Prof. Wiswa Warnapala no more

General Secretary of the United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) and former Cabinet Minister Prof. Wiswa Warnapala passed away at a private hospital in Colombo yesterday. He was 79 at the time of his demise.

Prof. Warnapala was appointed General Secretary of the UPFA in August 2015 following the resignation of Minister Susil Premajayantha. He was an active member of the SLFP, since his university days. He was appointed to the SLFP Central Committee by the late Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike in the 1980s. He was the SLFP organiser for the Kegalle electorate from 1983 to 1989.

Born on December 26, 1936, Prof. Warnapala entered politics from the SLFP and was appointed a National List MP in 1994. He also served as the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Minister of Higher Education.

Prof.Warnapala was also an author, scholar and political analyst. He first earned a B.A. (Ceylon) in Economics with Honours in 1964.

In 1967, he earned his M.A. From Pittsburg, USA. Three years later he obtained his PhD at the University of Leeds, England. In 1986, he was the Professor of Political Science and Head of the Department of Political Science, University of Peradeniya.