Ranil Wickremesinghe is a Sri Lankan politician who is the 8th and current president of Sri Lanka. He also holds several ministerial positions, including the Minister of Finance, Minister of Defence, Minister of Technology and Minister of Women, Child Affairs and Social Empowerment.
The United National Party, often abbreviated as UNP, is a centre-right political party in Sri Lanka. The UNP has served as the country's ruling party, or as part of its governing coalition, for 38 of the country's 74 years of independence, including the periods 1947–1956, 1965–1970, 1977–1994, 2001–2004 and 2015–2019. The party also controlled the executive presidency from its formation in 1978 until 1994.
Mahinda Rajapaksa is a Sri Lankan politician. He served as the President of Sri Lanka from 2005 to 2015; the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka from 2004 to 2005, 2018, and 2019 to 2022; the Leader of the Opposition from 2002 to 2004 and 2018 to 2019, and the Minister of Finance from 2005 to 2015 and 2019 to 2021. He has been a Member of Parliament (MP) for Kurunegala since 2015.
Nandasena Gotabaya Rajapaksa is a former Sri Lankan politician and military officer, who served as the eighth President of Sri Lanka from 18 November 2019 until his resignation on 13 July 2022 due to months of public anger. He previously served as Secretary to the Ministry of Defence and Urban Development from 2005 to 2015 under the administration of his elder brother former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, during the final phase of the Sri Lankan Civil War.
Basnayaka Ralalage Ranjith Siyambalapitiya is a Sri Lankan politician. He is currently serving as Minister of State for Finance, serving with Shehan Semasinghe since 8 September 2022. He was the Deputy Speaker and Chairman of Committees of the Parliament of Sri Lanka. He is a member of parliament for the Kegalle District. He had served as the former Cabinet Minister of Telecommunication and Information Technology.
Dullas Daham Kumara Alahapperuma is a Sri Lankan politician and founder and current leader of the Freedom People's Congress. Alahapperuma is also a former Cabinet Minister of Information and Mass Media and a current Member of Parliament from the Matara District.
Basil Rajapaksa is a Sri Lankan-American politician. He is a former Minister of Finance and Member of Parliament for the national list.
Ajith Nivard Cabraal is a Sri Lankan accountant and politician who was also the 16th Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka. He is also the former State Minister of Finance, Capital Markets and State Enterprise Reforms and a national list member of parliament since 12 August 2020. He served as the Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, holding the post from 1 July 2006 until his resignation on 9 January 2015. He again became the Governor of Central Bank of Sri Lanka in September 2021, replacing W. D. Lakshman, and resigned again in April 2022.
Janaka Wakkumbura is a Sri Lankan politician. He is a member of the Parliament of Sri Lanka and Kalawana SLPP organiser. Following the mass resignation of the Sri Lankan cabinet in the wake of the 2022 Sri Lankan protests, he was appointed as the Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on 18 April 2022. He served until 9 May 2022 following another mass resignation of the Sri Lankan cabinet.
The Rajapaksa family is a Sri Lankan family that is prominent in politics. It was one of Sri Lanka's most powerful families during Mahinda Rajapaksa's presidency, when many members of the family occupied senior positions in the Sri Lankan state. As their political power grew, there were reports suggesting that the country was heading towards autocracy under their rule. Following the unexpected defeat of Mahinda Rajapaksa in the 2015 presidential election, they have been accused of authoritarianism, corruption, nepotism and bad governance. In the 2019 presidential election, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the brother of Mahinda Rajapaksa, ran and won. The popularity of the Rajapaksa family collapsed after their actions caused the economic crisis that started in 2019, resulting in Sri Lanka defaulting on its debt for the first time in its post-independence history within just 30 months of coming to power. The extended Rajapaksa family is believed to have amassed a large amount of wealth and while the amount of and scale is unknown several members of the family have been revealed in international investigations such as the Pandora Papers to be using networks of shell companies and trusts to hide their wealth in offshore tax havens which has led to accusations of Rajapaksas turning Sri Lanka into a Kleptocracy
Vidura Wickremanayake is a Sri Lankan politician. He is the current Minister of Buddhashasana, Religious, and Cultural Affairs and Member of Parliament. He is the son of the former Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake.
Kanaka Herath is a Sri Lankan politician, former cabinet minister, and a member of the Parliament of Sri Lanka. He belongs to the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna. He was appointed as the Minister of Highways on the 18th of April 2022. He served until 9 May 2022 following another mass resignation of the Sri Lankan cabinet.
Mohan Priyadarshana De Silva is a Sri Lankan politician, Former Cabinet Minister, and member of the Parliament of Sri Lanka. He belongs to the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna. Mohan P. de Silva is a lawyer by profession and was educated at St. Aloysius' College, Galle. Following the mass resignation of the Sri Lankan cabinet in the wake of the 2022 Sri Lankan protests, he was appointed as the Minister of Water Supplies by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on 18 April 2022, he served in this role until 9 May 2022 following another resignation of the Sri Lankan Cabinet.
Kanchana Wijesekera is a Sri Lankan politician who is a member of parliament for Matara District. He is the son of former Cabinet Minister Mahinda Wijesekara.
In Sri Lanka, a Non-cabinet minister is politician who is a Minister, but not a member of the Cabinet of Ministers. A non-cabinet minister is ranked below a cabinet minister, but above a deputy minister. A non-cabinet minister can be in charge of a ministry, be attached a ministry of a cabinet minister or be without a ministry. A cabinet minister may hold another non-cabinet minister post with a different subject concurrently.
Pramitha Bandara Tennakoon is a Sri Lankan politician, former Cabinet Minister, former provincial minister and Member of Parliament. He served as the Minister of Ports and Shipping in the Cabinet of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
Mohamed Uvais Mohamed Ali Sabry, PC, MP, , also known as Ali Sabry, is a Sri Lankan lawyer and politician. He is the Current Minister of External Affairs serving since 22 July 2022. He previously served as the Minister of Finance until 9 May 2022. He was a Member of Parliament, appointed from the national list of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna. He also served as the Minister of Justice until 9 May 2022. He served as the defense counsel of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, chief legal adviser and President of the Muslim Federation of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna.
The following lists notable events that took place during the year 2022 in Sri Lanka.
The 2022 Sri Lankan political crisis was a political crisis in Sri Lanka due to the power struggle between President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and the people of Sri Lanka. It was fueled by the anti-government protests and demonstrations by the public due to the economic crisis in the country. The anti-government sentiment across various parts of Sri Lanka has triggered a state of political instability that is unprecedented in the nation's history.
The third Gotabaya Rajapaksa cabinet was the central government of Sri Lanka led by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. It was formed in April 2022 after the mass resignation of the previous cabinet and ended in May 2022 following the resignation of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa.
