Rohitha Bogollagama appointed as Sri Lanka High Commissioner to the UK
June 19, Colombo: Former Minister of Foreign Affairs Rohitha Bogollagama has been named as Sri Lanka’s next High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. His appointment will be effective from August 01, 2023. Mr. Bogollagama served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs from January 2007 to April 2010. He also served as the Governor of the Eastern Province from July 2017 to December 2018.
POLITICAL CAREER
As a member of the United National Party, Bogollagama was elected to parliament in 2000 for Kurunegala District, and served the Parliamentary Consultative Committees on Finance, Foreign Affairs, Defence, Industrial Development & Investment Promotion, and Power & Energy. On 12 December 2001, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe appointed him Minister of Industries. As minister he initiated the “Yuga Dekma”, a large industrial fair, in 2002. In 2004 president Chandrika Kumaratunga dissolved parliament and removed non-cabinet ministers on 12 February.
While in opposition in 2004, he was appointed by a unanimous decision to serve as the Chairman of the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE), an oversight committee of parliament responsible for accountability of public enterprises.
Bogollagama switched political allegiance on 18 November 2004, siding with the United People’s Freedom Alliance; the President swore him in as the Cabinet Minister of Advanced Technology and National Enterprise Development on the same day.
He became the Minister of Enterprise and Development on 23 November 2005. As Minister, he argued in favour of returning Sri Lanka to GMT +05:30 time, which was the official time before 1996. He represented the government of Sri Lanka at two rounds of peace talks with the LTTE at Geneva in 2006.
He was defeated in the General Elections held on 8 April 2010, losing his seat in parliament and was not reappointed the cabinet.