Sri Lanka swears in Harini Amarasuriya, first female prime minister in 24 years

Colombo, Sri Lanka: On Tuesday, Sri Lanka's new President Anura Kumara Dissanayake appointed Harini Amarasuriya as prime minister, making her the first woman to hold this position in 24 years. Amarasuriya, 54, is a university lecturer and activist, and shares a political background with Dissanayake. Both are members of the National People’s Power coalition, which leans towards Marxism.

Dissanayake won the recent election against former President Ranil Wickremesinghe and opposition leader Sajith Premadasa. Many Sri Lankans voted for him to move away from the old political leaders they blame for the country’s severe economic crisis.

The last woman to serve as prime minister was Sirimavo Bandaranaike, who was the world’s first female head of government when she took office in 1960. She served three terms until 2000.

Dissanayake's party only has three seats in the 225-member Parliament, making it challenging for him to create a full Cabinet. During his campaign, he promised to dissolve Parliament if he won, planning to call for new elections. The current Parliament's term ends in August next year.

Amarasuriya also took on the responsibilities for four ministries, including justice, health, women's affairs, and trade. Another party member, Vijitha Herath, was appointed minister overseeing six departments, including foreign affairs and public security.

One of Dissanayake’s first major challenges will be to address the harsh austerity measures put in place by Wickremesinghe under an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) after Sri Lanka defaulted on its debt. Wickremesinghe has warned that changing this agreement could delay the release of nearly $3 billion in aid.

The current crisis in Sri Lanka is largely due to poor economic management and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which severely hurt the country’s tourism industry.

Historically, Sri Lanka's politics have been male-dominated since universal suffrage was introduced in 1931. A global study in 2023 found that only 13 out of 193 countries had women as heads of government.

Sirimavo Bandaranaike's daughter, Chandrika Kumaratunga, was the country’s first and only female president, serving from 1994 to 2005.

Agency