Attorney-al-Law Sujeewa Lal Dahanayake was elected as the President-Elect at the Organization of Professional Associations (OPA) at the Annual General Meeting which was held on the 27th of October, 2023. Dahanayake, who was General Secretary over the past year, has served in various capacities at the OPA over the last 10 years.
Founded in 1975, the Organisation of Professional Association functions as the apex body of 52 professional member associations representing 34 professions, including medicine, law, accountancy, engineering, science, economics, management and software engineering. The OPA seeks to harness the collective expertise and skills of its members to achieve the growth of the professions and the drive the development of the country.
A past student of Ananda College, Colombo 10, Dahanayake is a practicing legal counsel in the areas of Civil Law and Commercial Law. He obtained a Master in Law (LL M) in International Business and Commercial Law from the University of West London and a Masters in Human Rights (MHR) from the University of Colombo. He served as the Deputy Chairman of the Tourist Board (Western Province) from 2016 to 2019.
He has been a member of the General Forum and the Executive Council of the OPA representing the Bar Association of Sri Lanka since 2015. He served as the Vice President of the OPA for four consecutive years from 2017 to 2021 before being elected General Secretary last year.
He led the OPA delegations at policy level discussions with the government and other stakeholders, including Ministries and Parliament Sectoral Oversight Committees, to accomplish the desired objectives of the OPA during the ongoing economic crisis. As the General Secretary, he has carried out extensive improvements that benefited the OPA, from streamlining administrative processes to fostering greater collaboration among members.
He will be the 44th President of the OPA for the year 2024/2025, which is the year OPA celebrates its 50th anniversary.