{"id":101287,"date":"2020-04-18T16:15:31","date_gmt":"2020-04-18T23:15:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=101287"},"modified":"2021-03-17T16:49:48","modified_gmt":"2021-03-17T23:49:48","slug":"the-general-election-of-1956-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2020\/04\/18\/the-general-election-of-1956-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"THE GENERAL ELECTION OF 1956 Part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

REVISED     17.3.21<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The General Election of 1956 is associated with the name of SWRD\nBandaranaike. SWRD came from a long line of native administrators appointed by\nthe British administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SWRD\u2019s two paternal\ngreat-grandfathers   held the positions\nof \u2018Mudaliyar\nof Siyane Korale East\u2019 and \u2018Mohandiram of the Governor\u2019s Gate.\u2019 Their names\nwere Don Solomon Dias Bandaranayake, and Phillipsz Gysbertus Panditaratne.\nSWRD\u2019s grandfather   also held the\npositions of \u2018Mudaliyar of the Governor’s Gate\u2019 and \u2018Mudaliyar of Siyane\nKorale\u2019. Grandfather\u2019s name was Don Christoffel Henricus Dias Abeywickrema\nJayatilake Seneviratne Bandaranaike, with the prefix \u2018Gate Mudaliyar\u2019.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

SWRD father, Solomon Dias Bandaranaike\n(1862-1946) was \u2018Muhandiram of the Governor’s Gate<\/a>\u2019 then \u2018Mudaliyar of the Siyane Korale\nEast\u2019 and finally, \u2018Maha Mudali<\/a>\u2019. Maha Mudali<\/a> was the highest\nposition available to a native Ceylonese in British Ceylon<\/a>\n.The post had been held earlier by his uncle, Conrad Petrus Dias Wijewardena\nBandaranaike. Solomon had applied for the post and was successful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 SWRD\u2019s\nfather was  knighted and became Sir\nSolomon.  He was also awarded the CMG. The letters\nCMG  stand for  \u2018Companion of the Order of St Michael\nand St George<\/a>\u2019.This\nis a very high honor given by the British monarch. Clearly, the British have\nappreciated father\u2019s loyalty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sir\nSolomon was\none of the richest men in Siyane korale, now Gampaha .He was a wealthy land\nowner with large estates, mainly coconut and valuable urban property. He\nhad inherited a walauwwa in Horagolla, (Attanagalla), which he converted to\nstables and built Horagolla Walauwa<\/a> next to it. He was the first\nCeylonese to own a house in Nuwara Eliya<\/a>,\nwhich was an exclusive holiday destination for the British. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sir Solomon was educated at S.Thomas College.\nHe was a collector of antiquities. He donated Sir Henry Blake<\/a>\u2019s collection of palm leaf manuscripts<\/a> to the Colombo National Museum<\/a>. He was a\nlife-member of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A keen horse breeder, he was Life President of\nthe Colombo Turf Club, which erected a statue of him, during his life time, in\nfront of the Turf Club in Colombo. This statue was in a neglected state until Yahapalana\narrived. Yahapalana in 2018, turned it into an imposing monument, enclosed with\ninstallations and water pools. The message is clear, \u2018Honor British rule.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sir Solomon has been very proud of his special\nposition and haughty too. When told  that\nH.V. Perera, later Sri Lanka\u2019s leading lawyer, was going to study in London,\nSir Solomon had told  H.V\u2019s  father, haughtily ,  that his son could not possibly dream of\never  making it to London. H.V. had won a\nscholarship, explained the father, humbly. H.V.\u2019s father had been a surveyor\nand the first to do ground water surveys. He would probably have been at\nHoragolla in his professional capacity. (Personal communication from Ralph\nPieris, nephew of H.V. Perera.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 historian\n KM de Silva said  of the Bandaranaike Obeyesekera clan.  that no other indigenous family in the whole\nof the British Empire has had such a long record of collaboration with the\nimperial power, in crushing indigenous resistance movement, enthusiastic\nassistance in the processes of conquest and support of consolidation of\ncolonial rule. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

SWRDS great grandfather had been given a medal\nin 1803 for helping the British forces in the Kandyan war of 1802. The Sinhala representative in Legislative\nCouncil from 1833-1911 were form the Bandaranaike Obeyesekera group, (with one\nexception). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They were also subordinate part of the\ngoverning elite,  a position which they\nflaunted with much arrogance. They saw themselves as a group set apart by birth\nand rank from all others. the Sinhala representative,  in Legislative  council \nfrom 1833-1911 were form the Bandaranaike Obeyesekera group,( with one\nexception) As\ntime went on the family assumed aristocratic status,  said K.M. de Silva.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SWRD father was Maha Mudaliyar  for 32 years, continued de Silva. In his\nhands, the position was a blend of major domo, i.e. steward of a household and principal\naid to governor in matter relating to the natives. He was very prominent in public life, gloried\nin his proximity to the governor and visiting royalty on ceremonial occasions,\nconcluded KM de Silva.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The subject of this essay, Solomon West\nRidgeway Dias Bandaranaike, (1899-1959) was named after the Governor, West\nRidgeway, who also agreed to be the baby\u2019s godfather. This indicates the\nprivileged position held by Sir Solomon. \nIt also indicates that Sir   Solomon\nhoped that baby Bandaranaike would also enjoy similar privileges and in\nreturn,   continue the family tradition\nof loyalty to British rule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SWRD was tutored at home by 2 English tutors.\nFor a short time he attended S. Thomas’ College, Mutwal<\/a>,\nboarding at Warden Rev. Stone’s residence. \nHe passed the Cambridge Senior examination with distinctions in English,\nLatin, Greek and French. He had come second in the exam, out of all the\ncandidates in the British Empire. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He then read Modern\ngreats at Christ Church, Oxford<\/a>  but did not get the first class he hoped for.Sir\nSolomon had entered his son\u2019s name for Oxford, ten years earlier in 1923. SWRD\ndid well as on orator at the Oxford Union. \nHe had strongly criticized British rule In India. The applause had gone\non for several minutes. Unfortunately\nBandaranaike     did not become President\nof the Oxford union as he had   hoped. Bandaranaike\n was the Secretary of the Oxford Union<\/a>\nand the President of the Majlis Society. Majlis was a debating society founded by the\nIndian students of Oxford. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bandaranaike\ndid not change into a Brown Sahib at Oxford but remained an earnest easterner.\nHe wrote of many bitter memories of his time at Oxford. He gained\ngreat prestige and standing at oxford for his debating ability but anti\ncolonialism was always to be seen there, observed HSS Nissanka.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1924, he was\ncalled to the bar as a Barrister<\/a>\nin the Inner Temple<\/a>. He returned to Ceylon in 1925 and took\noaths as an Advocate<\/a>\nof the Supreme Court of Ceylon<\/a>. He practiced as a lawyer and got an  adequate income which made him independent of\nhis father, observed KM de Silva <\/p>\n\n\n\n

SWRD did not join the British administration as\nhis father would have hoped. Instead he took to politics. From the beginning,\nSWRD wanted a leading role in politics, nothing less.   In 1926 he started his own political party,\nPeoples Progressive Party, but this failed. This was the, the first of\nthe three parties started by him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SWRD   then joined the Ceylon National Congress. In 1927 SWRD became Secretary of the Congress. This was his\narrival on the political scene, said Wiswa Warnapala.  SWRD was President of Ceylon National\nCongress in 1931. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

SWRD went into electoral politics\nas soon as possible. In 1927 he was elected to the Colombo Municipal Council<\/a>,\nfrom the Maradana<\/a>\nWard<\/a>,\ndefeating\nthe trade unionist A. E. Goonesinha<\/a>. SWRD had the money\nto win the election, Goonesinha did not, observed Meegama. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

  SWRD also participated in local government. In 1928, SWRD became President of All Ceylon Village\nCommittee Conference    (est. 1925).  Under Bandaranaike , it underwent a change\nand became an effective pressure group. It was an emerging pressure group\nwith wide influence in rural areas, said Wiswa. And the Young Lanka group, who\npublished a magazine of that name, had complained that Bandaranaike\nconverted    the Conference to a\npolitical one. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 SWRD had got the Village committee Ordinance\namended to remove restrictions and democratize it. In 1929, SWRD became Chairman of Veyangoda\nEgoda Peruwe Pattu Gamsabha. SWRD, in this manner, gained a political foothold\nat all three electoral levels, village, urban and national.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

SWRD\nestablished a network of contacts with village committee chairmen, monks of\nvillage temples, and the intelligentsia of the village, which was of immense\nsupport to him later when forming the SLFP, observed Meegama. SWRD was able to establish links with the emerging rural\nintelligentsia and the rural political leadership, agreed Wiswa Warnapala., <\/p>\n\n\n\n

SWRD formed the Sinhala Maha Sabha (SMS) in 1934.  SWRD was\nPresident. There were eight vice presidents and they included CWW Kannangara,\nand Sir John Kotelawela.  There was\nat the time no political party that could articulate the nationalist issues. \nThe objective of the SMS was the unity and advancement of the Sinhalese.\nIt was a loosely knit pressure group which revolved around one personality,\nSWRD . All the other political groups that emerged in this time were also like\nthis, said Wiswa., <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nname of the Association, Sinhala Maha Sabha\u201d was given by Piyadasa Sirisena.\nAt the inaugural meeting SWRD had wanted the word \u2018Sinhala\u2019 changed to\n\u2018Swadeshi.\u2019 But Munidasa Kumaratunga, who was present, had given a scholarly\nanalysis of the word \u2018Sinhala\u2019 and asked \u2018Why are people frightened of the word\nSinhala.\u2019 Munidasa Kumaratunga was the\nfirst to raise the Sinhala language to the status of a cause and a mission,\nobserved Wiswa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The parent organization of the SMS\nwas the Lanka Mahajana Sabha formed by F.R. Senanayake in 1919, said\nWiswa.  But SMS would surely have tapped\ninto the full Mahajana Sabha network as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There were nearly 27 Mahajana\nSabhas primarily in rural areas in the mid twenties. There were Mahajana sabhas\nin Matara, Moratuwa, Lunugala, Panadura, Gampola, Dodanduwa, Polgahawela,\nRambukkana, Kalutara, Kandy, Negombo and Dehiwela. Some were branch\norganizations of   Ceylon National\nCongress and Ceylon National Association, as well, said Wiswa. This showed that a new trend was emerging\nwith the rural segment also getting   politically\nactivated, observed Wiswa. Proceedings were conducted in Sinhala in these sabhas. . <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\nwere a few political Associations as well. There was Kurunegala Political\nAssociation (est. 1920), Ratgama Association (1928) Ambalangoda Association\n(1920,) and Anuradhapura Association (1912). The\npopulation was becoming politically activated, said Wiswa. The Sinhala Maha\nSabha would undoubtedly have approached these as well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three   organizations which SWRD had been associated\nwith also   joined. They were   All Ceylon Village Committees Conference,\nUrban District Councils of Ceylon Association and All Ceylon Ayurvedic\nSammelanaya. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

SWRD\nwas always an ardent supporter of local government, specially  All Ceylon Village Committees Conference,\nUrban District Councils of Ceylon Conference, All Ceylon Town Councils Conference.  These were major pressure groups, and he used\nthem for his political party, said Wiswa. SWRD\nregularly attended their annual sessions, and made speeches. He was mobilizing\nthis emerging village leadership around his magnetic personality, said Wiswa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SMS\nattracted a galaxy of nationalists such as Piyadasa Sirisena.  Other writers such as Ananda Rajakaruna, Munidasa\nKumaratunga   and ayurvedic physicians such as W. Daniel\nFernando Waidyasekera and Pundit G.P. Wickramarachchi joined SMS. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hemapala\nMunidasa who had edited Sinhala Bauddhaya took over the SMS newspaper \u2018Sinhala\nBalaya\u2019 in 1941. This newspaper played a key role in awakening the Sinhalese,\nsaid Wiswa. It overtook \u2018Sinhala Bauddhaya\u2019 in no time.  Later Hemapala was imprisoned on a fraud\ncharge and Sinhala Balaya went into decline. SWRD\nhad to sell the press. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

SMS\nbecame a platform for the Sinhala literati. \nThey met at a special meeting at Ananda College to discuss Sinhala\nlanguage and literature. Another meeting presided   by Kalukondayawe Pannasekera was on\nBuddhism. This would have strengthened\nthe Sinhala Buddhist nature of the organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before\nlong SWRD had successfully welded SMS into a monolith. SMS soon emerged as a political force and\neventually, SMS superseded the Ceylon National Congress as an influential\npolitical organization. SMS provided a\nmuch needed link between nationalism, the Buddhist resurgence, and the\nnational heritage associated with Buddhism\u201d said Wiswa.  A\nnational committee was formed in 1941.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leftist\nforces openly campaigned against SWRD saying SMS has been formed to fight the\nminorities.  However, N.M.Perera, while\ncriticizing SMS for its communal bias, said that SMS had aroused an apathetic Buddhist public to a full recognition of its\nrights. SWRD often held meetings in\nAnuradhapura, to draw public attention to the need to reawaken the ancient\nheritage, observed Wiswa. SMS held its\nmeetings in rural centers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nSinhala Maha Sabha was not a political Party in the modern sense of the word,\nsaid Wiswa Warnapala.  It was a loosely\nknit pressure group which revolved around one personality, SWRD. SMS played a\npioneering role in the construction of a mass base in politics. This was more significant than the arrival\nof the Marxists, said Wiswa.  It was the\nbeginning of the road to 1956, said Meegama. \nWiswa, on the other hand, observed that SWRD   saw the SMS only as an intermediate venture,\n\u2018a passing role\u2019, on the way to wider national unity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

SMS\nmet with much opposition from vested interest, as well as non Buddhists and non\nSinhalese. SMS was dubbed an extreme Sinhala organization. SWRD was called a chauvinist   SMS\nwas dubbed an extreme Sinhala organization. Leftists were scornful. The\nemerging professional class also protested. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Christian sector spearheaded a\nvirulent campaign against the SMS. They said there was no need for a SMS. The\nCNC and the Mahajana sabha are both completely Sinhalese.  The SMS was \u2018avowedly and unashamedly Sinhala,\nmuch more than the CNC and the Mahajana sabhas\u2019. This segment was also very critical of SWRD.\nThey did not like his rise in politics. \nThey feared and resented his influence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wiswa Warnapala assessed the SMS. It\nprovided a link between nationalism and Buddhist resurgence, and the national\nheritage associated with Buddhism. SMS held its meetings in rural\nareas. SWRD often held them in Anuradhapura, to draw public attention to\nthe need to reawaken the ancient heritage. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This link was much more\nsignificant than the arrival of the Marxists, continued Wiswa. Even SWRD’s\nmarriage helped. It was a union between a first rank family of the lowlands and\na first rank family of the Udarata. SMS superseded CNC as an\ninfluential political organization. CNC specialized in the politics of the Europeanized\nmiddle class. Now it was necessary to have a nationalist platform for\nexpressing Sinhala nationalism, concluded Wiswa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

SWRD\nwas a member of the two State Councils set up under British administration. SWRD\nwas elected unopposed from Veyangoda to the first State Council of 1931.  He was elected unopposed to the second State\nCouncil of 1936, too. He was also seen and heard on important political platforms. He spoke at the\nmemorable Galle Face rally in 1937, in support of Bracegirdle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SWRD was Minister of Local\nGovernment in the second State Council 1936–47, \nOne of SWRD actions as Minister was to declare Anuradhapura a sacred\ncity. V.C. Jayasuriya, then\nCommissioner of Local government, said that SWRD had made many improvements to\nlocal government when he was Minister. The Abeywardene report (1999) also said\nthat SWRD in 1936 was instrumental in preparing the necessary legislation and\ntook steps to deliver development through the local government system.\u2019 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

SWRD had revoked the Local\nGovernment Ordinance of 1920 under which local boards were created.  This led to the modernization of the local\ngovernment institutions. SWRD had\nintroduced the Gam Sabha Ordinance no 60 of 1938. The enactment of this Ordinance\nwas a major landmark in the modernization of Gam sabhas.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The subject of Health was added to\nhis Ministry later on. George E de\nSilva was Minister of Health earlier. SWRD and George set up a\ncountrywide network of maternity hospitals, rural hospitals and provided the\nservice of trained midwives, said Meegama. together with the eradication of\nmalaria,  these measures   of 1937-47, \nhelped to lower infant mortality and maternal mortality,  to what was a record low for a third world\ncountry, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SWRD played an important role in the independence\nnegotiations. This is not well known. In the 1940s, the issue of independence had advanced to the\nvital stage of drafting the conditions of independence. State Council needed\npersons who could interpret a document and spot hidden meanings and lapses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The incisive\nmind of SWRD was particularly useful,\u201d said Jennings. He saw our weak points\nwith remarkable speed and expressed them with ruthless logic.  SWRD represented far more than DS the section\nof opinion which was suspicious of British intensions and therefore insisted on\nprecautions that otherwise would not have been taken.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Queens House\nalso recognized SWRD .London had written to Colombo to say that the Secretary\nof State in London was not prepared to accept the \u2018Ministers Draft\u2019 but had\nread it with interest. SWRD who had called at Queens House on some other\nbusiness, had been shown the document, even before DS Senanayake saw it.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

  When the independence negotiations were\ncoming to a close, DS Senanayake had asked Sir Oliver Goonetilleke discuss with\nBandaranaike as leader of the Sinhala Maha Sabha the draft agreements for\nindependence. SWRD had viewed the draft with mixed feelings, but refrained from\nobjecting. The agreement was signed, making way for Ceylon to gain self-rule. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When D. S.\nSenanayake<\/a> presented the Soulbury\nConstitution<\/a> to the State Council, Bandaranaike seconded the motion stating\nthat he does so as the Sinhala Maha Sabha was the largest party in the State\nCouncil. It was also decided that DS would\nmove the vote for Dominion status and SWRD would second it as the best debater\nand the leader of the Sinhala Maha sabha. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With Ceylon\nheading for self-rule, D. S. Senanayake invited Bandaranaike to combine his\nSinhala Maha Sabha with other smaller parties into the United National Party<\/a> (UNP) which\nSenanayake was forming to contest for the 1947 election<\/a>  DS had\nasked\nCWW Kannangara and A. Ratnayake to speak to SWRD, who agreed to join the UNP. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The very first United National\nParty was therefore composed of Ceylon National Congress, Sinhala Maha Sabha,\nMuslim League and Moors Association. It\nwas a coalition representing different shades of opinion from socialism to\nconservatism. Opposing the UNP were LSSP,\nBLP, CP and All Ceylon Tamil Congress.  The\nSMS\nwas the most powerful group in the UNP, recalled Sirimavo Bandaranaike. His SMS was the most powerful group in the\nUNP. SWRD and his SMS constituted a\nvital segment of the UNP, agreed Wiswa.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A general election was held in 1947. UNP won but did not get the sweeping victory it hoped for.\nit got  only 42 out of a total of 95\nseats. This was a weak majority.  [1]<\/a>\nThe opposition said that the UNP   did not command the confidence of the\ncountry.  A certain group had wished\nto form an alternative government with\nSWRD at its head. They were going to build it \u2018around the personality of SWRD\u2019,\nsaid Meegama. This shows the importance of the personality of SWRD and the SMS.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This group\nmet to discuss the possibility of creating an alternative government consisting\nof SMS, the Left and independent members, with SWRD as leader. Nearly 50 MPs\nhad been prepared to support SWRD, said Wiswa. \nThe talks were held at \u2018Yamuna\u2019, the home of H. Sri Nissanka, on the\ninitiative of H Sri Nissanka, IMRA Iriyagolle and Wilmot Perera,  who incidentally came from three different\ncastes, Goigama, Karava and Salagama. These discussions were   known as the \u2018Yamuna talks\u2019. The exact dates\nare not available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nYamuna proposal became a near possibility but SWRD was reluctant said Wiswa.SWRD\nthought that DS should not be prevented from becoming the first Prime Minister\nof Ceylon. . This led to the breakdown of the talks. If the strategy of the\nYamuna talks had succeeded, SWRD would have become the first Prime Minister of\nCeylon, said Wiswa. Others agreed. H. Sri Nissanka thought that SWRD, had, on\nhis own, missed an ideal opportunity, to become the first Prime Minister of\nCeylon. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

SWRD\nhowever rejected the proposal. Instead he \njoined the UNP. SWRD later \nexplained that he thought the country needed a strong and stable\ngovernment  at the time of independence. He added that the UNP would not have come\ninto being, if not for him. D.S. Senanayake therefore became Prime Minister.\nSWRD was elected the Leader of the House<\/a>. This made\nBandaranaike the most senior member of the cabinet, after the Prime Minister.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vernon Mendis said, Even before he became Prime Minister\nSWRD gave a foretaste of his inborn statesmanship by his impressive role at the\nAsian Relations Conference held by Nehru in New Delhi in 1947,  where \nSWRD presented his vision of Asia as a brotherhood of independent states.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ceylon had sent a delegation of 20, for this Conference, led\nby SWRD. The calls for Asian Federation were endorsed by Solomon Bandaranaike\nof Ceylon and Aung San of Burma, reported one account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SWRD\nwanted the portfolio of Agriculture and Land but was given Health and Local\nGovernment.  Dr. L.O Abeyratne, who was head of Lady\nRidgeway Children\u2019s Hospital, pleaded with SWRD to improve the hospital. So\nafter much persuasion and difficulty SWRD managed to get funds allocated in the\nBudget for a completely new hospital. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also\ngot, again with difficulty, funds for improving Ratnapura hospital, which often\ngot flooded by the Kalu Ganga.  But\nKotelawala who headed the Ministry of transport and Works, including public\nworks, was obstructing the Health Ministry building projects, so this   project did not even start. The UNP wanted\nto keep SWRD down, recalled Sirimavo Bandaranaike. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

SWRD\nhad thought that the UNP could be  \nturned into a truly national party, \nunder the direction of the SMS.  But\nhis plan to convert  the UNP was not\nsuccessful. SWRD had hoped to influence\nthe UNP from within.  Instead he found\nhis own position was being assailed from within. The leaders of the UNP were\nopposed to the SMS and its nationalist agenda. Opponents complained that SWRD\nhad converted the All Ceylon Village Committee Conference to a political one. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

SWRD\nwas also unsuccessful when it came to policy. UNP was   reluctant to implement the clauses in the\nmanifesto, with regard to language, religion and culture. SWRD failed to get\nlegislation passed on these subjects. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

SWRD\nmade scathing reference to the UNP government. He said UNP was drifting to a\none party dictatorship. SWRD also   complained that no important questions were\never placed before the  Executive\nCommittee of the UNP.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

SWRD\nopponents objected to both SWRD\u2019s politics and his speeches. SWRD had complained to the All Ceylon\nVillage Committees Conference that the UNP had failed to implement the proposal\nof the SMS. UNP working committee asked SWRD to send in an explanation, which he did, saying the UNP\nshould implement the policy set out in its manifesto, not hold tamashas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The SMS held its annual sessions\nat Madampe in 1951. Several resolutions\napproved by the branch organizations of the SMS were unanimously\npassed. These\nMadampe resolutions included  the  need for an official language policy,  recognition of Buddhism, Sangha to be\ngiven  a special place, a national\nindustrial policy, the  essential  services \nto be in the hands of the state, implement recommendation of the Social\nservices Commission, development of ayurveda,  improve  public services, banning horse racing and a\nsound foreign policy. SMS also decided to urge the government to implement\nthe policies promised in the 1947 election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UNP\nworking committee said that under the UNP constitution, SMS could not place these\nresolutions before the UNP. According to the UNP constitution all constituent\nmembers were under the UNP and had to conform to its rules and \u2018loyally accept\nall decisions of the UNP.\u2019   further, the\nMadampe resolutions went against the policy of the UNP and they could not be\naccepted. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

SMS  sent a deputation to DS,  without any result. SMS pointed out that SMS has been sending resolutions to the working\ncommittee for the last four years.  Also\nthat UNP permitted resolutions to be presented at the annual conference. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nMadampe resolutions were the  precipitating event.  SWRD was\nurged to leave the UNP. It was clear that DS did not intend to retire and\nmake way for SWRD,\nthough SWRD was considered the successor to DS Senanayake.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\nJuly 1951, SWRD left the government benches and crossed the floor of the House\nto the Opposition, followed by five others,\nincluding DA Rajapaksa. They expected more to follow but they did not. There were 18 SMS members in Parliament. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crowds had\ngathered in front of Parliament to garland him and also at his house, recalled\nSirimavo. SWRD had taken the precaution of\nkeeping the SMS going. He had also given leadership to the Swabhasha movement\nand the Buddhist resurgence of the time. Crowds had\ngathered in front of Parliament to garland him and also at his house, recalled\nSirimavo. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Sri Lanka\nFreedom Party was started on September 2nd<\/sup>, 1951 at Colombo Town Hall. The public were\ninformed of the launch and invited to the Town Hall to participate at the\nlaunch. A crowd estimated at over 10,000 attended.  The crowd had overflowed onto the verandah\nand the lawn of the Town Hall. The\nmeeting was attended by bhikkhus, also Buddhist nuns. Some bhikkhus were   seen standing\noutside with the rest of the crowd. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The SLFP was built on the SMS, this is   forgotten today. Sinhala Maha Sabha had a\nformidable base, a network of pressure groups of the villages. SWRD utilized this to form the SLFP said\nWiswa. The SMS, had taken care to maintain its political\nidentity as a separate organization, and had continued its activities\nwhile functioning as part of the UNP government.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, SWRD\nhad built up strong links with the local government agencies.  He had spoken before the various local government\nConferences, every year. This became very useful when the SLFP was formed.  SWRD also \nrecruited political activists for his political party through the Gam\nSabhas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout out the 1930s and 1940s\nBandaranaike had created powerful pressure groups at the local level and the\nleaders of these organizations became a vital segment of the Party. The\nAll Ceylon Village Committees Conference and the All Ceylon Ayurvedic\nPhysicians Conference were activated to support the party. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The name Sri Lanka Freedom Party was given by\nH Sri Nissanka. It is important to note that the word \u2018Sinhala\u2019 has been left\nout. This aversion to the word \u2018Sinhala\u2019 should be noted. SWRD was appointed\nPresident, with Badiuddin\nMahmud and S. Thangarajah as joint secretaries. The Udarata\nSocialist Front   led by TB Ilangaratne\ndissolved into the SLFP. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

SWRD formed the SLFP for two reasons. To offer\na political party in  the middle ground\nbetween the UNP and the Marxist parties, and to provide a means of political\nexpression for Sinhalese and Buddhist vested interests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This brand new SLFP had to face a\ngeneral election in May 1952.  It made\nan attempt to form a common front with leftist\u2019s parties but failed.   SLFP had no cash and no suitable candidates, but\nit did quite well, observed Meegama. SLFP\nwon 9 of 48 seats   got 15.5% of\nthe vote and came second. SWRD became Leader of the Opposition. LSSP\nalso got 9 seats out of 30. But SLFP secured more votes than LSSP. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

SLFP came into existence to\nfulfill certain historical tasks, said Wiswa. It\nhad identified certain interest groups, which taken together formed a kind of\nsocial movement.  SLFP had to cater to\nthe needs of these interest groups..  Unlike the other\nparties, SLFP knew how to make use of these interest groups. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

SLFP  had the support of the rural peasantry and the\nrural elite. Grass roots support constituted an important\nsource of  recruitment.  The rural intelligentsia were the main stay\nof the party for decades, Wiswa added. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

SLFP throughout the period of its existence\nsuccessfully maintained organization unity, comparable stability and continuity\nas the major political formation of this country. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The SLFP has survived several crises. Powerful\npoliticians were unable to oust the SLFP. \nThe party faced internal dissention but it never went into oblivion, due to its political and ideological resilience.\nSLFP is not a fragile organization. The Party was expected to remain loyal to its rural base. Rural\nforces never allowed the party to move in any other direction. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri Lanka  unlike other counties in Asia has not shown a\ndislike for party government.  The traditional two party rivalry is a very\npowerful factor in the rural   sector, and\nthe party alignments are very sharp in those areas. Control of village politics\nhas been a vital factor in political power and influence , observed Wiswa. (Continued)
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

[1]<\/a> W.A.Wiswa Warnapala. Sri Lanka Freedom Party. Godage. p 51 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS REVISED     17.3.21 The General Election of 1956 is associated with the name of SWRD Bandaranaike. SWRD came from a long line of native administrators appointed by the British administration. SWRD\u2019s two paternal great-grandfathers   held the positions of \u2018Mudaliyar of Siyane Korale East\u2019 and \u2018Mohandiram of the Governor\u2019s Gate.\u2019 Their names were Don Solomon […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[104],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-101287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-kamalika-pieris"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101287","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=101287"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101287\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=101287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=101287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=101287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}