Dingiri Banda Wijetunga

Dingiri Banda Wijetunga
4th President of Sri Lanka
In office May 1, 1993 – November 12, 1994
Preceded by	Ranasinghe Premadasa
Succeeded by	Chandrika Kumaratunga
11th Prime Minister of Sri Lanka
In office January 2, 1989 – May 1, 1993
Preceded by	Ranasinghe Premadasa
Succeeded by	Ranil Wickremasinghe
Personal details
Born	February 15, 1916(1916-02-15) Udunuwara, British Ceylon
Died	September 21, 2008(2008-09-21) (aged 92) Kandy, Sri Lanka
Nationality	Sri Lankan
Political party	United National Party
Religion	Buddhism

Dingiri Banda Wijetunga (Sinhala: ඩිංගිරි බණ්ඩා විජේතුංග; Tamil: டிங்கிரி பண்ட விஜேதுங்க; February 15, 1916 – September 21, 2008) was the President of Sri Lanka from May 1, 1993 to November 12, 1994, Prime Minister of Sri Lanka from March 3, 1989 to May 7, 1993 and the Governor of North Western province, Sri Lanka from 1988 to 1989.

Early life

Wijetunga was born to a middle class Sinhala Buddhist family living on the outskirts of the then Udunuwara Parliamentary seat in the Kandy District of the Central Province in Sri Lanka. On completion of his secondary education at St. Andrew's College, Gampola, he joined the Co-operative Department as an Inspector.

Political career

He closely associated with veteran politicians like George E. de Silva and A. Ratnayaka. A. Ratnayake who was then Minister of Food and Co-operatives in the D.S. Senanayake Cabinet took him as his Private Secretary.

He joined the United National Party in 1946. He entered Parliament for the first time when he successfully contested the Udunuwara electorate at the 1965 general election and quickly made a reputation for himself as an excellent Member of Parliament who constantly worked for the welfare of his electors. In terms of meeting the needs of his constituents, he was considered the most effective MP in that Parliament.

He lost the Udunuwara electorate in 1970 but was returned to Parliament in the 1977 UNP landslide, being appointed Cabinet Minister of Information and Broadcasting in the J.R. Jayewardene administration. During this regime Wijetunga functioned in various ministerial capacities holding the portfolios of Posts and Telecommunication, Power, Highways and Agricultural Development.

He served briefly as the Governor of North Western province in 1988 before returning to Parliamentary politics a few months later. In the last general election he contested he secured the largest number of preferential votes in the Kandy District.

Prime minister

Wijetunga was surprisingly appointed Prime Minister in 1989 by President Ranasinghe Premadasa. Party heavyweights such as Gamini Dissanayake and Lalith Athulathmudali were overlooked apparently because the President favoured a deputy who had no further political ambitions. He also held the Ministries of Finance and Labour and Vocational Training in addition to being the State Minister of Defence in the Premadasa administration.

As Prime Minister Wijetunga performed the role expected of him by the President to perfection, playing second fiddle to the charismatic Premadasa. Within the party however there was a simmering winter of discontent, as cabinet Ministers and Members of Parliament found themselves powerless as the iron-fisted President used wide executive authority to centralize power to his office.

The former Prime Ministerial aspirants and arch rivals Dissanayake and Athulathmudali united to lead an abortive attempt to impeach the President. Both of them were expelled from the party and consequently lost their Parliamentary seats.

Athulathmudali was shot dead in April 1993 while campaigning for the Provincial Council elections. The killing provoked widespread protests against the government and allegations were hurled at the President for complicity in the assassination. A week later President Premadasa was also murdered in Colombo on May Day 1993 in a suicide bombing widely considered to be an act of the Tamil Tigers. Wijetunga became acting President until Parliament convened to elect a successor to the slain President under the terms of the Constitution.

Wijetunga was elected unanimously by Parliament to complete the remainder of Premadasa's term and was sworn in as the fourth executive President on May 7, 1993.

In a moving farewell speech to Parliament Wijetunga cited Shakespeare's oft-quoted line "Do not be afraid of greatness, Some men are born great, Some achieve greatness, And some have greatness thrust upon them."

President

As president, Wijetunga set about his work in his own simplistic, inimitable fashion. After the authoritarian Premadasa, Wijetunga ushered in a more political free era.

His rule also coincided with the rise of Chandrika Kumaratunga within the ranks of the SLFP. For some of the elite the daughter of two Prime Ministers was a refreshing contrast to the humble village peasant in President Wijetunga.

He did not believe that peace could be achieved by negotiating with the LTTE. His rather hawkish approach to the ethnic conflict also made him unpopular especially among the minorities who traditionally backed his party. The Eastern Province was liberated from the LTTE during his tenure except Thoppigala.

After a decisive defeat in the Southern Provincial Council Election in 1994, he dissolved parliament prematurely in June that year, in a desperate bid to stem the rising wave of popularity of Chandrika Kumaratunga.

However his party was defeated in the 1994 general election and Wijetunga graciously appointed Kumaratunga as Prime Minister. Even though under the constitution, Wijetunga was bestowed with wide powers, he wisely chose not to exercise much authority, letting the Prime Minister manage the affairs of the country.

He decided not to contest the presidential election. He relinquished office in November 1994 after Kumaratunga was elected President by an unprecedented majority.

Death

D.B. Wijetunga died after a prolonged illness around 9.30 am on September 21, 2008 at Kandy General Hospital.^[1]

References

1. ^ Xinhuanet news

2. Obituary Associated Press

External links

• Dingiri Banda Wijetunga – the journey to greatness by M.B. Dassanayake
• Sri Lankan Daily News Editorial on Sep 22, 2008
• A rare politician with exemplary qualities
• A president and gentleman
• President D.B. Wijetunga – An end of an era
• President D. B. Wijetunga The final journey
• Website of the Parliament of Sri Lanka
• Presidents of Sri Lanka
• Rivira Katu Satahana in Sinhala
• Biography Sri Lankan Daily News on the 23 of september

Government offices
Preceded by Ranasinghe Premadasa	President of Sri Lanka 1993–1994	Succeeded by Chandrika Kumaratunga
Preceded by Ranasinghe Premadasa	Prime Minister of Sri Lanka 1989–1993	Succeeded by Ranil Wickremesinghe

Persondata
Name	Wijetunga, Dingiri Banda
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	February 15, 1916
Place of birth	Udunuwara, British Ceylon
Date of death	September 21, 2008
Place of death	Kandy, Sri Lanka