Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya has described veteran politician and former parliamentarian Vasudeva Nanayakkara as an important figure in the history of Sri Lanka’s left-wing politics.
Amarasuriya made the remarks on Friday at the launch of a book documenting Nanayakkara’s political life and career, the Daily Mirror reported.
Recalling the period when the two sat in Parliament together, the Prime Minister said that while they had agreed on some issues and held differing views on others, she had always respected his contribution to the country’s left-wing political movement. She said she had also spoken with him at length about his long career and the experiences behind it.
“Future generations should know about figures like him who made an impact on Sri Lankan politics,” she said.
Two generations of the Sri Lankan left
The remarks are notable for who is making them. Amarasuriya leads a government formed by the National People’s Power, the coalition built around the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna. Nanayakkara, whom the Daily Mirror describes as a veteran politician and former parliamentarian, belongs to an older current of the Sri Lankan left that took a different route through the country’s coalition politics.
The Prime Minister framed her tribute around that distance rather than around agreement, citing her respect for his contribution while noting the issues on which they differed.
The Daily Mirror report did not name the book, its author or the venue of the launch, did not identify the parliamentary term in which the two served together, and did not say whether other government or opposition figures attended.
No other verified Sri Lankan newsroom had published its own account of the event at the time of writing.
