Dullas Alahapperuma

{{Infobox officeholder

| honorific-prefix = Hon.

| name = Dullas Alahapperuma

| native_name = ඩලස් අලහප්පෙරුම
டல்லாஸ் அழகப்பெரும

| honorific-suffix = MP

| image = Dullas Alahapperuma GloCha-Klagenfurt-2014 9799-2.jpg

| caption = Alahapperuma in 2014

| office = Leader of the Freedom People's Congress

| term_start = 2 September 2022

| term_end =

| predecessor = Position established

| successor =

| office1 = Minister of Mass Media

| president1 = Gotabaya Rajapaksa

| primeminister1 = Mahinda Rajapaksa

| term_start1 = 16 August 2021

| term_end1 = 3 April 2022

| predecessor1 = Keheliya Rambukwella

| successor1 = Nalaka Godahewa

| office2 = Minister of Power and Energy

| term_start2 = 12 August 2020

| term_end2 = 16 August 2021

| president2 = Gotabaya Rajapaksa

| primeminister2 = Mahinda Rajapaksa

| predecessor2 = Mahinda Amaraweera

| successor2 = Gamini Lokuge

| office3 = Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs

| term_start3 = 22 November 2019

| term_end3 = 12 August 2020

| president3 = Gotabaya Rajapaksa

| primeminister3 = Mahinda Rajapaksa

| predecessor3 = Harin Fernando

| successor3 = Namal Rajapaksa

| constituency_MP4 = Matara District

| parliament4 = Sri Lankan

| term_start4 = 2015

| term_end4 = 2024

| term_start5 = 1994

| term_end5 = 2001

| constituency_MP6 = National List

| parliament6 = Sri Lankan

| term_start6 = 2005

| term_end6 = 2015

| predecessor6 = Lakshman Kadirgamar

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1959|05|14}}

| birth_place = Dikwella, Matara, Ceylon

| nationality = Sri Lankan

| party = Freedom People's Congress (since 2022)

| spouse = Pradeepa Dharmadasa

| children = Mahima Induwara
Kaushika Nalanda

| birth_name = Dullas Daham Kumara Alahapperuma

| alma_mater = St. Servatius' College
Ananda College

| occupation = Politician

| profession = Journalist

| signature =

| website =

| footnotes =

| otherparty = Sri Lanka Freedom Party (1994–2019)
Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (2019–2022)

}}

Dullas Daham Kumara Alahapperuma (born 14 May 1959) is a Sri Lankan politician and founder and current leader of the Freedom People's Congress. Alahapperuma is also a former Cabinet Minister of Information and Mass Media and a former Member of Parliament from the Matara District.

Early life

Alahapperuma was born on 14 May 1959 in Dikwella, Matara to Carolis and Aslin Alahapperuma, who were principals of local schools.{{cite news |last1=Welabada |first1=Lakmal |title='I appreciate him as a politician but prefer the journalist in him' |url=https://archives.sundayobserver.lk/2008/10/05/spe07.asp |access-date=19 July 2022 |work=Sunday Observer |publisher=Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited |date=5 October 2008}} Alahapperuma received his primary and secondary education at St. Servatius' College and Ananda College. He studied Political Science at the University of Iowa, for one and half years, but did not complete the degree.{{Cite web|title=BUSINESS TODAY -Dullas Alahapperuma Outlines the track record|url=https://www.businesstoday.lk/cover_page.php?article=684|access-date=2020-07-23|website=www.businesstoday.lk|archive-date=23 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200723103743/https://www.businesstoday.lk/cover_page.php?article=684|url-status=dead}}

Political career

Alahapperuma started his career as a journalist, working at Lakmina before joining Divaina as an editor.{{cite web |last1=Krishnamurthy |first1=N |title=I will not be a Showman, Says Sri Lanka New Sports Minister Alahapperuma |url=https://www.cricketage.in/2019/11/25/24850-i-will-not-be-a-showman-says-sri-lanka-new-sports-minister-alahapperuma/ |website=cricketage.in |publisher=Cricket Age |access-date=19 July 2022 |date=25 November 2019}} He entered parliament for the first time in 1994 after topping the Matara preferential vote as a People's Alliance candidate with 76,678 votes.{{cite web |title=Parliamentary General Election - 1994 |url=https://elections.gov.lk/web/wp-content/uploads/election-results/parliamentary-elections/general-election-1994.pdf |website=elections.gov.lk |publisher=Election Commission of Sri Lanka |access-date=19 July 2022}}

He was re-elected in 2000 and served in the short-lived 11th Parliament of Sri Lanka. He was also appointed Deputy Minister of Samurdhi, Rural Development, Parliamentary Affairs & Up-country Development. He surprisingly decided not to contest the 2001 General Election. He said he was 'too white' to be in the parliament referring to corruption.{{cite news |last1=Seneviratne |first1=Malinda |title=Pots, kettles and an all-black political system |url=https://www.dailymirror.lk/print/opinion/Pots-kettles-and-an-all-black-political-system/172-143753 |access-date=19 July 2022 |work=Daily Mirror |publisher=Wijeya Newspapers |date=11 January 2018}}

He was elected to Sri Lanka's 13th Parliament as a UPFA National List MP on 19 December 2005, winning by-polls on a seat that had fallen vacant following the assassination of then Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar. He was appointed the Minister of Transport in 2007.

He re-entered parliament in 2010 as a National List MP representing the UPFA and was subsequently appointed Minister of Youth Affairs. He voted in favour of the Eighteenth Amendment which gave the Executive President a wide range of powers including removing the term limit for re-election. In 2015, he voted in favour of the Nineteenth Amendment under President Sirisena which curtailed presidential powers.

He contested the 2015 parliamentary election as a UPFA candidate from Matara district and received 105,406 votes to enter parliament. In August 2016, he resigned from the Matara District SLFP leadership post.{{Cite web|url=http://www.adaderana.lk/news/36570/dallas-resigns-from-matara-district-slfp-leader-post/|title=Dullas resigns from Matara District SLFP leader post|date=19 August 2016|website=Ada Derana News}} In 2019, he was appointed the Minister of Sports along with two other portfolios of Ministries of Education and Youth Affairs.{{cite news |title=Dullas appointed Sports Minister |url=https://www.pressreader.com/sri-lanka/daily-mirror-sri-lanka/20191123/282480005638770 |access-date=19 July 2022 |work=Daily Mirror |publisher=Wijeya Newspapers |date=23 November 2019 |via=PressReader}}

Alahapperuma contested the 2020 parliamentary election as a SLPP candidate from the Matara district and received 103,534 votes to enter parliament. He voted in favour of Twentieth Amendment which repealed 19th Amendment and restored more powers to the Executive President. In August 2020, Alahapperuma was appointed Minister of Power.{{Cite web|url=http://www.adaderana.lk/news/66385/full-list-new-cabinet-ministers-and-state-ministers|title=New Cabinet Ministers and State Ministers|date=12 August 2020|website=Ada Derana News}} In the August 2021 cabinet reshuffle, he was appointed Minister of Mass Media.{{Cite web|url=https://economynext.com/top-ministers-trade-places-in-sri-lankas-snap-cabinet-reshuffle-84934/|title=Top ministers trade places in Sri Lanka's snap cabinet reshuffle|date=16 August 2021|website=economyNext}} He resigned from his cabinet portfolio in April 2022 as the 2022 Sri Lankan political crisis deepened amid civil protests.{{Cite web|url=https://www.newsfirst.lk/2022/04/03/sri-lankan-cabinet-decides-to-resign-mahinda-rajapaksa-to-remain-as-pm/|title=Sri Lankan Cabinet decides to resign; Mahinda Rajapaksa to remain as PM|date=3 April 2022|website=Sri Lanka News - Newsfirst}}

In July 2022, following the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Alahapperuma announced that he would run for president in the upcoming presidential election to elect Gotabaya Rajapaksa's successor.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-07-15/here-are-the-main-contenders-to-be-sri-lanka-s-next-president|title= Here Are The Main Contenders to Be Sri Lanka's Next President |date=15 July 2022|website=Bloomberg News}} Alahapperuma was backed by Leader of the Opposition Sajith Premadasa and SLPP Chairman and MP Professor G. L. Peiris.{{Cite web|url=https://www.newsfirst.lk/2022/07/19/dullas-ranil-anura-to-contest-for-president-vote-on-wednesday-20/|title=Dullas, Ranil, Anura to contest for President; Vote on Wednesday (20)|date=19 July 2022|website=Sri Lanka News - Newsfirst}} Alahapperuma lost the election to acting president Ranil Wickremesinghe.

On 31 August 2022, Dullas Alahapperuma and 13 others left the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna and crossed over to the opposition as an independent MP.{{Cite web |date=2022-08-31 |title=SLPP Chairman G. L. Peiris & several SLPP MPs become independent |url=https://www.newsfirst.lk/2022/08/31/slpp-chairman-g-l-peiris-several-slpp-mps-become-independent/ |access-date=2022-08-31 |website=Sri Lanka News - Newsfirst |language=en}} Two days later, Alahapperuma's faction launched a new political party, the Freedom People's Congress.{{Cite web |title=New coalition "'Freedom People's Alliance"' launched |url=https://adaderana.lk/news/87510/new-coalition-freedom-peoples-alliance-launched- |access-date=2023-01-11 |website=adaderana.lk |language=en}}