PARLIAMENT

Today (10) from 10.00 am to 5.30 pm the time was allotted for Vote of Condolence regarding the late Member of Parliament Hon. Amarakeerthi Athukorala who was killed during the recent clashes.

After the Leader of the House, Minister Hon. Dinesh Gunawardena presented the motion of condolence in Parliament today, several Members of the ruling party and the opposition expressed their condolences to the House.

Born on December 23, 1964 in Aluthgama, Mr. Amarakeerthi Athukorala received his primary education from Aluthgama Central College. He then entered Thurstan College, Colombo for Advance Level and holds a Diploma in English from the Open University of Sri Lanka.

After completing his Advance Level in Maths stream, he joined the Co-operative Wholesale Establishment (CWE) as a clerk and was promoted to the position of manager. Mr. Athukorala then retired from the CWE after 23 years of service and joined the staff of the then Deputy Minister of Land Development, Mr. Chandrasiri Sooriyarachchi.

He then entered active politics and was elected to the North Central Provincial Council in 2008 with 13,000 preferential votes. Subsequently, Mr. Athukorala was elected to the Provincial Council for the second time in the 2012 Provincial Council Election.

The Leader of the House, Minister Hon. Dinesh Gunawardena, presenting the motion of condolence, said that his outstanding service for the development of the Buddha Sasana, development of various infrastructure facilities, implementation of agricultural and development projects, and the provision of assistance to low-income earners, and persons with disabilities were outstanding.

He was elected to Parliament for the first time representing the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna from the Polonnaruwa District in the 2020 General Elections. He was 58 years old at the time of his death.

Mr. Athukorala was married to Mrs. Malani Silva in the year 2000 and is a father of one.