Asoka Ranwala

Hon. Asoka Ranwala MP
අසෝක රන්වල அசோக ரன்வல
Ranwala official portrait
22nd Speaker of the Parliament
Incumbent
Assumed office 21 November 2024
President	Anura Kumara Dissanayake
Prime Minister	Harini Amarasuriya
Deputy	Rizvie Salih
Preceded by	Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena
Member of Parliament for Gampaha District
Incumbent
Assumed office 21 November 2024
Majority	109,332 Preferential votes
Personal details
Nationality	Sri Lankan
Political party	National People's Power
Other political affiliations	Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna
Occupation	Trade unionist
Profession	Politician

Ranwala Arachchige Asoka Sapumal Ranwala is a Sri Lankan trade unionist and politician, currently serving as the Speaker of the Parliament of Sri Lanka.

Political career

He began his political career as a young Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) member in the 1980s.

Trade union work

Ranwala was employed at the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC), working at the Sapugaskanda Refinery. He left for Japan in 1989 due to the 1987–1989 JVP insurrection and returned in 1994. As a trade unionist in the JVP-affiliated Ceylon Petroleum Common Workers' Union, he was the convener of the Trade Union Collective for Conservation of Fuel Resources leading protests against the state-owned CPC losing its monopoly to the Inidnan state-owned Lanka IOC in 2002. He was the President of the Ceylon Petroleum Common Workers' Union until he was sent on compulsory retirement in March 2023 by Kanchana Wijesekera, Minister of Power and Energy and the CPC management on the claim that he and a group of trade unionists obstruct distribution services.

Local and provincial government

Ranwala was elected as a member of the Biyagama Pradeshiya Sabha, serving from 2000 to 2004. He was then elected to the Western Provincial Council, serving two terms from 2004 to 2009 and from 2014 to 2019. While serving in the Western Provincial Council he was arrested in January 2018 on the charge of allegedly threatening Sapusgaskanda Police Crimes Officer in Charge.

Educational qualification dispute

Mahinda Deshapriya, the former Chairman of the Election Commission of Sri Lanka challenged Ranwala to prove that he had a degree as claimed by the newly elected Speaker. Deshapriya said that the Speaker should resign if he fails to prove his academic credentials and urged the NPP to take action if he fails to do so. Ranwala in a public statement dismissed criticism claiming that his advanced qualifications include a postgraduate degree from the University of Moratuwa and a doctoral degree from Waseda University in Japan.

Newswire reported that the official Parliament website had removed the "Dr." title from Ranwala's profile, raising further questions about the authenticity of his claimed doctorate. Independent researcher Dr. Sanjana Hattotuwa confirmed that the edit occurred within 24 hours, based on archived versions of the website. While the title "Dr." continued to appear in Google search results for the Speaker's profile, it was removed from the Parliament webpage itself.

When questioned during a media briefing session, Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa, the Cabinet Spokesperson, addressed the matter. Jayatissa stated that the removal of the title was an administrative decision to align official records with verified credentials. However, he did not provide clarification on the validity of the doctorate itself.

The controversy has drawn attention from opposition parties, who have called for greater transparency regarding the academic and honorary titles claimed by elected officials.

Electoral history

Electoral history of Asoka Ranwala

Election	Constituency	Party		Alliance	Votes	Result	Ref.
2020 parliamentary	Gampaha District	JVP		NPP	n/a	Lost
2024 parliamentary	Gampaha District	JVP		NPP	109,332	Elected