. S. M. Aslam Tissa Attanayake Harsha de Silva Anoma Gamage M. Joseph Michael Perera D. M. Swaminathan Eran Wickramaratne Ramaiah Yogarajan DNA Tiran Alles Anura Kumara Dissanayake TNA M. A. Sumanthiran

• Members of the 14th Parliament of Sri Lanka
• Members of the 15th Parliament of Sri Lanka
• Sri Lanka Freedom Party politicians
• United People's Freedom Alliance politicians
• 1973 births
• Living people
• Deputy ministers of Sri Lanka
• Senanayake family