Former Minister Mangala Samaraweera passed away this morning at a Private Hospital in Colombo. He was 65.
Infected with Covid 19, Mr Samaraweera was admitted to a hospital in Colombo a week ago.
During his political career spanning over thirty years, Mr Samaraweera held key portfolios such as Finance, Foreign Affairs, Ports, Posts and Telecommunication and Media.
An old boy of the Royal College Colombo, he later proceeded to London for further studies and obtained an honours degree in fashion designing from St. Martin’s College London.
In 1989 Mr Samaraweera joined the SLFP under the leadership of Mrs Sirima Bandaranaike and contested the Matara district, and returned to Parliament. A key, Minister in the Government of President Chandrika Kumaratunga, left the SLFP during President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s tenure as the President.
In 2015 he campaigned for Maithripala Sirisena and held the Foreign Ministry under Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe in the UNP government.
Mr Samaraweera was instrumental in putting the country back on the world map and restoring the GSP + to Sri Lanka, withdrawn during the Rajapaksa government.
In 2019 he was also instrumental in making Sajith Premadasa the UNP candidate for the Presidency. Though he received nominations for the 2020 Parliamentary General Elections in 2020 from the SJB, he announced his withdrawal and retired from politics. An avid speaker in Parliament who pursued liberal ideologies, the late Samaraweera rendered a yeoman service to the country during his tenure as a politician.
