Ajith Manapperuma sworn in to fill JJ’s seat

By Ashwin Hemmathagama – Our Lobby Correspondent

Ajith Mannapperuma took oaths yesterday before Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa as a new Member of Parliament for Gampaha representing the United National Party (UNP), filling the seat left vacant by the late Dr. Jayalath Jayawardena.

MP Mannapperuma, who contested the 2010 Parliamentary General Elections on the UNP ticket from the Gampaha district, obtained 44,812 preferential votes and topped the list of unsuccessful candidates.

Mannapperuma, born in 1963, is a civil engineer who graduated from the University of Moratuwa. He first came into politics in 2002 when he became Mayor for Gampaha and subsequently also served as a Provincial Councillor.