Rohitha Bogollagama
| Honourable Rohitha Bogollagama MP |
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| File:Rohitha Bogollagama 070603-D-7203T-011 0W9G0.jpg
Rohitha Bogollagama at the Shangri-La Dialogue in 2007
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| Minister of Foreign Affairs | |
| In office 28 January 2007 – 23 April 2010 |
|
| President | Mahinda Rajapaksa |
| Prime Minister | Ratnasiri Wickremanayake |
| Preceded by | Mangala Samaraweera |
| Succeeded by | G. L. Peiris |
| Minister of Enterprise Development and Investment Promotion | |
| In office 23 November 2005 – 28 January 2007 |
|
| President | Mahinda Rajapaksa |
| Prime Minister | Ratnasiri Wickremanayake |
| Succeeded by | Sarath Amunugama |
| Minister of Advanced Technology and National Enterprise | |
| In office 18 November 2004 – 23 November 2005 |
|
| President | Chandrika Kumaratunga |
| Prime Minister | Mahinda Rajapaksa |
| Minister of Industries of Sri Lanka | |
| In office 12 December 2001 – 12 February 2004 |
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| President | Chandrika Kumaratunga |
| Prime Minister | Ranil Wickremesinghe |
| Succeeded by | Anura Bandaranaike |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 6 August 1954 Nikaweratiya, North Western Province, Sri Lanka |
| Nationality |  Sri Lankan |
| Political party | Sri Lanka Freedom Party (2004 - Present) United National Party (2000 - 2004) |
| Spouse(s) | Deepthi Bogollagama (née Samarakone) |
| Children | Dhakshitha, Dilshani |
| Residence | 40 / 13, Longdon Place, Colombo 07, Sri Lanka |
| Alma mater | Ananda College, Colombo Sri Lanka Law College |
| Profession | Lawyer |
| Religion | Buddhist |
| Website | Official website |
Chandrasekera Rohitha Bandara Bogollagama (born 6 August 1954) (known as Rohitha Bogollagama) (Sinhala: රෝහිත බෝගොල්ලාගම, Tamil: ரோகித போகோல்லாகம) is a Sri Lankan politician and former Sri Lanka Freedom Party chief organiser for the Kotte Electorate.[1] He had also served as the Cabinet Minister of Foreign Affairs from 28 January 2007 until he was defeated in the General Elections held on 8 April 2010, losing his seat in parliament.[2][3] He had a long career in law running from 1976 to 1999, before being elected to the Sri Lankan parliament in 2000.
Contents
Early life
Born in Nikaweratiya, North Western Province, to Chandrasekera Malala Banda Bogollagama (former Chairman, National Lotterys Board from 1966 to 1970) and Vinitha Bogollagama (née Senerath),[4] he is one of their five children.[5] Bogollagama attended Ananda College in Colombo and later the Sri Lanka Law College, passing out in 1976. He was called to the Bar and enrolled as Attorney-at-Law by the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka in October 1976.
Legal career
Bogollagama's career in law ran for nearly thirty years, and included serving as legal consultant to the Ceylon Fertiliser Corporation from 1985 to 1993, and legal advisor to the United States government-run Voice of America from 1991 to 1999. He was also Chairman of the Sri Lanka Cement Corporation and Chairman and Director General of the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka.
Political career
As a member of the United National Party, Bogollagama was elected to parliament in 2000 for Kurunegala District, and served the Parliamentary Consultative Committees on Finance, Foreign Affairs, Defence, Industrial Development & Investment Promotion, and Power & Energy. On 12 December 2001, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe appointed him Minister of Industries.[6] As minister he initiated the "Yuga Dekma", a large industrial fair, in 2002. In 2004 president Chandrika Kumaratunga dissolved parliament and removed non-cabinet ministers on 12 February.
While in opposition in 2004, he was appointed by a unanimous decision to serve as the Chairman of the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE), an oversight committee of parliament responsible for accountability of public enterprises.[7]
Bogollagama switched political allegiance on 18 November 2004, siding with the United People's Freedom Alliance; the President swore him in as the Cabinet Minister of Advanced Technology and National Enterprise Development on the same day.[8]
He became the Minister of Enterprise and Development on 23 November 2005.[9] As Minister, he argued in favour of returning Sri Lanka to GMT +05:30 time, which was the official time before 1996.[10] He represented the government of Sri Lanka at two rounds of peace talks with the LTTE at Geneva in 2006.[3]
He was defeated in the General Elections held on 8 April 2010, losing his seat in parliament and was not reappointed the cabinet.
Foreign Affairs Career
Bogollagama was acclaimed for the diplomacy he demonstrated when engaging with the international community on promoting investment, tourism, trade and strengthening diplomatic relations, which he did in a constructive and consistent basis as Cabinet Minister of Foreign Affairs.[11]
Family
He is married to Deepthi Samarakone, She is the youngest daughter of Donald Samarakone (formerly of Ceylon Civil Service) & Srima Samarakone (daughter of Mudliyar A. V. Rathnayake and Mrs Jennifer Rathnayake of "Ratnagiri Walawwa", Boralesgamuwa) has three sisters Kusum, Sucharitha and Jayathri. Rohitha & Deepthi Bogollagama have son & daughter. Dhakshitha a BBM graduate in Finance from the Singapore Management University, Singapore and Dr. Dilshani Bogollagama (All India Institute of Medical Sciences).
See also
References
- ↑ President Mahinda Rajapaksa visited Sri Jayewardenepura, Kotte Daily News, Retrieved on 27 February 2014.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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- ↑ C.M.B. BOGALLAGAMA, Maintained Bar and Bench relationship. Daily News, Retrieved on 17th October 2014.
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- ↑ The Activism of Rohitha Bogollagama – Convincing the International Community Lankaweb, Retrieved on 27 May 2009.
External links
- ‘Maha Sangha’s blessings help people to lead exemplary lives’
- Sri Lanka has clear foreign policy
- We achieved the impossible in May 2009
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by
?
|
Minister of Industries of Sri Lanka 12 December 2001–12 February 2004 |
Succeeded by Anura Bandaranaike |
| Preceded by
?
|
Minister of Enterprise Development and Investment Promotion of Sri Lanka 23 November 2005–28 January 2007 |
Succeeded by Sarath Amunugama |
| Preceded by | Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka 28 January 2007– 8 April 2010 |
Succeeded by Prof. G. L. Peiris |
- Use dmy dates from June 2013
- Pages with broken file links
- Articles containing Tamil-language text
- Foreign ministers of Sri Lanka
- 1954 births
- Living people
- Alumni of Ananda College
- Sinhalese people
- Sri Lankan Buddhists
- Sri Lankan lawyers
- Sri Lankan politicians
- United National Party politicians
- Members of the 11th Parliament of Sri Lanka
- Members of the 12th Parliament of Sri Lanka
- Members of the 13th Parliament of Sri Lanka
