Harini Amarasuriya

Prime Minister — Government of Sri Lanka (NPP)

About Harini Amarasuriya

Key facts Role: Prime Minister and education minister Organisation: Government of Sri Lanka (NPP) Country: Sri Lanka Sector: Politics & Government Headline figures: Record 655,289 preferential votes in November 2024; Rs65bn Life Cities programme for 26 towns "A city is not a concrete jungle," Harini Amarasuriya told local officials in Colombo on 11 September. She was launching Life Cities, a programme with Rs65bn allocated to redevelop 26 Sri Lankan towns, as Newswire reported. The first ten, including Jaffna, Batticaloa, Matara and Badulla, received their project plans that day, and 16 more are scheduled for 2027. Eleven days later Amarasuriya was in Parliament answering questions as education minister on getting 4,570 smart boards into classrooms. The two appearances show the scope of her job. She is Sri Lanka's prime minister and also runs the country's biggest social-policy portfolio: education, higher education and vocational education. The role Sri Lanka has an executive presidency, and President Anura Kumara Dissanayake holds the finance portfolio himself. The prime minister's formal power is therefore narrower than that of heads of government in parliamentary systems. Amarasuriya's authority comes from three sources. She leads government business in a Parliament where the National People's Power (NPP) holds an overwhelming two-thirds majority, as The Sunday Times noted. She controls the education system that serves the country's children. And she has a personal mandate: in the November 2024 general election she topped the NPP's Colombo list with a record 655,289 preferential votes, according to the Council of Women World Leaders. “A city is not a concrete jungle,” — Amarasuriya, to local officials in Colombo on 11 September Background Her rise was fast. An academic with a doctorate in social anthropology from the University of Edinburgh, she spent about a decade as a senior lecturer in sociology at the Open University of Sri Lanka. She was active in university teachers' unions campaigning for higher education spending, and was lead author of the 2014 National Human Development Report. She entered Parliament only in 2020. After Dissanayake won the presidency in September 2024 he appointed her prime minister, making her the third woman to hold the post after Sirimavo Bandaranaike and Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, Reuters reported. She was reappointed after the NPP's parliamentary landslide in November 2024. Education reform Education reform has been both her flagship and her hardest test. New Grade 1 reforms went ahead in 2026. But in January the government postponed Grade 6 reforms to 2027 after a public storm over errors and inappropriate content in new teaching modules, including an English module that contained the address of a chat website. The Sunday Times said the reforms had faced relentless pressure from religious figures, trade unions and opposition parties. The cabinet cited findings from a Criminal Investigation Department probe and the need for a full curriculum review. "The government clearly believes that education reform cannot go forward without minimum public confidence," the cabinet spokesman, Nalinda Jayatissa, said. Amarasuriya insisted the reform process would continue. An opposition no-confidence motion against her was mooted in the same month. The government set aside 22–23 January for a debate, the Daily FT reported, but LSN has found no record of the motion being formally tabled. Regional profile Her regional profile rests on Sri Lanka's attempt to recover from the 2022 economic collapse and debt default, which Reuters called the country's worst crisis in 70 years. She has made the rule of law a recurring theme. On 15 September she said "everyone is equal before the law" and that the police, courts and investigators must work without political interference, Ada Derana reported. What to watch: delivery of the first ten Life Cities projects, the relaunch of the Grade 6 reforms in 2027, and whether she keeps both the premiership and the education ministry as the government moves past its midterm. Amarasuriya ranks 34th because she combines the premiership, a record personal mandate and control of Sri Lanka's education system. Her formal power is capped by an executive presidency that keeps the main economic levers. Sources Newswire, Rs. 65 billion for 26 'Life Cities'; 10 cities selected for first phase , 12 Sep 2026 Yarlosai, Sri Lanka launches 'Life Cities' urban development programme , 12 Sep 2026 Newswire, Over 4,500 smart boards allocated to schools across Sri Lanka: PM , 22 Sep 2026 Ada Derana, 'Everyone is equal before the law' – PM Harini , 15 Sep 2026 The Morning, 'Everyone is equal before the law' – Prime Minister , 15 Sep 2026 The Sunday Times (Sri Lanka), Govt. buckles under pressure, but says education reforms are very much alive , 18 Jan 2026 Newswire, Education reforms for Grade 6 pushed to 2027 – Cabinet , 13 Jan 2026 Daily FT, Govt. says ready for no-confidence debate against PM Harini , 14 Jan 2026 Reuters, Sri Lanka President Dissanayake picks Amarasuriya as PM, takes finance job , 24 Sep 2024 Council of Women World Leaders, profile

Why this entry is on the list

Amarasuriya ranks 34th because she combines the premiership, a record personal mandate and control of Sri Lanka's education system. Her formal power is capped by an executive presidency that keeps the main economic levers. She topped the NPP's Colombo list with a record 655,289 preferential votes in November 2024 and leads government business in a Parliament where the NPP holds a two-thirds majority.