Local News from Sri Lanka: Former Prime Minister D.M. Jayaratne passed away at the age of 88 yesterday in a private hospital in Kandy. From 2010 to 2015, he served as the 14th Prime Minister in former President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s government.
After the United People’s Freedom Alliance’s election victory at the 2010 general election, on 21 April 2010, Jayaratne, the SLFP’s senior member, was sworn in as Prime Minister.
Jayaratne was first elected to parliament in 1970 as a founding member of the Sri Lankan Freedom Party. After the 1970 general election, Jayaratne first entered parliament as a candidate in the Gampola electorate. Jayaratne was re-electedto parliament under the People’s Alliance in 1994 and appointed Minister of Land, Agriculture and Forestry for the first time to join the cabinet.
Before being appointed Prime Minister in 2010, he held several other ministerial portfolios. Jayaratne, including MP Anuradha Jayaratne, has three children. Anula Yapa is his wife The funeral arrangements former prime ministers will be announced later, sources from the family said.
