Days after getting a new President, Sri Lanka on Tuesday got Harini Amarasuriya as its new Prime Minister who became the first woman leader to hold the post since Sirimavo Bandaranaike in 2000

On September 22, 2024, the Sri Lankan election authority announced that Anura Kumara Dissanayake of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP)-led National

Ms Amarasuriya, 54, is the first woman in more than two decades and the only third woman in the history of independent Sri Lanka to take charge as the prime minister. She is a sociology lecturer and known for her activism on gender and minority rights.

Her academic background could bring a depth of analysis to policymaking, while her activist roots keep her connected to grassroots concerns.

Women make up more than half of the voters in Sri Lanka, but in Saturday’s presidential election, not even one will be on the ballot.

Sri Lanka's new president, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, named Harini Amarasuriya, a college professor and first-time lawmaker, as the new prime minister of the Indian Ocean island nation on Tuesday, making her the third woman to be appointed to the post.