Mr. Samaraweera was functioning as the Foreign minister from 2006-2007 and from 2015 January 12 onwards.
Since first entering the Parliament of Sri Lanka as a representative of the Matara District in 1989, he is well known among the political circles as a figure capable of making prominent changes in the political arena. He is also known to have the 'knack' for cultivating strong foreign relations.
Beginnings
Samaraweera is the son of Mahanama Samaraweera, who was a Cabinet Minister of Local Government, Housing, Posts and Telecommunications in Sirimavo Bandaranaike's government, and Khema Samaraweera, a member of the Matara Urban Council. A graduate in Clothing Design and Technology from St. Martin's School of Art in London, he served as a design consultant to the National Design Center of Sri Lanka prior to his political career.
He was the Sri Lanka Freedom Party's chief organizer for the southern city Matara beginning in 1983 and was appointed as Minister of Post & Telecommunications in the cabinet of President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga in 1994.
After falling out with the then government, Samaraweera went on to create a new political party, the SLFP (Mahajana) wing.
Turn of the tide
He later joined the UNP and the unison was symbolised in the following pictures depicting the UNP leader - Ranil Wickremesinghe holding a blue flag and Samaraweera holding a green flag.
Mangala, special to Mirror
Mr. Samaraweera has always been a supportive and special figure to 'Sri Lanka Mirror'.
When 'Sri Lanka Mirror' was extremely critical of the Rajapaksa regime, the CID raided our office in mid 2012, arresting 06 staff members including our Editor - Kelum Shivantha. From the time of incident to the time of their release, Mr. Samaraweera remained a tower of support to us.
Golden age
In the Western world, ushering in the 60s is considered as entering the golden age in life.The editorial of 'Sri Lanka Mirror' wish to extend our warm wishes to minister Samaraweera as he celebrates this special milestone in life.
