Maithripala Yapa Sirisena (; ; born 3 September 1951) is a Sri Lankan politician who served as the seventh president of Sri Lanka from 9 January 2015 to 18 November 2019. Sirisena is Sri Lanka's first president from the North Central Province of the country and does not belong to the traditional Sri Lankan political elite. He served as a member of parliament from Polonnaruwa from 1989 to 2015 and from 2020 to 2024.
Sirisena joined mainstream politics in 1989 as a member of the Parliament of Sri Lanka and has held several ministries since 1994. He was the general-secretary of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party and was Minister of Health until November 2014 when he announced his candidacy in the 2015 presidential election as the "common candidate" of a coalition of opposition parties, running against party leader and incumbent president Mahinda Rajapaksa. His victory in the election was generally viewed as an upset, coming to office through votes won from the alternative Sinhala-majority rural constituency and the Tamil and Muslim minority groups that were alienated by the Rajapaksa government on post-war reconciliation and growing sectarian violence. Sirisena pledged to implement a 100-day reform program where he promised to rebalance the executive branch within 100 days of being elected. This plan included reinforcing Sri Lanka's judiciary and parliament, investigation of alleged war crimes during the final stages of the Sri Lankan civil war, repealing the controversial eighteenth amendment and re-instating the seventeenth amendment, reducing corruption and appointing UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe as prime minister. He later was reported to have publicly disavowed this program, claiming that he did not know where it originated.
Sirisena was sworn in as the sixth Executive President on 9January 2015. Immediately afterwards he appointed Ranil Wickremesinghe as the new prime minister. After being sworn in, Sirisena stated that he would only serve one term. Sirisena voluntarily transferred significant presidential powers to parliament on 28 April 2015.
In 2018, Sirisena appointed former president Mahinda Rajapaksa as prime minister, dismissed Ranil Wickremesinghe and prorogued Parliament, instigating a constitutional crisis. Sirisena's actions were later declared as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court and Wickremesinghe was promptly reinstated as the prime minister.
Early life and career Maithripala Sirisena was born on 3 September 1951 as the eldest of a family of twelve with five brothers and six sisters, in Yagoda, a village in present-day Gampaha District. His father, Pallewatte Gamaralalage Albert Sirisena, was a World War II veteran who was awarded of paddy land in Polonnaruwa near Parakrama Samudra which resulted in the family moving from Yagoda to Polonnaruwa. His mother, Yapa Appuhamilage Dona Nandawathi, was a school teacher.
He was educated at Thopawewa Maha Vidyalaya and Rajakeeya Madya Maha Vidyalaya Polonnaruwa where he first developed an interest in politics. While still in school, as a teenager, Sirisena became interested in communism and joined the Ceylon Communist Party (Maoist) becoming closely associated with party leader N. Shanmugathasan in party activities. In 1968, he took part in a communist party anti-government rally which was broken up by baton charging police.
At the age of 17, he was chosen as the secretary of the SLFP Youth Organisation in Polonnaruwa by the SLFP Member of Parliament for Polonnaruwa, Leelaratna Wijesingha. In 1971, aged 19, he was jailed for 15 months for alleged involvement in the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna Insurrection. Following his release from prison, Sirisena joined All Ceylon SLFP Youth Organization led by Anura Bandaranaike and joined politics at the national level. After serving at a number of state institutions, Sirisena obtained the SLFP membership in 1978. In 1974 Sirisena started working at the Palugasdamana Multi-Purpose Cooperative Society as a purchasing office and in 1976 he became a grama sevaka niladhari (village officer) but resigned in 1978. He rose up the SLFP ranks, joining its politburo in 1981, where he was chosen as the president of the All Island SLFP Youth Organisation, and also later served as treasurer. During the 1981 Presidential poll, when Basil Rajapaksa joined the United National Party, he took over the responsibility of the secretary of the organisation. Subsequently, he was appointed the Polonnaruwa SLFP chief organiser by the SLFP hierarchy. He became president of the All Island SLFP Youth Organisation in 1983.
Sirisena studied for three years at the Sri Lanka School of Agriculture, Kundasale from where he earned a diploma in agriculture in 1973. In 1980 he earned a Diploma in political science at the Maxim Gorky Literature Institute in Russia.
Legislative career (1989–2015)
Sri Lankan Parliament Sirisena contested the 1989 parliamentary election as one of the SLFP's candidates in Polonnaruwa District and was elected to the Parliament. He was re-elected at the 1994 parliamentary election, this time as a People's Alliance (PA) candidate. In 1997 he was appointed as the general secretary of the SLFP for the first time, from which he later resigned. In August 2000 Sirisena tried to become general secretary of the SLFP but was beaten by S. B. Dissanayake. Sirisena was instead appointed one of the Deputy Presidents of SLFP. He became general secretary of the SLFP in October 2001 following Dissanayake's defection to the United National Party (UNP).
Minister of Mahaweli Development Sirisena was appointed Deputy Minister of Irrigation in the new PA government led by Chandrika Kumaratunga in 1994. In 1997 President Kumaratunga promoted him to the Cabinet, appointing him Minister of Mahaweli Development. While in this office he initiated many concessionary grants to improve the standard of the farming community. He was also responsible for influencing the government's decision to give farmers a bag of fertiliser for Rs. 350 in order to combat the food crisis at the time. He also saved the Paddy Marketing Board from privatisation converting it into a government institution when he became the Agriculture Minister, in 2005. The Paddy Marketing Board continues to regulate the prices of paddy to this day. He also began important irrigation projects such as Moragahakanda, Kalu and Walawe rivers. He was re-elected to Parliament at the 2000 parliamentary election and retained his ministerial portfolio.
Opposition He was re-elected at the 2001 parliamentary election but the PA lost the election and so Sirisena lost his ministerial position.
In January 2004 the SLFP joined forces with the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna to form a political alliance called the United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA). Sirisena was re-elected at the 2004 parliamentary election as a UPFA candidate. President Kumaratunga appointed him Minister of River Basin Development and Rajarata Development in the new UPFA government in April 2004. He was also appointed Leader of the House. Sirisena's ministerial portfolio was renamed as Minister of Irrigation, Mahaweli and Rajarata Development in July 2005. He resigned as Leader of the House in August 2005.
Minister of Agriculture After the 2005 presidential election newly elected president Mahinda Rajapaksa appointed Sirisena Minister of Agriculture, Environment, Irrigation and Mahaweli Development in November 2005. On 27 March 2006 Sirisena's personal secretary M. L. Dharmasiri was shot dead by unknown gunmen in Aranangawila. Following a cabinet reshuffle in January 2007 he was appointed Minister of Agricultural Development and Agrarian Services Development by President Rajapaksa.
In order to combat the 2007–08 world food price crisis, Sirisena initiated a plan under the scheme 'Api Wavamu – Rata Nagamu' to improve local food production on a national scale. Festivals of tilling were conducted in each divisional secretariat every year leading to the re-cultivation of more than 1 million abandoned paddy fields under the programme. The project was considered a great success being acknowledged as his green revolution.
While serving as the Minister of Agriculture Sirisena also served as the acting Defence Minister on several occasions during the Sri Lankan civil war. He was acting defence minister during the last two weeks of the civil war when some of the worst alleged war crimes were committed.
Sirisena has claimed that LTTE may have tried to assassinate him on at least five occasions. Sirisena narrowly escaped death on 9 October 2008 when a convoy he was part of was attacked by a Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam's suicide bomber at Piriwena Junction in Boralesgamuwa, Colombo. One person was killed and seven injured.
Minister of health Sirisena was re-elected at the 2010 parliamentary election and was appointed minister of health in April 2010. During his time Sirisena sought to combat cigarette and alcohol consumption within the country. He introduced a National Medicinal Drug Policy based on that of the Sri Lanka National Pharmaceuticals Policy of Seneka Bibile and brought the Cigarette and Alcohol act to parliament against cigarette packaging that includes pictorial warnings. The act recommended 80% of packaging include pictorial warnings, however, this was reduced to 60% due to pressure from many multinational companies and from some areas of the government itself. In May 2014 Sirisena was elected as one of the Vice Presidents of the World Health Assembly.
Committees Committees Involved Parliament of Sri Lanka Consultative Committee on Irrigation and Water Resources Management Parliament of Sri Lanka Consultative Committee on Health Parliament of Sri Lanka Consultative Committee on Agriculture Parliament of Sri Lanka Consultative Committee on Co-operatives and Internal Trade Parliament of Sri Lanka Consultative Committee on Livestock & Rural Community Development Parliament of Sri Lanka Consultative Committee on Defence Parliament of Sri Lanka Consultative Committee on Defence and Urban Development
Committees Served Parliament of Sri Lanka Committee on Parliamentary Business (14th Parliament) Parliament of Sri Lanka Committee of Selection (14th Parliament) Parliament of Sri Lanka Committee on High Posts (14th Parliament) Parliament of Sri Lanka Select Committee of Parliament on Traffic Accidents (14th Parliament) Parliament of Sri Lanka Select Committee of Parliament to Recommend and Report on Political and Constitutional Measures to Empower the Peoples of Sri Lanka to Live as One Nation (14th Parliament)
Presidency (2015–2019)
Presidential campaign
Following days of speculation in the media, Sirisena announced on 21 November 2014 that he would challenge incumbent president Mahinda Rajapaksa at the 2015 presidential election as the common opposition candidate. Sirisena claimed that everything in Sri Lanka was controlled by one family and that the country was heading towards a dictatorship with rampant corruption, nepotism and a breakdown of the rule of law. He has pledged to abolish the executive presidency within 100 days of being elected, repeal the controversial eighteenth amendment, re-instate the seventeenth amendment and appoint UNP leader Ranil Wickremasinghe as prime minister. Following the announcement Sirisena, along with several other ministers who supported him, were stripped of their ministerial positions and expelled from the SLFP. His ministerial security and vehicles were also withdrawn.