Dullas Alahapperuma | |
|---|---|
| ඩලස් අලහප්පෙරුම டல்லாஸ் அழகப்பெரும | |
 Alahapperuma in 2014 | |
| Leader of the Freedom People's Congress | |
| Assumed office 2 September 2022 | |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Minister of Mass Media | |
| In office 16 August 2021 – 3 April 2022 | |
| President | Gotabaya Rajapaksa |
| Prime Minister | Mahinda Rajapaksa |
| Preceded by | Keheliya Rambukwella |
| Succeeded by | Nalaka Godahewa |
| Minister of Power and Energy | |
| In office 12 August 2020 – 16 August 2021 | |
| President | Gotabaya Rajapaksa |
| Prime Minister | Mahinda Rajapaksa |
| Preceded by | Mahinda Amaraweera |
| Succeeded by | Gamini Lokuge |
| Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs | |
| In office 22 November 2019 – 12 August 2020 | |
| President | Gotabaya Rajapaksa |
| Prime Minister | Mahinda Rajapaksa |
| Preceded by | Harin Fernando |
| Succeeded by | Namal Rajapaksa |
| Member of Parliament forMatara District | |
| In office 2015–2024 | |
| In office 1994–2001 | |
| Member of Parliament forNational List | |
| In office 2005–2015 | |
| Preceded by | Lakshman Kadirgamar |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Dullas Daham Kumara Alahapperuma (1959-05-14)14 May 1959 (age 66) |
| Nationality | Sri Lankan |
| Political party | Freedom People's Congress(since 2022) |
| Other political affiliations | Sri Lanka Freedom Party(1994–2019) Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna(2019–2022) |
| Spouse | Pradeepa Dharmadasa |
| Children | Mahima Induwara Kaushika Nalanda |
| Alma mater | St. Servatius' College Ananda College |
| Occupation | Politician |
| Profession | Journalist |
Dullas Daham Kumara Alahapperuma (born 14 May 1959) is aSri Lankan politician and founder and current leader of theFreedom People's Congress. Alahapperuma is also a formerCabinet Minister of Information and Mass Media and a former Member of Parliament from theMatara District.
Alahapperuma was born on 14 May 1959 in Dikwella,Matara to Carolis and Aslin Alahapperuma, who were principals of local schools.[1] Alahapperuma received his primary and secondary education atSt. Servatius' College andAnanda College. He studied Political Science at the University of Iowa, for one and half years, but did not complete the degree.[2]
Alahapperuma started his career as a journalist, working atLakmina before joiningDivaina as an editor.[3] He entered parliament for the first time in1994 after topping the Matara preferential vote as aPeople's Alliance candidate with 76,678 votes.[4]
He was re-elected in2000 and served in the short-lived11th Parliament of Sri Lanka. He was also appointed Deputy Minister of Samurdhi, Rural Development, Parliamentary Affairs & Up-country Development. He surprisingly decided not to contest the 2001 General Election. He said he was 'too white' to be in the parliament referring to corruption.[5]
He was elected to Sri Lanka's13th Parliament as aUPFA National List MP on 19 December 2005, winning by-polls on a seat that had fallen vacant following the assassination of then Foreign MinisterLakshman Kadirgamar. He was appointed the Minister of Transport in 2007.
He re-entered parliament in2010 as a National List MP representing the UPFA and was subsequently appointed Minister of Youth Affairs. He voted in favour of the Eighteenth Amendment which gave the Executive President a wide range of powers including removing the term limit for re-election. In 2015, he voted in favour of theNineteenth Amendment under PresidentSirisena which curtailed presidential powers.
He contested the2015 parliamentary election as a UPFA candidate from Matara district and received 105,406 votes to enter parliament. In August 2016, he resigned from the Matara District SLFP leadership post.[6] In 2019, he was appointed the Minister of Sports along with two other portfolios of Ministries of Education and Youth Affairs.[7]
Alahapperuma contested the2020 parliamentary election as aSLPP candidate from the Matara district and received 103,534 votes to enter parliament. He voted in favour ofTwentieth Amendment which repealed 19th Amendment and restored more powers to the Executive President. In August 2020, Alahapperuma was appointed Minister of Power.[8] In the August 2021 cabinet reshuffle, he was appointed Minister of Mass Media.[9] He resigned from his cabinet portfolio in April 2022 as the2022 Sri Lankan political crisis deepened amidcivil protests.[10]
In July 2022, following the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Alahapperuma announced that he would run for president in the upcomingpresidential election to elect Gotabaya Rajapaksa's successor.[11] Alahapperuma was backed by Leader of the OppositionSajith Premadasa and SLPP Chairman and MP Professor G. L. Peiris.[12] Alahapperuma lost the election to acting presidentRanil Wickremesinghe.
On 31 August 2022, Dullas Alahapperuma and 13 others left the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna and crossed over to the opposition as an independent MP.[13] Two days later, Alahapperuma's faction launched a new political party, theFreedom People's Congress.[14]
He is married to popular singerPradeepa Dharmadasa, daughter of P.K. and Hema Dharmadasa ofGalle, and has two children.[1]
