A ceremony was held to felicitate his political life at the parliamentary complex on Thursday afternoon. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe, Opposition leader Nimal Siripala de Silva, government and opposition parliamentarians congratulated him during the ceremony.

Rathnasiri Wickremanayake was elected to the legislature in 1960, from Horana for the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (then a part of the Mahajana Eksath Peramuna alliance). Wickremanayake joined the SLFP in 1962. In 1965, he was re-elected to the legislature for Horana from the SLFP.

He received his first ministerial appointment in 1970, when he was appointed Deputy Minister for Justice in the United Front government under Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike. 

Wickremanayake first served as Prime Minister from August 2000 to December 2001. and again from 2005 to 2010