Reggie Ranatunga, a provincial governor until his appointment, would represent the Gampaha district, north of Colombo. Updated/recast Ranatunga, the father of Sri Lanka's cricket star-turned-politician Arjuna Ranatunga, was sworn in as a member by the speaker of parliament W J M Lokubandara.
Ranatunga fills the parliamentary seat left vacant by the death of Sripathy Sooriyarachchi, also representing Gampaha district, who was killed on February 9 in a car crash.
Sooriyarachchi was a vocal critic of the government. After forming a breakaway faction of the ruling party with former foreign minister Mangala Samaraweera, used his vote independent of the party line.
Ranatunga is the governor of the Sabaragamuwa province, south east of Colombo, and has also been a parliamentarian and deputy cabinet minister on a previous occasion.