Jayampathy Wickramaratne Explained

Honorific-Prefix:Hon.
Jayampathy Wickramaratne
Honorific-Suffix:PC
Constituency Mp:National List
Parliament:Sri Lankan
Term Start:1 September 2015
Term End:23 January 2020
Successor:Saman Rathnapriya
Party:United National Party

Jayampathy Wickramaratne, PC is a Sri Lankan lawyer and politician. He was a national list member representing the United National Party in the Parliament.[1] A former director of Programs of the Institute of Constitutional Studies in Colombo, he has served as a Senior Adviser to the Ministry of Constitutional Affairs and was a member of the Sri Lankan Law Commission.[2] [3] He entered parliament in 2015 General Election from the National List of the United National Party. He was also appointed as the Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe.[4] Wickramaratne the key person behind the proposed 2018 constitution of Sri Lanka.

Education

Wickramaratne was educated at St. Anthony's College, Kandy and St. Sylvester's College, Kandy. After successfully completed his GCE Advance Level examination he entered the Science Faculty of University of Peradeniya, studying chemistry.  Later entered the Law College, where he qualified as a lawyer. He holds a PhD in Human rights and a Master of Public Administration from University of Peradeniya. Wickramaratne was appointed a President's Counsel in 2001.[5] He obtained his second PhD degree for his published work, 'Democratic Governance in Sri Lanka: A Constitutional Miscellany' from the University of Colombo

Member of the Parliament 2015-2020

Although Wickramaratne was a leftist [6] in 2015 August election he was appointed as a national list MP from the right wing UNP. He resigned from parliament in late January 2020 and relocated to Switzerland, where he is alleged to hold citizenship. As he was a key architect of the 2015 Nineteenth Amendment which prohibits non-citizens from entering parliament or contesting in Presidential elections. It was specifically aimed at preventing Gotabaya Rajapaksa, at the time an American citizen, from entering Sri Lankan politics or running for president.[7]

The 2015 constitution which he participated to draft was abolished on 22 October 2020 and a new amendment was passed at the Sri Lanka parliament.[8]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: UNP National List MPs Named. Asianmirror.lk.
  2. Web site: Prospects of a constitutional settlement of ethnic conflict in post-war Sri Lanka. Law.anu.edu.au. 26 December 2018.
  3. Web site: News - The University of Sydney. Sydney.edu.au.
  4. Web site: Prime Minister's Office. Pmoffice.gov.lk.
  5. Web site: In conversation with Dr. Jayampathy Wickramaratne. Groundviews.org. 30 September 2010.
  6. Web site: Leftist party. lankamag.com.
  7. Web site: Dual Citizen Jayampathy Wickramaratne. lankamag.com. 25 January 2020.
  8. Web site: Sri Lanka president tightens grip with constitutional changes. TheGuardian.com. 23 October 2020.