Rosy Senanayake | |
|---|---|
 Senanayake in 2013 | |
| Mayor of Colombo | |
| In office 19 March 2018 – 19 March 2023 | |
| Preceded by | A. J. M. Muzammil |
| Succeeded by | Vraîe Cally Balthazaar |
| Prime Minister's Spokesperson and the Deputy Head of thePrime Minister's Office | |
| In office 15 September 2015 – 19 March 2018 | |
| Prime Minister | Ranil Wickremesinghe |
| State Minister for Child Affairs | |
| In office 12 January 2015 – 17 August 2015 | |
| Member of Parliament forColombo District | |
| In office 22 April 2010 – 26 June 2015 | |
| Majority | 66,357 Preferential Votes |
| Leader of the opposition of theWestern Province Provincial Council | |
| In office 2009–2010 | |
| Sri LankanHigh Commissioner toMalaysia | |
| In office 2001–2004 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1958-01-05)5 January 1958 (age 67) |
| Nationality | Sri Lankan |
| Political party | United National Party |
| Spouse | Athula Senanayake |
| Children | Kanishka Thisakya Radhya |
| Alma mater | Ferguson High School, Ratnapura |
| Occupation | Politician |
| Title | Mrs. World 1984 (First Mrs. World), Miss Asia Pacific International 1981, Miss World Sri Lanka 1980 |
Bernadine Rose Senanayake,JP, UM (néeRamanayake; born 5 January 1958[1]), better known asRosy Senanayake, is aSri Lankan politician,[2] beauty pageant titleholder and activist currently serving as Presidential Advisor on Local Government affairs. She was theMayor of Colombo from 2018 to 2023,[3][4] and formerPrime Minister's Spokesperson and the Deputy Head of the Prime Minister's Office forRanil Wickramasinghe.[5] She has been an activist on several issues and an active figure in the opposition gaining much limelight.
Rosy Senanayake was the former state minister for child development under PresidentMaithripala Sirisena. She was also theleader of the opposition inWestern Provincial Council and the chief organizer ofUnited National Party for theColombo West electorate. Senanayake has served as the Sri LankanHigh Commissioner forMalaysia[6] and was aGoodwill Ambassador for theUnited Nations Population Fund.
She was educated at Embilipitiya Maha Vidayala (1969–1974) and Ferguson High School, Ratnapura. She married late Athula Senanayake, an entrepreneur[7] who is the son ofStanley Senanayake, a formerInspector General of Police and Maya Senanayake, the daughter of the founder ofNalanda College, ColomboP. de S. Kularatne (MP). They (Athula and Rosy) have three children Kanishka, Thisakya and Radhya.[8]
Senanayake won the firstMrs. World competition in 1984. She is also a former Miss Asia Pacific International 1981 and competed as Miss Sri Lanka inMiss World 1980.[9]
Her professional life has been devoted to promoting Sri Lanka and particularly Sri Lankan trade to the world. She works for the rights of women and adolescents in her country and as a United Nations Population Fund Goodwill Ambassador. Through the National Youth Services Council she promoted reproductive health services for young people and for migrant women workers in Sri Lanka's Free Trade Zone.[10]
Senanayake has worked with the private sector to provide reproductive health services to employees of private companies in Sri Lanka and recently starred in a film about reproductive health. Through her popular daytime television programEliya she has become an icon for women's and children's causes in Sri Lanka.
In 1998 she was appointed as aUnited Nations Population FundGoodwill Ambassador. Senanayake was appointed as Sri LankanHigh Commissioner toMalaysia in 2002, which she held until 2004.
A major opposition activist, she is the Chief Organiser for the Colombo West Electorate of theUnited National Party. She was elected to the Western Provincial Council in 2009, topping the preferential votes list in Colombo District by obtaining 80,884 votes. There, she served as the Leader of the Opposition until being elected to the parliament in 2010 securing the fourth place in the UNP list with 66,357 preferences.[11] In Parliament, she has raised several prominent issues such as violence against women and children, chauvinism and socio-cultural and socio-economic problems affecting Sri Lanka.[12]
The UK-basedGuardian in its edition of 14 June 2013 published an article titled, "Top 10 sexist moments in politics: Julia Gillard, Hillary Clinton and more" which described an encounter in 2012 between Rosy Senanayake andKumara Welgama, Sri Lanka's transport minister, as sexist. Welgama is quoted as saying, "You are such a charming woman. I cannot explain my feelings here. But if you meet me outside Parliament, I will describe them … My thoughts are running riot … I don't want to reveal [them] to the public." Senanayake was unimpressed, saying, "......As a woman you are not recognised as a person who has done so many portfolios, but always referred to as the beauty you were in your heyday. I consider that as a sexist remark."[13]
Witnesses appearing beforePresidential Commission of Inquiry[14] stated that Rosy Senanayake had leaked some secret information of theCommittee on Public Enterprises (COPE) inParliament to the Perpetual Treasuries Limited (PTL).[15] Nuwan Salgado, the Chief Dealer of PTL, revealed at the Commission that Arjun Aloysius, the Chief Executive Officer of the PTL, had received a document in 2016 related to the COPE fromRosy's son, the son of Rosy Senanayake.[16] Rosy rejected the allegations stating that she was not a Member of Parliament at the time.[17]
Miss World 1980 national titleholders | |
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