Sri Lanka appoints first female prime minister in 24 years under President Dissanayake

Harini Amarasuriya, 54, a university lecturer and activist, shares a similar background with Dissanayake

Sri Lanka’s newly elected President, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, swore in opposition lawmaker Harini Amarasuriya as his prime minister on Tuesday, marking the first time in 24 years that a woman has held the role. Amarasuriya, 54, a university lecturer and activist, shares a similar background with Dissanayake, with both representing the Marxist-leaning National People’s Power coalition.

Dissanayake’s victory in Saturday’s presidential election saw him defeat former President Ranil Wickremesinghe and opposition leader Sajith Premadasa. The election results reflected widespread public discontent with the country’s political elite, whom many Sri Lankans hold responsible for the economic crisis that has engulfed the nation.

Amarasuriya’s appointment makes her the first woman to serve as prime minister since Sirimavo Bandaranaike, who was not only Sri Lanka’s second-ever female prime minister but also the world’s first female head of government when she assumed office in 1960. Bandaranaike served three terms, with her final one ending in 2000.

Dissanayake now faces the significant task of addressing the severe austerity measures imposed by his predecessor under a bailout deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), following Sri Lanka’s debt default. The outgoing president, Wickremesinghe, has cautioned that altering the terms of the agreement could jeopardise the release of a crucial fourth tranche of nearly $3 billion.

Sri Lanka’s ongoing crisis stems from years of economic mismanagement, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2019 terrorist attacks, both of which dealt severe blows to the island’s tourism sector.

Political leadership in Sri Lanka has largely been a male domain since the country adopted universal suffrage in 1931. The underrepresentation of women in leadership is a global issue — in 2023, a Pew Research Center analysis found that only 13 out of the 193 member states of the United Nations had women as heads of government.

Chandrika Kumaratunga, Sirimavo Bandaranaike’s younger daughter, became Sri Lanka’s first and only female president, serving from 1994 to 2005.