Mangala Samaraweera

Mangala Pinsiri Samaraweera (Sinhala: මංගල පින්සිරි සමරවීර, Tamil: மங்கள சமரவீர; pronounced [mˈʌŋgɘlɘ pinsiri sˈʌmɘrɘviːrɘ] 21 April 1956 – 24 August 2021) was a Sri Lankan politician. He served as Minister of Finance from 2017 to 2019, and as the Minister of Foreign Affairs, for two terms from 2005 to 2007 and 2015 to 2017. He created a stir in Sri Lankan politics when he was sacked as a minister by President Mahinda Rajapaksa in 2007, after which he split from the Sri Lanka Freedom Party to form his own wing (Mahajana wing), which later merged with the United National Party in 2010.

Samaraweera served as a politician for over 30 years in his career until his retirement from politics in 2020. During his tenure as a politician, he was an advocate of liberalism and radical centrism and opposed militarisation, as well as ethnic and religious polarisation. He also advocated for LGBTQ rights in Sri Lanka, despite same-sex sexual activity and same-sex marriage being illegal in Sri Lanka.