Harin Fernando

Harin Fernando, MP (born 28 October 1978) is a Sri Lankan politician. He is a current Member of the Sri Lanka Parliament from National List. He is the former Cabinet Minister of Telecommunication, Digital Infrastructure facilities, Foreign Employment and Sports[1] He was the 7th Chief Minister of Uva Province.

Honourable

Harin Fernando

MP
Member of the Sri Lanka Parliament
for National List
Assumed office
20 August 2020
Minister of Telecommunication, Digital Infrastructure facilities, Foreign Employment and Sports[1]
In office
20 December 2018 – 17 November 2019
PresidentMaithripala Sirisena
Prime MinisterRanil Wickremesinghe
Minister of Foreign Employment Promotion and Welfare
In office
25 February 2018 – 26 October 2018
PresidentMaithripala Sirisena
Prime MinisterRanil Wickremesinghe
Preceded byThalatha Atukorale
Minister of Telecommunications and Digital Infrastructure
In office
4 September 2015 – 26 October 2018
PresidentMaithripala Sirisena
Prime MinisterRanil Wickremesinghe
Member of the Sri Lanka Parliament
for Badulla District
In office
1 September 2015 – 3 March 2020
Majority200,806 Preferential Votes
In office
22 April 2010 – 5 August 2014
Majority49,073 Preferential Votes
7th Chief Minister of Uva Province
In office
14 January 2015 – 1 September 2015
GovernorM. P. Jayasinghe
Preceded byShashindra Rajapaksa
Succeeded byChamara Sampath Dassanayake
Personal details
Born (1978-10-28) 28 October 1978
Wattala, Sri Lanka
Political partySamagi Jana Balawegaya
Alma materSt. Joseph's College
OccupationPolitician
ProfessionBusinessman

Early life and education

Born in Wattala to a Roman Catholic family, Fernando was educated at St. Joseph's College, Colombo.

Political career

Fernando was appointed as United National Party (UNP) electoral organizer for Badulla District at age of 27 and won the highest number of votes in the Uva Province Council Election in 2005. He was elected as Member of Parliament for Badulla District in 2010 and resigned on 5 August 2014 to contest as candidate for Chief Minister of Uva Province.[2] Even though Fernando won the highest number of preferential votes, the UNP lost in Uva Provincial Council election. Fernando became the leader of the opposition in the Uva Province Council.

Fernando played critical role in defeating Mahinda Rajapaksa at the Presidential Election 2015 which Rajapaksa called for early election when UPFA won narrowly at Uva Provincial Election. He had strongly criticised the Rajapaksa regime for its corruption, authoritarian rule and rise of lawlessness. Fernando also openly campaigned for the Common Candidate Maithripala Sirisena at the Presidential Election which had curb the popularity of UPFA in the Uva Province compare to 2010.[N 1]

Soon after the Presidency Election, a number of UPFA provincial councilors backed him thus giving the majority in the Uva Province Council. He was sworn in as Chief Minister of Uva Province before the Governor and unseated Shashindra Rajapaksa from power.[3]

In August 2015, he was elected to parliament gaining the highest votes in the Badulla District. Shortly thereafter he was appointed as Cabinet Minister of Telecommunications and Digital Infrastructure.[4][5]

He criticized Facebook for being too slow to combat users who were using Facebook and WhatsApp to facilitate anti-Muslim riots in Sri Lanka.[6]

Personal life

He is married to Ravindani Yashendra Dias and has two children.

References
  1. "Full list of Cabinet ministers". dailymirror.lk. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
  2. "Harin's triumph in defeat lifts UNP sky-high". The Sunday Times. 28 September 2014. Retrieved 21 August 2015.
  3. "Harin Fernando takes oath as Uva Chief Minister". adaderana.lk. 14 January 2015.
  4. "Preferential votes- General Election 2015". adaderana.lk. 18 August 2015. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
  5. "3 Chief Ministers and 4 opposition leaders elected to parliament". Hiru news. 19 August 2015. Retrieved 21 August 2015.
  6. Safi, Michael (14 March 2018). "Sri Lanka accuses Facebook over hate speech after deadly riots". The Guardian.

Notes
  1. Significantly reduced Rajapaksa's popularity in Badulla and Monaragala after Harin's criticisms.


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