Who Is Harini Amarasuriya? Sri Lanka's 1st Woman Prime Minister In Over 2 Decades

Harini Amarasuriya on Tuesday became the first woman to be sworn in as the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka in over two decades since Sirimavo Bandaranaike held the post in 2000.

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake swore the 54-year-old National People's Power (NPP) -- Jathika Jana Balawegaya (JJB) -- leader. Dissanayake appointed is cabinet of four ministers, including himself. Amarasuriya will hold the portfolios of Minister of Justice, Education, Labour, Industries, Science and Tech, Health and Investment.

A human rights activisit and university lecturer, Amarasuriya has replaced Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena, who resigned from his post following the recent presidential polls.

Amarasuriya is also the third Prime Minister in the country's history.

NPP parliamentarians Vijitha Herath and Laxman Nipunarachchi were also sworn in as Cabinet Ministers. They will be serving as the caretakers cabinet with the Parliament's imminent dissolution to call for a snap parliamentary election. News agency PTI cited officials to be saying that the election could happen in late November.

As per Melbourne Law School's MF community, Amarasuriya is a senior lecturer in the Social Studies Department of Sri Lanka Open University.

Born in 1970, Amarasuriya has a Bachelors degree in Sociology and a Masters in App. Anthropology and Development Studies. She also holds a PhD in Social Anthropology from the University of Edinburgh. She is also a board member of the Law and Society Trust at the Centre for Women's Research and Nest, which is a local community based mental health.

According to Sri Lanka's Parliament website, Amarasuriya has been a part of several parliamentarian committees, including Women Parliamentarians Caucus in Parliament, Sectoral Oversight Committee on International Relations, Parliamentary Caucus for Animal Welfare, Committee on Ethics and Privileges, Committee on Public Accounts, among others.

Notably, Dissanayake was sworn in as Sri Lanka's ninth President on Sunday following his victory in the presidential election which were held on Saturday, September 21.