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Hon.
Dullas Alahapperuma
MP
Hon. Dullas Alahapperuma MP
ඩලස් අලහප්පෙරුම; டல்லாஸ் அழகப்பெரும
	Alahapperuma in 2014
Leader of the Freedom People's Congress
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; 2 September 2022
Preceded by	Position established
Minister of Mass Media
	In office; 16 August 2021 – 3 April 2022
President	Gotabaya Rajapaksa
Prime Minister	Mahinda Rajapaksa
Preceded by	Keheliya Rambukwella
Succeeded by	Nalaka Godahewa
Minister of Power and Energy
	In office; 12 August 2020 – 16 August 2021
President	Gotabaya Rajapaksa
Prime Minister	Mahinda Rajapaksa
Preceded by	Mahinda Amaraweera
Succeeded by	Gamini Lokuge
Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs
	In office; 22 November 2019 – 12 August 2020
President	Gotabaya Rajapaksa
Prime Minister	Mahinda Rajapaksa
Preceded by	Harin Fernando
Succeeded by	Namal Rajapaksa
Member of Parliament; for Matara District
	In office; 2015–2024
	In office; 1994–2001
Member of Parliament; for National List
	In office; 2005–2015
Personal details
Born	Dullas Daham Kumara Alahapperuma; 14 May 1959 (age 65); Dikwella, Matara, Ceylon
Nationality	Sri Lankan
Political party	Freedom People's Congress (since 2022)
Other political; affiliations	Sri Lanka Freedom Party (1994–2019); Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (2019–2022);
Spouse	Pradeepa Dharmadasa
Children	Mahima Induwara ; Kaushika Nalanda
Alma mater	St. Servatius' College; Ananda College
Occupation	Politician
Profession	Journalist

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 current 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.^[1] 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.^[2]

Political career

Alahapperuma started his career as a journalist, working at Lakmina before joining Divaina as an editor.^[3] 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.^[4]

He got re-elected in 2000 and served in the short tenure of the 11th Parliament. 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.^[5]

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 UPFA following the 2010 General Election 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 General 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.^[6] In 2019, He was appointed the Minister of Sports along with two other portfolios of Ministries of Education and Youth Affairs.^[7]

Alahapperuma contested the 2020 General 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.^[8] In the August 2021 Cabinet reshuffle, he was appointed Minister of Mass Media.^[9] He resigned from his cabinet portfolio in April 2022 as the 2022 Sri Lankan political crisis deepened amid civil protests.^[10]

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.^[11] Alahapperuma was backed by Leader of the Opposition Sajith Premadasa and SLPP Chairman and MP Professor G. L. Peiris.^[12] Alahapperuma lost the election to acting president Ranil Wickremesinghe.

On 31 August 2022, Dullas Alahapperuma and 13 others left the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna party and crossed over to the opposition as an independent MP.^[13] Two days later, Alahapperuma's faction launched a new political party, the Freedom People's Congress. The faction is expected to contest the upcoming local government elections as part of the Freedom People's Alliance, a political alliance also including the SLFP and the Supreme Lanka Coalition.^[14]