Rohitha Bogollagama

Honourable Rohitha Bogollagama MP
Rohitha Bogollagama at the Shangri-La Dialogue in 2007
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office 28 January 2007 – 23 April 2010
President	Mahinda Rajapaksa
Prime Minister	Ratnasiri Wickremanayake
Preceded by	Mangala Samaraweera
Succeeded by	G. L. Peiris
Minister of Enterprise Development and Investment Promotion
In office 23 November 2005 – 28 January 2007
President	Mahinda Rajapaksa
Prime Minister	Ratnasiri Wickremanayake
Succeeded by	Sarath Amunugama
Minister of Advanced Technology and National Enterprise
In office 18 November 2004 – 23 November 2005
President	Chandrika Kumaratunga
Prime Minister	Mahinda Rajapaksa
Minister of Industries of Sri Lanka
In office 12 December 2001 – 12 February 2004
President	Chandrika Kumaratunga
Prime Minister	Ranil Wickremesinghe
Succeeded by	Anura Bandaranaike
Personal details
Born	6 August 1954 Nikaweratiya, North Western Province, Sri Lanka
Nationality	Sri Lankan
Political party	Sri Lanka Freedom Party (2004 - Present) United National Party (2000 - 2004)
Spouse(s)	Deepthi Bogollagama (née Samarakone)
Children	Dhakshitha, Dilshani
Residence	40 / 13, Longdon Place, Colombo 07, Sri Lanka
Alma mater	Ananda College, Colombo Sri Lanka Law College
Profession	Lawyer
Religion	Buddhist
Website	Official website

Chandrasekera Rohitha Bandara Bogollagama (born 6 August 1954) (known as Rohitha Bogollagama) (Sinhala: රෝහිත බෝගොල්ලාගම, Tamil: ரோகித போகோல்லாகம) is a Sri Lankan politician and former Sri Lanka Freedom Party chief organiser for the Kotte Electorate.^[1] He had also served as the Cabinet Minister of Foreign Affairs from 28 January 2007 until he was defeated in the General Elections held on 8 April 2010, losing his seat in parliament.^[2][3] He had a long career in law running from 1976 to 1999, before being elected to the Sri Lankan parliament in 2000.

Early life

Born in Nikaweratiya, North Western Province, to Chandrasekera Malala Banda Bogollagama (former Chairman, National Lotterys Board from 1966 to 1970) and Vinitha Bogollagama (née Senerath),^[4] he is one of their five children.^[5] Bogollagama attended Ananda College in Colombo and later the Sri Lanka Law College, passing out in 1976. He was called to the Bar and enrolled as Attorney-at-Law by the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka in October 1976.

Legal career

Bogollagama's career in law ran for nearly thirty years, and included serving as legal consultant to the Ceylon Fertiliser Corporation from 1985 to 1993, and legal advisor to the United States government-run Voice of America from 1991 to 1999. He was also Chairman of the Sri Lanka Cement Corporation and Chairman and Director General of the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka.

Political career

As a member of the United National Party, Bogollagama was elected to parliament in 2000 for Kurunegala District, and served the Parliamentary Consultative Committees on Finance, Foreign Affairs, Defence, Industrial Development & Investment Promotion, and Power & Energy. On 12 December 2001, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe appointed him Minister of Industries.^[6] As minister he initiated the "Yuga Dekma", a large industrial fair, in 2002. In 2004 president Chandrika Kumaratunga dissolved parliament and removed non-cabinet ministers on 12 February.

While in opposition in 2004, he was appointed by a unanimous decision to serve as the Chairman of the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE), an oversight committee of parliament responsible for accountability of public enterprises.^[7]

Bogollagama switched political allegiance on 18 November 2004, siding with the United People's Freedom Alliance; the President swore him in as the Cabinet Minister of Advanced Technology and National Enterprise Development on the same day.^[8]

He became the Minister of Enterprise and Development on 23 November 2005.^[9] As Minister, he argued in favour of returning Sri Lanka to GMT +05:30 time, which was the official time before 1996.^[10] He represented the government of Sri Lanka at two rounds of peace talks with the LTTE at Geneva in 2006.^[3]

He was defeated in the General Elections held on 8 April 2010, losing his seat in parliament and was not reappointed the cabinet.

Foreign Affairs Career

Bogollagama was acclaimed for the diplomacy he demonstrated when engaging with the international community on promoting investment, tourism, trade and strengthening diplomatic relations, which he did in a constructive and consistent basis as Cabinet Minister of Foreign Affairs.^[11]

Family

He is married to Deepthi Samarakone, She is the youngest daughter of Donald Samarakone (formerly of Ceylon Civil Service) & Srima Samarakone (daughter of Mudliyar A. V. Rathnayake and Mrs Jennifer Rathnayake of "Ratnagiri Walawwa", Boralesgamuwa) has three sisters Kusum, Sucharitha and Jayathri. Rohitha & Deepthi Bogollagama have son & daughter. Dhakshitha a BBM graduate in Finance from the Singapore Management University, Singapore and Dr. Dilshani Bogollagama (All India Institute of Medical Sciences).

See also

• Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka

References

1. President Mahinda Rajapaksa visited Sri Jayewardenepura, Kotte Daily News, Retrieved on 27 February 2014.
2. "Sri Lankan president reshuffles cabinet". People's Daily Online. 29 January 2007. Retrieved 2008-09-29.
3. "Rohitha Bogollagama, MP, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sri Lanka". The International Institute For Strategic Studies. 8 March 2007. Retrieved 2008-09-29.
4. C.M.B. BOGALLAGAMA, Maintained Bar and Bench relationship. Daily News, Retrieved on 17th October 2014.
5. "Obituaries". Daily News - Lakehouse Newspapers. 20 September 2005. Retrieved 2008-09-29.
6. "Sri Lanka cabinet list". BBC News. 12 December 2001. Retrieved 2008-09-29.
7. "Bogollagama elected COPE Chairman". Daily News. 13 October 2004. Retrieved 2008-09-29.
8. "Bogollagama joins Government". Daily News. 19 November 2004. Retrieved 2008-09-29.
9. Nakkawita, Wijitha (24 November 2005). "New chiselled down Cabinet sworn in". The Island. Retrieved 2008-09-29.
10. Sudworth, John (3 April 2006). "Time to end Sri Lanka time split?". BBC News. Retrieved 2008-09-29.
11. The Activism of Rohitha Bogollagama – Convincing the International Community Lankaweb, Retrieved on 27 May 2009.

External links

• ‘Maha Sangha’s blessings help people to lead exemplary lives’
• Sri Lanka has clear foreign policy
• We achieved the impossible in May 2009