Jeyaraj
Fernandopulle (January 11, 1953 – April 6,
2008) was a Sri Lankan politician, served as a cabinet Minister
and a Member of Parliament in Sri Lanka. He was a Roman
Catholic and hailed from a minority ethnic group, Colombo
Chetties.
Fernandopulle
became a teacher after leaving school, but left teaching
to become a lawyer in 1974.
He
commenced his political career in 1970 as an election agent
for an Sri Lanka Freedom Party candidate. In 1984 he was
appointed as the chief organizer by the SLFP in the Katana
electorate, Western Province in Sri Lanka. From there onwards
he has been elected to the parliament five consecutive times
in the years 1989, 1994, 2000, 2001 and 2004. Fernandopulle
held several Ministerial posts since 1994, which were the
Minster of Catholic Affairs, the Minister of Ethnic Concession
and National Unity, the Minister of Port and Aviation, and
the Minister of Road Development. In 2005 he was appointed
Minister of Highways & Road Development, severed as
the chief government of parliament and was close associate
of the President.