Nimal Siripala de Silva

Nilenthi Nimal Siripala de Silva MP (born 6 September 1944) is Sri Lanka's Cabinet Minister of Labour,[1] former Cabinet Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation in 15th Parliament of Sri Lanka. He is a member of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party and a Member of Parliament representing the Badulla District. He was also the former Leader of the Opposition, former Cabinet Minister (Irrigation and Water Resources Management), former Leader of the House.[2]

Hon.

Nimal Siripala de Silva

MP
නිමල් සිරිපාල ද සිල්වා
Minister of Labour
Assumed office
12 August 2020
PresidentGotabaya Rajapaksa
Prime MinisterMahinda Rajapaksa
Preceded byDullas Alahapperuma
13th Leader of the Opposition
In office
16 January 2015 – 26 June 2015
PresidentMaithripala Sirisena
Prime MinisterRanil Wickremesinghe
Preceded byRanil Wickremesinghe
Succeeded byR. Sampanthan
Ministry of Labour
In office
4 September 2015 – 26 October 2018
PresidentMaithripala Sirisena
Prime MinisterRanil Wickremesinghe
Preceded byRanjith Maddumabandara
Succeeded byArjuna Ranathunga
Member of the Sri Lankan Parliament
for Badulla District
Assumed office
2000
Member of the Sri Lankan Parliament
for Colombo District
In office
1989–2000
Personal details
Born (1944-09-06) 6 September 1944
Badulla, Sri Lanka
NationalitySri Lanka
Political partySri Lanka Freedom Party
Other political
affiliations		United People's Freedom Alliance
(2004 – Present)
People's Alliance
(1994 – 2004)
Alma materNalanda College, Colombo,
OccupationPolitics
ProfessionProctor

Early life and education

De Silva born to a family of teachers in Badulla. He was educated at Nalanda College, Colombo where he was a member of the college debating team. He entered Colombo Law College in 1966 and qualified as a proctor in 1971.[3]

Early career

Having started his legal practice in 1971, de Silva was active in politics from his student years, having started the Sri Lanka Freedom Party Law Students Association. He supported the Sirima Bandaranaike in a campaign in the 1970 general election. He went to the United Kingdom in 1975, and qualified as a solicitor. He return to Ceylon over land in 1978, and assisted Bandaranaike in her defense in the Special Presidential Commission was appointed by President J. R. Jayawardene to investigate allegations against Bandaranaike for abuses of power during her tenure as Prime Minister.[3]

Political career

He entered parliament in 1989 having been elected from the Colombo Electoral District in the 1989 general election and was re-elected from Colombo till 2000, when he was elected from Badulla Electoral District and had been re-elected consecutively till the present. He is the Assembly President of the World Health Organization.

Assassination attempt

On 4 July 1996 De Silva escaped with injuries in an attempted assassination by a LTTE female suicide bomber at the Stanley Road in Jaffna. This incident took place minutes after the Minister declared open a branch of Building Materials Corporation (BMC) in Jaffna. Brigadier Ananda Hamangoda (Jaffna Sector Commander), Ranjith Godamuna (Chairman, Lanka Cement) and 21 others were killed with more than 50 injured in the explosion.[4]

See also

References
  1. New Cabinet: Nimal Siripala de Silva appointed Minister of Labour
  2. Hon. Nimal Siripala de Silva, M.P
  3. "COVER STORY - JULY 2013". Business Today. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
  4. Wasantha Siriwardena (7 July 1996). "Thursdays blast in Jaffna". The Sunday Times - Sri Lanka. Retrieved 19 February 2014.

Sources
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