Wimal Weerawansa

Weerasangilige Wimal Weerawansa (විමල් වීරවංශ, விமல் வீரவன்ச) (born 7 March 1970) is a Sri Lankan politician, Member of Parliament and current leader of the National Freedom Front (NFF).

Weerawanssa was born 7 March 1970.

He is the son of Weerasangilige Podineris, a dancing teacher and professional musician, and Wadachcharige Salie.

Weerawansha has one brother (Sarath Weerawansha) and three sisters (Weerasangilige Sumanawathie, Chandani Weerawansha and Nilani Weerawansha).

Weerawansha was educated at Tissa Central College in Kalutara where he played for the school cricket team.

Weerawansha passed eight GCE O levels and started studying GCE A level but was expelled for not attending classes.

Weerawansa is married to Ranasinghe Mudiyanselage Shirsha Udayanthi (Sashi).

They have a son and a daughter.

Weerawansa joined the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) during its second insurrection and wrote articles in Lakdiva and Hiru, pro-JVP periodicals.

He was known by various aliases including Wimalasiri Gamlath and Wanshanatha.

He was president of the Peoples' Movement for Freedom (Nidahasa Udesa Janatha Viyaparaya), propaganda secretary and politburo member of the JVP.

In his early political years Weerawansha was greatly influenced by socialism and disliked nationalism as much as capitalism.

He even accused the ultra-nationalist National Movement Against Terrorism (NMAT) of orchestrating a coup d'état.

However, as time went by, Weerawansa and the JVP slowly began to move away from Marxism and towards Sinhalese nationalism.

Weerawansa was one of the Sri Lanka Progressive Front (a JVP-led front) candidates in Colombo District at the 1994 parliamentary election, but the SLPF failed to win any seats in the district.

He contested the 1997 local government election as a JVP candidate and was elected to the Colombo Municipal Council.

He contested the 1999 provincial council election as one of the JVP's candidates in Colombo District, and as the JVP's chief minister candidate, but failed to get elected.

The JVP nevertheless appointed Weerawansa to the Western Provincial Council.

Weerawansa contested the 2000 parliamentary election as one of the JVP's candidates in Colombo District.

He was elected and entered Parliament.

He was re-elected at the 2001 parliamentary election.

Weerawansha played key roles in the JVP's opposition to President Chandrika Kumaratunga's devolution plans and the Norwegian facilitated peace talk with the militant Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

On 20 January 2004, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and the JVP got together to form the United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA).

Weerawansa was one of the UPFA's candidates in Colombo District at the 2004 parliamentary election and was re-elected.

In June 2005, the JVP left the UPFA government.

Weerawansha was general-secretary of the Patriotic National Movement (PNM).

In 2006 he was accused of sexually harassing a 24-year-old female employee of the state-owned Lake House.

Weerawansha fell out with the leadership of JVP and was suspended from the party in March 2008, on accusations of corruption, espionage and extra-marital affairs.

In May 2008, several dissident JVP MPs led by Weerawansa formed the National Freedom Front (NFF) (or the Jathika Nidahas Peramuna).

The NFF joined the UPFA government in December 2008.

Weerawansa was re-elected at the 2010 parliamentary election.

He was appointed Minister of Construction, Engineering Services, Housing and Common Amenities after the election.

He lost his ministerial position following the January 2015 presidential election.

He was re-elected at the August 2015 parliamentary election.

Weerawansha was appointed as the Minister of Small & Medium Business and Enterprise Development, Industries and Supply chain Management in November 2019 following the 2019 presidential election.

Weerawansa was appointed as Minister of Industries in 2020 under Gotabaya Rajapaksa, but was later stripped of his ministerial portfolios on 3 March 2022.

On 4 September 2022, after defecting from the ruling Sri Lanka People's Freedom Alliance, Weerawansa founded the Supreme Lanka Coalition along with seven other small leftist and nationalist parties.

In January 2023, the SLC formed the Freedom People's Alliance with the SLFP and the Freedom People's Congress.

Weerawansa has been involved in numerous controversies during his career.

Weerawansa has served many cabinet positions, including Minister of Industries from 2020 to 2022, Minister of Small and Medium Business and Enterprise Development, Industries and Supply Chain Management from 2019 to 2020, Minister of Housing and Social Welfare in 2018 and the Minister of Construction and Housing from 2010 to 2015.