Vajira Srimathi Dissanayake (Sinhala: වජිර ශ්රීමති දිසානායක, romanized: Vajira Śrīmati Disānāyaka; 7 January 1943 – 29 March 2019) was a Sri Lankan lawyer, politician and 1994 UNP presidential candidate.
Dissanayake was a lawyer by profession and was a member of the Central Provincial Council.[6][7] Her husband Gamini Dissanayake, who was the Leader of the Opposition, was chosen by the United National Party to be its candidate at the 1994 presidential election.[8] However, he was killed in a suicide bombing on 24 October 1994, sixteen days before the election.[9] The UNP, hoping to capitalise on the sympathy vote, chose Srima Dissanayake over former Prime MinisterRanil Wickremesinghe and former first ladyHema Premadasa to be Gamini Dissanayake’s replacement.[10] However, many UNP officials refused to campaign for Srima Dissanayake who, for security reasons, campaigned through the media only.[9][11] Dissanayake was heavily defeated by Prime Minister Chandrika Kumaratunga who swept the polls, winning in all but one of the 160 polling divisions.[12] Dissanayake received 2,715,283 votes (35.91%), the lowest share for a major party candidate in any Sri Lankan presidential election.[13][14]
Dissanayake left politics afterwards and devoted herself to her family, the Gamini Dissanayake Foundation and the Gamini Dissanayake Institute of Technology and Vocational Studies.[2][15]
Dissanayake died at a private hospital in Colombo on 29 March 2019.[16][17]