Maithripala Senanayake (b. 17 July 1916) was a Sri Lankan politician. He first studied at St. Joseph's College, Anuradhapura then at St. John's Jaffna, where he attained a mastery in the Tamil Language and later finally at Nalanda College, Colombo. He entered parliament from Medawachchiya Electorate Anuradhapura in 1947 when then Ceylon held its first parliamentary elections. When D.S. Senanayake picked his Cabinet in 1952 this promising young man from Raja Rata, Maithripala Senanayake was appointed as Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Home Affairs. Later he not only resigned from the post he held, but also from the UNP, after submitting resignation to Prime Minister Dudley Senanayake. At the following General Election, he retained the Medawachchiya seat as an Independent. Then followed by some momentous years S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike was biding his time after he had resigned from UNP and making plans for the future with his nascent Sri Lanka Freedom Party and offered a place to Maithripala Senanayake, who was then an Independent MP in Parliament. Senanayake has held many portfolios and has been Acting Prime Minister 19 times, Leader of the House, Chief Government Whip, and Deputy Leader of the Opposition at various times, In the realm of Foreign Affairs, Maithripala Senanayake has also played a major role, when the then Prime Minister Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike was President of the Non-aligned Movement, he led the Sri Lanka delegation to the Non-aligned Conference held in Colombo.
