Karunarathna Paranawithana took his oath before Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena today (03) at 9:30 a.m. after the start of parliamentary proceedings.
On August 28, 2024, the Election Commission officially named Paranawithana as a Member of Parliament for the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), filling the seat vacated by Ratnapura District MP Thalatha Athukorala, who resigned.
Paranawithana previously served as the Deputy Minister of Parliament Reforms and Mass Media and the Deputy Minister of Skills Development and Vocational Training. Earlier, he was the Secretary to the Ministry of Mass Media, a role he left to run in the 2015 parliamentary elections under the UNP-led alliance, UNFGG.
On August 23, Parliament notified the Election Commission about the vacancy following Thalatha Athukorala’s resignation on August 21, 2024. Athukorala was first elected to Parliament in 2004 and re-elected in 2010, 2015, and 2020 from the Ratnapura District, securing 45,105 votes in the 2020 general election.
Paranawithana first entered Parliament in the 2015 general election, serving as Deputy Minister of Media, Skill Development, and Local Government in the Good Governance Government established in 2015. He played a key role in drafting and passing the Freedom of Information Act and worked to expand vocational education by establishing new institutions.
He has also been active in international affairs, delivering a speech at the United Nations for International Youth Day in 2017 and serving as the vice-chairman of the Asian Ministerial Conference on Space Technology in 2018.
Before his political career, Paranawithana held several significant positions in public service, including Director General of the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation, Editorial Director of the Lakehouse Institute, Chief Executive Officer of National Television, and Secretary of the Ministry of Mass Media. He also served as the Consul General in Toronto, Canada.
He received his early education at Dippitigala Maha Vidyalaya and St. Aloysius College in Ratnapura. He is involved in research activities and holds a postgraduate diploma in archaeology from the University of Kelaniya.
