Long journey to Presidency: Part III The pendulum swings

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By D.C. Ranatunga The 1960 decade saw three general elections with two being held within five months of each other. The fourth Parliament lasted just over a month – 19 March to 23 April 1960.

Dudley Senanayake announces dissolution of Parliament, April 1960 The March 1960 election following the dissolution of Parliament on 5 December 1959, introduced a number of new features mainly relating to election propaganda work. While some have seen changes, most others are valid still although most of them are now rarely adhered to. The new features included the following: nIt was an offence to exhibit flags, posters and other display material in public places. nFlags and posters could be displayed within the premises where election meetings were held. Police permission ha to be obtained for such meetings. nElection propaganda meetings had to end 24 hours before the day of the election. nTransport of voters on vehicles was prohibited. The voters had to either use their own vehicles or use public transport. Among the ‘firsts’ were: nPolling to be held in one day throughout the country. nPoll cards to be issued by the Elections Department to all registered voters indicating the registered number, electoral district and place of voting. nRecognised political parties allowed election broadcasts. nPostal voting allowed to the members of the Armed Services and public servants who were either on election duty or serving in the postal and railway departments. nPolitical parties could apply to the Commissioner of Elections for a concession in deposits (Rs. 500 for each candidate) and to obtain symbols. Others had to pay a deposit of Rs. 1,000. The Delimitation Commission [Walter Thalgodapitiya (Chairman), C. Thambiyah and M.A.S. Marikkar] appointed in 1959, recommended that the country be divided into 145 electorates returning 151 members – an increase of 56 from the previous 95.

Sirimavo Bandaranaike becomes a Senator

It also recommended that three multi-member constituencies – Ambalangoda-Balapitiya, Balangoda and Badulla – be made single member constituencies. Three new constituencies – Batticaloa, Muttur and Akurana – were made multi-member constituencies on the basis of minority constituencies, each returning two members. In Colombo, while Colombo Central remained the three-member constituency, Colombo South was made a multi-member constituency returning two members. A record 899 candidates submitted nominations on Nomination Day – 4 January 1960. Of them 732 were from 22 registered political parties and 167 were independents. At the general election held on 19 March, the UNP won 50 seats (127 contested) with the SLFP following a close second with 46 (108). Only two other parties got 10 seats and above – Federal Party 15 (19) and Mahajana Eksath Peramuna 10 (89), the latter being led by Philip Gunawardena. Eight parties including the LSSP 4 (101) and CP 3 (53) got 17 seats with four getting one each. Ten parties did not get a single seat. Caretaker Prime Minister Dahanayake’s newly-formed Lanka Prajatantravadi Pakshaya (LPP) fielded 99 candidates and only four were elected. Among the losers was Dahanayake himself – the first incumbent Prime Minister to lose an election. The result was inconclusive with no party gaining an overall majority. Governor-General Sir Oliver Goonetilleke invited Dudley Senanayake to form the government. It was a shaky start for the Government when its nominee for the post of Speaker, Sir Albert F. Peiris lost to the Opposition nominee, T.B. Subasinghe, who won comfortable 93-60. The speech from the Throne outlining the Government program of work was defeated by 25 votes (86-61). On the Prime Minister’s advice, Parliament was dissolved on 6 April and fresh elections fixed for 20 July. First woman Prime Minister At the July 1960 general election, a notable feature was the no-contest pact signed between the SLFP and the Left parties. SLFP leadership was taken over by Sirimavo Bandaranaike, the widow of the slain Prime Minister after C.P. de Silva, one time Leader of the House and Minister who ha

d led the party at the March election stepped down. She, however, did not contest. When nominations were received on 20 May, there was a drastic reduction of candidates – 391 from 898 in March. Fourteen parties fielded 352 candidates. There were only 39 independents contesting. The election resulted in a convincing victory for the SLFP winning 75 seats (contested 98) with the UNP getting 30 (out of 128), Federal Party 16 (20) and the LSSP 12 (21). Five parties collected 12 seats with four parties failing to win a single. Six independents were also among the winners. A high figure of 75.9% of the voters was recorded with 2,827,075 exercising their franchise out of a total of 3,724,507 registered voters. Bandaranaike was invited to form the government, becoming the first world’s first woman prime minister. For the first time since Independence, a person who was not an elected Member of Parliament was Head of Government. She was appointed to the Senate – a member of the Upper House becoming the Prime Minister for the first time. Dudley Senanayake became Leader of the Opposition. Several major changes were brought about by the Government. In 1961 legislation was passed i) to set up the Ceylon Insurance Corporation to exclusively carry out the insurance business in the country; ii) to establish the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation to take over the import, export, sell and distribute petroleum products; iii) to nationalise the Bank of Ceylon and restrict the opening of new accounts by the local citizens and companies in foreign banks, and iv) for the establishment of the People’s Bank, particularly to extend banking facilities to the rural areas. These were achieved in 1961. The business of the American and British oil companies were taken over in 1964. The takeover of assisted schools by the State, which meant introducing a nationalisation scheme for all schools which were run by the Catholic Church and other private organisations, created quite a stir. Adhering to her husband’s policy of non-alignment, Bandaranaike was the driving force in settling the Sino-Indian border dispute in 1962. An attempted coup in January 1962 to topple the elected Government failed due to the timely arrest of the leaders who were mainly retired officers of the armed forces. In 1964, food rationing was imposed in the face of persistent food shortages. An agreement on a common program of 14 points led to the formation of a coalition government on 11 June 1964 resulting in the appointment of three ministers from the LSSP – Dr. N.M. Perera (Finance), Anil Moonesinghe (Communications) and Cholomondely Gunawardene (Public Works). Just six months later, on 14 December 1964, the Government was defeated in Parliament when 14 MPs led by Leader of the House, C.P. de Silva voted against the speech from the Throne, defeating the Government by one vote (73-74). The Government MPs defected over the takeover of Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd. (Lake House). Parliament was dissolved on 20 December and nominations were fixed for 11 January 1965.

Dudley Senanayake Cabinet March 1965 – seated from left: Montague Jayawickrema (Public Works, Posts and Telecom), M.D. Banda (Agriculture and Food), Dr. M.V.P. Peiris (Commerce and Trade), J.R. Jayewardene (State), Dudley Senanayake (Prime Minister), C.P. de Silva (Lands, Irrigation and Power), Philip Gunawardena (Industries and Fisheries), W. Dahanayake (Home Affairs) and M. Tiruchelvam (Local Government). Standing from left: D.G. Dayaratne (Secretary to Cabinet), I.M.R.A. Iriyagolle (Education and Cultural Affairs), V.A. Sugathadasa (Nationalised Services), M.H. Mohamed (Labour, Employment and Housing), N.H.A.M. Karunaratne (Social Services), M.D.H. Jayawardena (Health), E.L.B. Hurulle (Communications), U.B. Wanninayake (Finance) and A.F. Wijemanne (Justice) Over 18s get the vote A change in the age of the voter saw those over 18 years getting the right to vote at the March 1965 general election. Since the granting of universal adult suffrage in 1931, only those over 21 could vote. The number of voters increased to 4,710,887 from 3,724,507 in 1960. The number of polling stations increased from 3,664 to 4,771. Nine recognised parties put forward 495 candidates while the number of Independents rose from 40 to 97. Only two candidates submitted nomination papers for the multi-member Colombo South electorate. Thus J.R. Jayewardene (UNP) and Bernard Soysa (LSSP) were elected uncontested to the Sixth Parliament. The recognition of parties was on the basis of either having two MPs in the fifth Parliament or proof of having been active for five years. The SLFP, UNP, LSSP, CP, MEP, FP, JVP, LPP and TC qualified. The SLFP, LSSP and CP entered into a no-contest pact while the Sri Lanka Socialist Freedom Party (SLFSP), a new party formed by C.P. de Silva which was not recognised, contested under the LPP. With severe restrictions on the use of private transport, many walked to the polling booths. The Ceylon Transport Board (CTB) maintained an efficient service on election day. Indelible ink was used for the first time at a general election in accordance with a recommendation by a Parliamentary Select Committee as a measure to prevent impersonation. Caretaker President Bandaranaike resigned from the Senate and contested the Attangalla seat and won by a comfortable majority of 16, 535 votes against three other candidates. The SLFP (41)/LSSP (10)/CP (4) coalition failed to gather enough numbers to form the government although a number of independents also pledged support. The UNP winning 66 seats had the largest number of MPs for a single party. Pledging them support were the FP (14) SLFSP/LPP (5) and MEP (1). Five parties accounted for 14 seats with six independents getting the balance. Four failed to win a single seat. As Leader of the UNP, Dudley Senanayake became Prime Minister for the third time and formed a ‘National Government’ with 17 members in the Cabinet of Ministers. Among them were the leaders of the other parties supporting him – Senator M. Tiruchelvam (FP), C.P. de Silva (SLFSP), W. Dahanayake (LPP) and Philip Gunawardena (MEP). Sitting in the Lower House for the first time, Bandaranaike became Leader of the Opposition. Even though the Federal party left in September 1968, the Government could carry on to complete the full term of five years – the first post-independence Government to do so. The food crisis seen in the last two years of the previous government continued, prompting the Senanayake Government to initiate a countrywide food production drive. The ‘green revolution’ showed successful results with rice production alone doubling in four years, reducing the food crisis substantially by the late 1960s. Recognising that the country’s economy was in a very poor state, the Government improved relations with donor countries and developed the private sector. It sought to achieve a balance between private sector entrepreneurship and the agriculture/plantation economy. In the five-year period, private sector investment doubled that of the public sector. Parliament was dissolved on 25 March 1970 and elections were fixed for 27 May. (Next: A Republic is born)