Wijayapala Mendis

Hon.
Wijayapala Mendis
Chief Opposition Whip
In office
25 August 1994 – 21 July 1998
Leader of the House
In office
7 May 1993 – 24 June 1994
Preceded byRanil Wickramasinghe
Succeeded byRatnasiri Wickremanayake
Personal details
Born16 December 1928
British Ceylon
Died1 September 2012(2012-09-01) (aged 83)
Sri Lanka
NationalitySri Lankan
Political partyUnited National Party
Other political
affiliations		People's Alliance
SpouseNanda de Silva[1]
Children4[1]
Alma materMaris Stella College, Negombo
Harischandra National College, Negombo
OccupationPolitician

Thenahandi Wijayapala Hector Mendis (16 December 1928 – 1 September 2012) was a Sri Lankan politician and a member of the Parliament of Sri Lanka.

Life and career

Mendis was born on 16 December 1928, third child of the former Mayor of Negombo, Mudliyar David Mendis and Magilin.[1] He began his political career by joining United National Party Youth League of Negombo at age 19 and was elected the Mayor of Negombo in 1954.[1]

He was married to Nanda de Silva for 59 years.[2] They had three daughters and one son, Manouri, Davindra, Dilupa and Nadika.[3]

In 1960 he entered Parliament from the Katana electorate as a United National Party candidate, and was re-elected in 1965[4] when he was promoted to Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Works, Post and Telecommunications.[5] Except for a brief period after the defeat at the 1970 general election[6] he represented the seat until 1989. After the landslide victory by the United National Party in the 1977 general election, he was appointed Minister of Textile Industries in 1977 and in 1989 he was Minister of Transport and Highways.[5] In 1993 after the assassination of President Premadasa and Ranil Wickremesinghe became Prime Minister, he was appointed Leader of the House.[7]

Mendis became the Chief Opposition Whip[8] after the 1994 parliamentary election until 1998 when he joined the People's Alliance Government with the United National Party alternative group in opposition to the United National Party leadership.[5] He lost his seat in 2001.

Wijayapala Mendis died on 1 September 2012, age 83.

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wimalaratne, Sarath (16 December 2012). ""Devout Buddhist, extraordinary husband and father, and man of the people"". The Sunday Times (Sri Lanka).
  2. ^ "[APPRECIATIONS - (25-04-2016)]". Daily News. Retrieved 2021-07-29.
  3. ^ "Appreciations | The Sunday Times Sri Lanka". Retrieved 2021-07-29.
  4. ^ ""RESULTS OF PARLIAMENTARY GENERAL ELECTION - 22/03/1965"" (PDF). Election Commission of Sri Lanka. Retrieved 21 February 2016.[dead link‍]
  5. ^ a b c ""Wijayapala Mendis passes away"". Sunday Observer (Sri Lanka). 2 September 2012. Archived from the original on 3 February 2016. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
  6. ^ ""RESULTS OF PARLIAMENTARY GENERAL ELECTION - May 27, 1970"" (PDF). Election Commission of Sri Lanka. Retrieved 21 February 2016.[dead link‍]
  7. ^ "Leaders of the House". Parliament of Sri Lanka. Retrieved 21 February 2016.
  8. ^ "Chief Opposition Whips". Parliament of Sri Lanka. Retrieved 21 February 2016.