KAMALIKA PIERIS
This essay looks at two important
‘results’ or ‘consequences’ or whatever, of the 1956 General election. They are
firstly, the emergence of the SLFP. Secondly, the rise of Sirimavo Bandaranaike
as the world’s first woman Prime Minister.
SRI LANKA FREEDOM PARTY
SWRD
Bandaranaike formed the SLFP for two reasons, said Wiswa Warnapala. Firstly, as a democratic alternative to UNP and Marxist parties. Secondly, to provide a means of political
expression for Sinhalese and Buddhist vested interests. SLFP stood for Sinhala culture
and Buddhism at the time when no other political party was prepared to articulate these issues.
SLFP
had its base in the rural areas. It catered
to the full spectrum of voters
there, from the ordinary villager to
the rural elite. Unlike the other
parties, SLFP knew how to make use of interest groups, observed Wiswa. This
gave the SLFP a formidable base.
The SLFP from
the beginning was a political party founded on the aspirations of the villager. The
impoverishment of the village and its alienation from western culture isolated
the villager from the political and economic life of the country. This group, who were
marginalized during colonial period, needed its own political party. SLFP
filled this need.
SLFP still remains loyal to its traditional support base, said Wiswa. The rural forces never allowed the party to
move in any other direction. It never functioned as an instrument of the people
in the urban areas. Even after half a century SLFP remains the main
vehicle for the aspirations of the
‘common man’, said Wiswa.
The urban
sector had a complementary view. The urban middle class wished to escape its
village roots. That was why they left the village in the first place. They wanted a western model of governance,
not a village one. They did not wish to support the SLFP. That reluctance
continues to this day.
SLFP was
never considered a party that could run the country. UNP was
considered a better bet, due to its so-called sound economic policies. But Sri Lanka’s foreign policy under SLFP
rule has been far superior to UNP foreign policy. SLFP knew to frame the right
foreign policy, said analysts. Bandaranaike set the direction, Sirimavo and
Mahinda Rajapaksa continued it.
SLFP became
utterly unpopular in the 1970s due to its absurd economic policy. SLFP lost the
1977 general election and the 1982 Presidential election, but the party did not
fall. Instead its voter base rose from
1,855,331 in 1977 to 2,548,438 in 1982. This was a jump of 37%. The SLFP got
nearly 700,000 new votes that they had never got before. Nobody has yet broken
this record, said Chandraprema in 2015.
SLFP was not
in power from 1978- 1994. The period under SLFP’s Chandrika Kumaratunga
1994-2005 did not please anyone. But when Mahinda Rajapaksa took over the
leadership of the SLFP in 2005, as President, the rural base got energized, said Wiswa.
They had
voted Mahinda in to create yet another 1956, with a different emphasis, he said. The rural voter now wants a leader who could
take them beyond the achievements of 1956. Therefore SLFP now needs to meet the
challenges of the 21st century, a very advanced and developed century,
concluded Wiswa, writing in 2006.
SIRIMAVO BANDARANAIKE
The
assassination of SWRD led to the unexpected rise of his widow, Sirimavo, to the
position of Prime Minister .Sirimavo held the post of Prime Minister from 1960-
1965 and 1970-1977. The 1960-65 period is definitely a continuation of the
1956 run.
Sirimavo was
not the backward rural product she was made out to be. She came from a top
family, the Mahawalatenne family, and
she had studied at a leading Christian school in Colombo, St Bridgets.
As first
woman Prime Minister Sirimavo made global headlines and brought fame to Sri
Lanka. Fame which lasted for decades said analysts. But Sirimavo
was not a mere figurehead. She actually led the country and was most effective.
Sirimavo from the beginning showed strength of will, shrewd judgment, and
political skill of a high order, said KM de Silva.
Sirimavo took
to politics like a duck to water. She was well prepared .Sirimavo had
supervised the breakfast press briefings
given by Bandaranaike when he was Prime Minister. So she knew what was
happening. She had offered her opinion
to Bandaranaike on the Paddy Lands Bill, and asked whether the Bill need be so
extreme. Politics was not entirely unknown to her, said DB Dhanapala.
Sunetra Bandaranaike confirmed this when
interviewed about her mother. Asked whether her mother was interested in matters
of state during Bandaranaike‘s tenure of office Sunetra said ‘oh yes. She used
to always be deeply involved in his political life from the outside, finding
out what was happening. When Cabinet
ministers came home, she would sit and listen a little, or bring in tea and
hear conversations. She was fully aware of what was happening and gave her
views very strongly.’ said Sunetra.
She argued
‘all the time’ with SWRD on political matters, continued Sunetra. They would
discuss politics over morning tea. Sirimavo
who had her own ideas on the political problems of the moment would say’ now
Solomon, if I were you, this is how I
would do it.’ Sunetra had heard this many times. She had taken a far more
strict position than SWRD. SWRD would agree and then do what he wanted, said
Sunetra. (Interview with Sunetra Bandaranaike. Daily News 4.1.16 p 11)
Sirimavo was
very active in domestic politics. She
took over Lake House. Peoples Bank was
set up, providing bank services to places which did not have banks. State Insurance
Corporation was set up. Assisted schools
were nationalized. Ceylon Petroleum
Corporation took away the oil distribution from Caltex and Shell. Ceylon Civil
Service was abolished and Ceylon Administrative Service which included the DROs was set up. The position of Village
headman was abolished and the grama sevaka created.
Sirimavo
showed bias in her domestic administration. I think that she would have had a
very parochial attitude. Victor C de
Silva, a relative of mine, rose to the position of Director, Public works
Department on his own merit and seniority after decades of dedicated,
unblemished service. The family was proud and happy. Then they got a shock.
Prime Minister Sirimavo had summarily removed Victor and appointed someone
else, whom no one had heard of, to the post. I forget his name. The matter was
corrected later, but it caused much temporary unhappiness and left a bad taste
in the mouth. I am sure that there would have many other instances of this
sort.
While the
faults of Sirima” are widely accepted, her foreign policy and
internationalism, deserves
attention, said Leelananda de
Silva. She had great
achievements during her first term, as
Prime Minister and Foreign Minister between 1960 and 1965.
The period
that she was foreign minister (and Prime Minister) saw Sri Lanka punching above
her weight in foreign affairs. The Cold War was on, and international diplomacy required careful
navigation, especially for a country like Ceylon that had recently achieved independence.
Diplomacy was
not new to Sirimavo. She had entertained the several heads of state who visited
Sri Lanka when her husband was Prime Minister.
Sirima entertained and came into close contact with some of the
world’s topmost leaders said DB Dhanapala. He named Nehru, Chou, Tito, Rajendra Prasad
and Harold Macmillan. She had visited US, Britain, France, India and
Burma with her husband when he was Prime Minister said Dhanapala. Sirimavo was therefore familiar
with diplomacy and diplomatic protocol,. Bradman Weerakoon said Sirima was always impeccably
dressed for any function, neither over nor under dressed.
Sirimavo
strengthened the two valuable diplomatic links established by her husband, China and Russia. In the summer of 1962, she
became the first Sri Lankan Prime Minister to visit the Soviet Union. Sirimavo
was treated as a special guest of Khrushchev. She was given
red carpet treatment. Most state visitors were put up in hotels or the state
guest house but Sirima and her group were put up in luxurious suites in the
Kremlin Palace.
As soon as
they arrived, Khrushchev had ordered that the group be given warm clothes. He
did not want them to die of the cold on this official visit. The Sri Lanka
delegation was taken to the Bolshoi Ballet and in return, Sri Lanka
presented the Chitrasena ballet, Kara
Diya. It had been well received.
In December
1962 Sirimavo visited China. This was
the first time that a Sri Lanka Prime Minister had visited China. China treated it as a state visit
and Sirimavo was received with much pomp and ceremonial. At Canton
she was greeted with an army guard of honor, march past, dancers in traditional
lion costume and bands playing Chinese music. They were given heavy fur
overcoats and head gear to face the cold.
She met several times with Chinese Premier Chou en Lai
at Peking.
In February
1964, Chou visited Bandaranaike in
Ceylon with offers of aid, gifts of rice and textiles, and discussions to
extend trade. The two also discussed the Sino-Indian border dispute and nuclear
disarmament. There was a second state
visit to China in 1972. This was the most successful visit of a Sri Lankan
leader to a foreign country that I have witnessed said Jayantha Dhanapala.
Sirimavo had
a close friendship with Indira Gandhi,
Prime Minister of India. Sirimavo had
first met Indira when Nehru had invited SWRD and family to India for a private
visit, recalled Sunetra. We stayed at
his residence. That is how they met. We
had had a lovely visit, seeing all the
sites.
Indo-Sri
Lanka relations were excellent said Leelananda. Sirimavo settled the issues
relating to Indian citizens in Ceylon (the Sirima-Shasthri pact) and maritime
border issues with India.
In September 1964, Bandaranaike led a
delegation to India to discuss the repatriation of the
975,000 stateless Tamils residing in Ceylon. Along with Indian Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, she ironed
out the terms of the Srimavo-Shastri Pact, a landmark
agreement for the foreign policy of both nations. Sirimavo also got India to
withdraw its claim to Kachchativu.
Sirimavo
intervened in the Sino-Indian dispute, travelling to both countries as an
intermediary. She was a key player in reducing tensions between India and China
after their 1962 border dispute. In November
and December of that year, Bandaranaike called conferences in Colombo with
delegates from Burma, Cambodia, Ceylon, Ghana and the United Arab Republic to discuss
the dispute. She then travelled with Ghanaian Justice Minister Kofi Ofori-Atta to India and
China in an attempt to broker peace . In January 1963, Nehru agreed to present to the Indian
Parliament the settlement Sirimavo had advocated.
Professor
J.K. Galbraith, who was the US Ambassador in India at the time, records in his
Ambassador’s Journal, the anticipation with which interested parties looked forward
to Mrs. Bandaranaike’s mediation efforts. Mrs. Bandaranaike attached the
highest importance to the maintenance of friendly relations with India, and she
did that as an equal and not as a subordinate party, observed Leelananda.
However, Sirimavo took an independent stand
when it came to India’s two neighbors, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Sirimavo gave Pakistan refueling facilities for its aircraft and permission to
use Sri Lanka air space, during Bangladesh war of independence 1971, irritating Mrs. Gandhi no end, observed
Leelananda. Pakistan and Bangladesh have never forgotten this, though Sri Lanka
has.
Sirimavo
was careful. When the tea estates belong
to Sterling companies were taken over, she was anxious to ensure that fair
compensation was paid to British owners
and she discussed this issue with Harold Wilson, the British Prime Minister.
She did not want to jeopardize the relationship with Britain.
Sirimavo
benefited from SWRD’s diplomatic
activities. When Sirimavo took over oil distribution from Shell and Caltex,
America was angry. Egyptian President Abdel Nasser sent oil tankers to Sri
Lanka. Egypt had not forgotten that
Bandaranaike had strongly supported Egypt during the Suez crisis.
Sirimavo paid
state visits to Poland, Czechoslovakia, and East Germany,. She recognized
East Germany though it angered West Germany. Yugoslavia was a favorite country
of hers. She went there often for treatment for her arthritis. Her relations with Josip Broz Tito were excellent, said
Bradman.
Sirimavo
continued her husband’s policy of linking diplomacy with trade. She wanted
foreign policy to be of relevance to her domestic economic policies, said
Leelananda. When she visited countries in the South East Asian region including
Japan her concerns were equally economic and political.
There are
many instances I can quote, from my own
experience of Mrs. Bandaranaike’s concern to link up domestic and foreign
policy, said Leelananda. She returned from the Russian visit with an
agreement for large quantities of discounted petroleum from USSR. With only two
weeks’ worth of rice in stock, she negotiated an emergency shipment of 40,000
tons from China. In 1975 Ms.
Bandaranaike negotiated with Saddam Hussein,
then Vice President of Iraq, for 250,000 tons of oil on a deferred payment
scheme.
Sirimavo
followed SWRD’s policies in
international affairs. She attended the Commonwealth Prime Ministers’ Conference in London
March 1961. Sirimavo was ever anxious to
push the image of newly independent Sri Lanka on such occasions.
When she was in London for this conference,
she found that Ceylon’s High Commissioner was giving a dinner in her honor.
Sirimavo wrote to Bradman Weerakoon that she would like some Ceylon fruits used
at this dinner. She wanted mangosteens, rambuttan and mangos. She said that the
mangosteens could be plucked fresh form Horagolla. The rambuttans must be sweet
not sour. She specified the amount, 100 mangosteens, 50 rambuttans and 3 dozen mangos.They must not be too ripe when they
leave Ceylon. They could come on the Air Ceylon flight just in time for the
dinner. This letter in Sirimavo’s
handwriting can be seen in Bradman Weerakoon’s Rendering unto Caesar p 91.
Sirimavo developed SWRD’s line on Non-alignment and
did it better than SWRD, who was not given a change to develop
it himself. Sri Lanka grew in stature internationally as a founder nation of
the Non-Aligned Movement under the guidance of Ms. Bandaranaike, said Leelananda.
Sirimavo attended
the Conference on Non-Aligned Nations in Belgrade,
Yugoslavia, in September
1961 . She co-sponsored the Non-Aligned Conference held in Cairo In October,
1961 at Cairo, . She got much publicity for her speech which started As a woman and a
mother.” Felix Dias Bandaranaike and
others in her team had initially toyed with the idea of saying ‘Mummy’ instead
of Mother, since they were in Egypt, the
land of mummies.
She also
addressed the UN General Assembly in 1976 as Head of Non-aligned movement
. The climax of her work in
Non-alignment was the highly successful
Non Aligned conference held in Colombo in 1976. This was Sri Lanka ‘s
first international conference and
Colombo did an excellent job.
Mrs.
Bandaranaike also proposed that the Indian Ocean to be a Zone of Peace. She first
mentioned the idea briefly in her speech at the NAM Summit in Lusaka in
September 1970, and it was reflected in the final declaration of the Lusaka
summit. On her return from Lusaka she directed the Foreign Ministry to flesh
out the concept. The concept had been influenced by Diego Garcia becoming a U.S. base.
A resolution
was proposed by Sri Lanka at the UN General Assembly’s First Committee dealing
with Disarmament and International Security Issues. The resolution was
introduced hastily at the behest of Mrs. Bandaranaike without full
consultations among the littoral states and the major powers, observed Jayantha
Dhanapala. Out of respect for Mrs. Bandaranaike the NAM countries supported the
resolution, but most of the West abstained with the U.S., U.K. and France
strongly opposed. However, an ad hoc committee was created with the Permanent Representative
of Sri Lanka appointed chairman.
The Prime
Minster did not have the time or the inclination to intervene with details of
foreign policy management and administration. Those tasks Mrs. Bandaranaike
left to her permanent secretary, said Leelananda.
The management of the Foreign
Service was highly professional at that time, said Leelananda. SWRD was responsible for initiating this. Sirimavo appointed career diplomats as heads of
missions: Arthur Basnayake to Japan, Ben Fonseka to Kenya and H. O. Wijegoonewardena to Iraq. Vernon Mendis
remained as Director-general in the foreign ministry. Mrs. Bandaranaike relied
on his advice and expertise, said Jayantha Dhanapala.
The best
fortnightly reports sent in by the
diplomats were sent to Mrs. Bandaranaike. She also received special
dispatches from the Sri Lanka diplomatic missions, as well as policy papers
generated by the Foreign Ministry. She studied
them and they were all returned with
neatly penned marginal comments, recalled Jayantha Dhanapala.
This essay concludes
with two reminiscences by Jayantha Dhanapala.
A group of Chinese doctors came on a
private visit to Colombo in the 1970s to attend on Mrs. Ezlynn Deraniyagala, a
kinswoman of Sirimavo and on Sirimavo herself.
They were accommodated in the Prime Minister’s official residence, but official
transport was not used for their private
excursions. The delegation was given
lunch at the Hikkaduwa Rest House.
Sirimavo had later asked for the bill and paid the expenses from her personal
funds. I continue to marvel at this exemplary conduct, unique in the behavior
of our politicians,” said Jayantha Dhanapala.
At the end of
the 1972 state visit to China , the officials in Beijing began preparing the customary gifts
for those in the Chinese government associated with the visit. It was late at
night in the Sri Lanka delegation’s office room as we gift-wrapped the parcels
and pasted the appropriate labels on them. A figure in a dressing gown with her
hair let down in a plait slipped in to join in our collective work. It was Mrs.
Bandaranaike, quietly working with her staff. Her personal touch in supervising
the tying of the bows and the neatness of packaging of us clumsy-fingered men
was invaluable, concluded Jayantha Dhanapala. ( Continued)
