Wickremanayake, Ratnasiri, 1933–2016, Sri Lankan political leader. He entered the Sri Lankan parliament (1960) as a member of the People's United Front; in 1962 he joined the Sri Lanka Freedom party (SLFP). He served as minister of plantation industries (1975–77) and justice (1977). Returning to parliament in 1994, he held ministerial posts in public administration, plantation industries, parliamentary affairs, and home affairs. Wickremanayake succeeded Sirimavo Bandaranaike as prime minister in 2000, a post he held until 2001, when the SLFP-led People's Alliance lost power. Returning to parliament again in 2004, he was minister of Buddhist affairs, public security, and agriculture, then once again prime minister (2005–10). Regarded as a hard-line Buddhist politician, he was strongly opposed to a negotiated settlement with Tamil rebels in the civil war.
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