Diana Gamage

Diana Gamage
ඩයනා ගමගේ டயனா கமகே
Member of Parliament for National List
In office 20 August 2020 –8 May 2024
Personal details
Born	Diana Samanmali Gamage (1965-12-18) 18 December 1965 (age 59)
Citizenship	British
Nationality	Sri Lankan
Political party	Samagi Jana Balawegaya (until 2021) Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (since 2021)
Occupation	Politician

Diana Gamage (born 18 December 1965) is a British-Sri Lankan politician and businesswoman. She is a former Member of Parliament and formerly served as State Minister of Tourism.

Political career

Gamage was appointed to the Parliament of Sri Lanka from the National List of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya following the 2020 Sri Lankan parliamentary election. ^{[1] [2]} In 2021, she defected to the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna, the then ruling party of Sri Lanka. ^[3]

Her right to serve in parliament was challenged by a writ petition filed by social activist Oshala Herath. Herath claimed that Gamage had gained British citizenship in 1998 and not gained dual Sri Lankan citizenship, while Gamage claimed that she had renounced her British citizenship in 2014. The Court of Appeal of Sri Lanka set aside Herath's petition in 2023. On 8 May 2024, following an appeal to the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka, the court set aside the judgement of the Court of Appeal and disqualified Gamage from her parliamentary seat on the basis that she did not hold valid Sri Lankan citizenship, since she failed to submit a certificate of citizenship and found that she had returned to Sri Lanka on a British passport. ^[4] The SJB named Mujibur Rahman as her replacement in parliament. ^{[5] [6] [7] [8]}

References

1. "Diana joins parliament from SJB National List!". Sri Lanka Mirror. 8 August 2020. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
2. "Parliament of Sri Lanka - Lady Members". www.parliament.lk. Retrieved 2024-07-20.
3. "Controversial MP Diana Gamage Charged For Committing Multiple Offences And Poised To Lose Her Seat". Colombo Telegraph. 7 April 2021. Retrieved 8 May 2024.
4. "Parliament of Sri Lanka - Lady Members". Archived from the original on 2024-07-20. Retrieved 2024-07-21.
5. "Diana Gamage loses Parliamentary seat after SC ruling". Newswire. 8 May 2024. Retrieved 8 May 2024.
6. "Diana disqualified to be MP". Daily News. Retrieved 9 May 2024.
7. "she never bothered to renew SL visa after its lapse in 2015". The Morning. Retrieved 9 May 2024.
8. "No citizenship certificate issued to Diana Gamage - Counsel tells court". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 9 May 2024.