Wasantha Senanayake

Political career

During the term of President Chandrika Kumaratunge, He served as an advisor to the President and was Chairman of the National Lotteries Board. He was also the Chairman of Water Resources Board and Janatha Fertilizers. He has always supported the temperance cause, advocating strict laws on sales and abuse of alcohol and tobacco and was one of the few MPs that physically went to courts to have the pictorial warning on cigarette packets made mandatory. Vasantha Senanayake, when a backbencher in the Mahinda Rajapaksa government proposed the controversial Private Members bill asking that the Cabinet be constitutionally limited. He has also advocated changes to the electoral system stating many reasons as to its manifest injustices including the under representation of women. He has been vocal in his efforts to curb domestic violence and violence against women. He has stressed on the need to limit executive presidential powers and has constantly upheld that powers of Parliament be strengthened. A keen wild life enthusiast and photographer was after being appointed Deputy Minister for Tourism and Sports engaged in initiatives in promoting wild life related tourism and also trying to bring about sustainable solutions to the Human - Elephant conflict. He has been a great force in curbing the practice of the illicit trade in wild elephants and rare species. He also sees Sri Lanka as an ideal destination for the promotion of Eco- tourism and sports tourism .Since being appointed State Minister for irrigation and water management after his August 2015 election to Parliament, he has been focusing his energies into tackling issues of groundwater contamination, protecting aquifers and flood prevention activity . He has also been a great advocate in Diaspora engagement activities and has throughout his political career maintained that overseas persons of Sri Lankan origin must as far as possible be involved in the rebuilding of Sri Lanka after the war, and that efforts at reconciliation must also focus on Diaspora communities. Since accepting his new position as State Minister Foreign Affairs, he has stressed that Sri Lanka must never isolate itself from the world, and seek to integrate itself into the global community but retaining its national identity. His voice was a powerful one at the ASEAN Regional Forum in Manila in August 2017, where he emphasized that DPRK ought to act respecting the rights of neighboring ROK and Japan. Attending the BIMSTEC meeting in Nepal he cautioned that the advantages envisioned by the regional grouping can only come to fruition only after the Free Trade Agreements were concluded.