Dissanayake Mudiyanse Ralahamilage Lionel Gamini Dissanayake, PC (known as Gamini Dissanayake; ,; 20 March 1942 – 24 October 1994) was a prominent Sri Lankan politician, a powerful minister of the United National Party, and Leader of the Opposition. He was designated as the UNP candidate in the 1994 presidential election, but was then assassinated by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Early life and education He was born in Kandy as the second son of a family of seven children, his father was Andrew Dissanayake who served as an Member of Parliament and the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Nationalised Services and Shipping in the Sri Lanka Freedom Party government of S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike. His mother was Welegedara Samaratunga Kumarihamy from Kotmale. The wealthy Dissanayake family resided in both Kandy as well as Nuwara Eliya. Dissanayake had his schooling at the prestigious Trinity College, Kandy. He later completed an MPhil in International Relations at the Wolfson College, Cambridge in 1992. Legal career In 1961, he entered Ceylon Law College and took his finals in 1966. He apprenticed under Neville Samarakoon, QC and call to the bar an Advocate in July 1967. He thereafter started his legal practice in the unofficial bar in the Colombo District Court as a junior to B. J. Fernando, PC. Later he went on to take silks as a President's Counsel in 1988. Political career Parliament Following is father's legacy, he sought nomination from the Sri Lanka Freedom Party for the 1970 general elections from the Nuwara Eliya electorate, but was refused. He instead contested from the United National Party (UNP) and was elected as a member of parliament under United National Party (UNP) candidature and was one of the 18 UNP members in the parliament at a time when his party has faced an humiliating defeat. However, he was unseated in an election petition and faced suspension of his civic rights for seven years. That year a modification of the law by Minister of Justice, Felix Dias Bandaranaike to benefit Nanda Ellawala, allowed for Dissanayake to retain his civic rights and contest the by-election regaining his seat in parliament in 1972. Minister He comfortably secured his Nuwaraeliya-Maskeliya multielectorate seat in the 1977 general elections and was appointed as the minister of Mahaweli Development. Dissanyake spearheaded the Mahaweli Development Project. This was a huge project which was expected to take 30 years to finish. But