Jayasuriya. In the meantime, Wickremesinghe and Rajapakse signed a Memorandum of Understanding pledging to co-operate with the peace process. Jayasuriya and his supporters insisted on taking a step further and joining the government formally by accepting ministerial office, which was strongly opposed by Wickremesinghe. The ensuing power struggle resulted in a bitter and acrimonious war of attrition between the two. Cross over and return After several abortive attempts to oust Wickremesinghe from the party leadership, Jayasuriya led a group of 18 parliamentarians, including several party front-liners, in crossing over to the government side. In the 2007 cabinet reshuffle after the crossover, he was appointed as Minister of Public Administration and Home Affairs. He resigned from his Public Administration and Home Affairs portfolio on 9 December 2008 and rejoined the UNP as its deputy leader. Return to government In January 2015, President Maithripala Sirisena appointed Jayasuriya as Minister of Public Administration, Democratic Rule and Buddha Sasana after his victory in the presidential election. Speaker of the Parliament At the first session of the 8th Parliament, he was elected as Speaker on 1 September 2015. His name was proposed by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe and seconded by Nimal Siripala De Silva. Thilanga Sumathipala was elected as his deputy. Honours Government of Sri Lanka – Deshabandu - 1992 Japanese government – Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun - 2016 Abdul Kalam Institute of Technological Sciences - Pride of Asia - 2019 Rāmañña Nikāya - Vishva Keerthishri Lanka Jana Ranjana - 2019 Rāmañña Nikāya - Sasana Keerthi Sri Deshabhimani – 2019 Amarapura Nikāya - Sadhu Jana Prasadhini Lankaputhra – 2019--> Government of Sri Lanka - Sri Lankabhimanya – 2023 See also List of Govigama people List of political families in Sri Lanka List of Sri Lankan non-career diplomats References External links Sri Lanka Parliament profile Bio – Hon. Karu Jayasuriya The man with a Plan Speakers of the Parliament of Sri Lanka Alumni of Ananda College Sri Lankan Buddhists Ambassadors of Sri Lanka to Germany Mayors of Colombo United National Party politicians Sri Lanka Army Volunteer Force officers Living people 1940 births Members of the Western Provincial Council Members of the 11th Parliament of Sri Lanka Members of the 12th Parliament of Sri Lanka Members of the 13th Parliament of Sri Lanka Members of the 14th Parliament of Sri Lanka Members of the 15th Parliament of Sri Lanka Home affairs ministers