Udaya Gammanpila
Udaya Prabath Gammanpila (born 6 February 1970) (known as Udaya Gammanpila) is a Sri Lankan nationalist politician, technologist, environmentalist and an ardent follower of the concept of vegetarianism in parallel to his socio-cultural and religious ideologies. By profession, he is a computer engineer, lawyer and a politician. He has also worked as the former minister in the Western province and carried out the ministerial portfolio as the Cabinet minister for Buddhism and Religious affairs in the government. He was elected as a Member of Parliament with 198,818 preferential votes from the Colombo District at the General Election held on 17 August 2015. He is also the leader of the “Pivithuru Hela Urumaya” political party. [1]
Udaya Gammanpila MP | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of the Sri Lankan Parliament for Colombo District | |
| Assumed office 1 September 2015 | |
| Western Province Minister | |
| In office May 2009 – November 2014 | |
| Chairman - Central Environmental Authority | |
| In office June 7 – February 2009 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Udaya Prabath Gammanpila 6 February 1970 Nawalapitiya, Sri Lanka |
| Nationality | Sri Lankan |
| Political party | Pivithuru Hela Urumaya |
| Other political affiliations | Sri Lanka People's Front (2017 – Present) United People's Freedom Alliance (2009 – 2020) |
| Alma mater | D S Senanayake Collage, Colombo Monash University Law College Sri Lanka |
| Profession | Computer Engineer, Lawyer, University Lecturer |
| Website | udayagammanpila.com |
Early life and education
Udaya Gammanpila was born at Nawalapitiya on 6 February 1970. He was a keen student and an outstanding personality in academic performance since his school days. He selected DS Senanayake College, Colombo for his secondary education after passing grade 5 scholarship exam with flying colors. He passed the GCE A/L examination in 1988 as the island 1st and won a scholarship from the Australian government to study for a degree in computer science at Monash University. In 1993, while in his fourth year, he was appointed as an assistant lecturer at the university and it was a very rare occurrence in a student’s life. Upon his return to Sri Lanka in 1994, he joined the Australia-Lanka Group as an Apprentice Manager and two years later became the Director and CEO of the group as one of the youngest CEO’s that Sri Lanka has ever produced. Meanwhile Gammanpila, who studied law at the Law College, passed the law examination in 2003 and was sworn in as a lawyer.
Early political life
Gammanpila entered politics in 2000 as a founding member of Sinhala nationalist political party “Sihala Urumaya” which was driven by the school of thought that “LTTE must be defeated & can be defeated”. Gammanpila was appointed as the party's propaganda secretary in 2001 and later became its deputy general secretary. In 2007, he was appointed as the chairman of the Central Environmental Authority by the President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Gammanpila also served as a member of the All-Party Representatives Committee appointed by the President to resolve the North-East crisis in August that year. In 2009, he resigned as chairman of the Central Environmental Authority to contest for the Western Provincial Council. Gammanpila voluntarily resigned from his post as an example to all politicians, while other candidates contested the election using the resources of the government for the most part. His campaign was a truly eco-friendly election free of posters, polythene and crackers. After the victory Gammanpila was sworn in as the Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation, Industries and Environment of the Western Province.
Milestones
Chairman Central Environment Authority
Gammanpila was appointed as the Chairman of the Central Environmental Authority in 2007. The Pilisaru Waste Management Project and the Fuel Generation of Plastic Waste project executed as one of his pioneering concepts have been praised by scholars and the public.
Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation, Industries and Environment (Western Province)
He served as the Minister of Agriculture under the Goviriya Aruna program, aimed at increasing the productivity of agriculture through mechanization of agriculture. As a result, the Ministry of Agriculture, Agrarian Development, Minor Irrigation, Industry and Environment has been awarded the ISO 9001-2008 certification by the Sri Lanka Standards Institution in 2013. The Ministry of Agriculture of the Western Province made history as the first Provincial Ministry and the Second Ministry of Government of the year to be awarded with such a certificate of quality assurance.
Member of parliament
Gammanpila contested the 2015 parliamentary election from the United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA), got 198,818 preferential votes in his first parliamentary election. He has led many opposition campaigns against the imprisonment of war heroes and Buddhist monks as well as treaties such as the MCC which were publicly criticised actions of the government in action during that period.
Election campaign 2014
His 2014 campaign attracted special attention from the public. He called on the public to contribute Rs. 100 to his campaign, revolutionising the contemporary perceptions of famous political propagandas that are based on the investments of businessman. He said that politicians would become puppets of businessmen and instead he is contended in maintaining his image and belief of being a public servant “by the people and for the people”. Uma Gammanpila published his income and expenditure accounts in the media following the election and published all relevant evidence such as bank statements, receipts and self-audits to maintain the transparency of his election campaign with the general public.
“Mahinda Sulanga” political movement and 2019 General election
As a strong believer of justice and humanity Gammanpila has said that after Mahinda Rajapaksa was defeated in the 2015 presidential election, he should be made the prime ministerial candidate at the next parliamentary election. This was a time when majority of people were emotionally devastated since they were insecure about the future of the country and others were gradually losing their faith on the existing government and their anti-nationalist policies. Along with Dinesh Gunawardena, Wimal Weerawansa and Vasudeva Nanayakkara, he also organized a series of meetings all over the country to build the Mahinda Rajapaksa political campaign. Gammanpila, who made his contribution from the beginning of the 2019 presidential campaign as a frontrunner for Gotabhaya Rajapaksa's victory, is also credited with bringing the President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa into active politics.
Author and editor
Since 2002 Gammanpila has been a frequent contributor to newspapers and has published weekly columns for Lankadeepa in Sinhala under the name “Pradeepa” in Sinhala and from 2012, Ceylon Today in English as Guard Post. His latest book is Mahinda Sulagin Gotabhishekayata, which features the behind-the-scenes story of Gotabhaya Rajapaksa entry into politics and power after changing the government that was appointed on 8 January 2015.
