Nationality Sri Lankan Name Sarath Gunaratna | Religion Roman Catholic Spouse(s) Sujatha Gunaratne | |
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Political party Sri Lanka Freedom Party Residence 20A Dungalpitiya, Talahena, Negombo | ||
We lost in Gampaha District because Basil and Lansa - Sarath Kumara
Arachchige Sarath Kumara Gunarathne is a Sri Lankan politician, a member of the Parliament of Sri Lanka and a government minister. He is the Negombo MP from Gampaha district and is a long-standing member of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP). Prior to his current appointment as the Deputy Minister of Fisheries, he has been appointed deputy minister for state resources, and as deputy minister of aviation. He is currently the acting minister of Fisheries and Aquatic resources following the defection of former Fisheries Minister Rajitha Senaratne to the opposition.
Sarath Kumara Gunaratna was born in Dungalpitiya, a village close to Negombo. His father was a local school principal. Mr Gunaratna first contested the Negombo seat in 1989, but was not able to get the required preferential votes to get elected. After a stint overseas in Italy, Mr.Gunarathne returned to Sri Lanka to enter active politics. He contested the 1999 Provincial council election representing the Wattala seat and entered the Western Provincial Council. In 2006, he entered Parliament as a 'next in line' MP when one MP resigned due to illness. He was elected in 2010 general election as an MP from the Gampaha district under the ruling UPFA coalition.
Mr Gunaratne describes his politics as progressive and people-oriented.