{"id":113139,"date":"2021-03-31T16:48:23","date_gmt":"2021-03-31T23:48:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=113139"},"modified":"2021-03-31T16:48:23","modified_gmt":"2021-03-31T23:48:23","slug":"the-general-election-of-1956-part-10a-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2021\/03\/31\/the-general-election-of-1956-part-10a-2\/","title":{"rendered":"THE GENERAL ELECTION OF 1956 Part 10A"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

The results of the 1956 election baffled even the\narchitects of its victory, said analysts. The MEP was stunned by its\nvictory.  SWRD was not expected to win. He had no proper candidates\nand the MEP coalition lacked financial resources.   The 60 MEP\ncandidates were facing a solid phalanx of 76 UNP, many of them sitting members. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But MEP did win a landslide\nvictory. The momentum was unstoppable.  \nWe were left speechless, said Bradman Weerakoon. Unlike in\nprevious elections, in this election there had been only a few instances of\nbribery, violence or impersonation, added Bradman. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 1956 General\nelection was\na historic event in the post-colonial world too. This is not well known. The General\nelection of 1956 was the first peaceful transfer of power from the legatee at\nindependence   to another party, in any\npart of the British Empire, said historian KM de Silva. (KM de Silva, Sri Lanka, Come wind come weather\u201d<\/em>. ICES\n(2015) p xvii) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bandaranaike became head of state at a time when Ceylon and other\npost-colonial states were very newly independent. Post-colonial democracy had\nnot yet been tested, and there were few political models around, said analysts. SWRD understood\nthis, and called 1956 a period of transition. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When\nthe MEP government took office, there was a sense of freedom and liberation in\nthe air among students, peasants, urban workers and the intelligentsia, said\nMeegama. It was a time of great happiness. It was Ape Aanduwa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Analysts point out however, that    1956\u201d did not happen overnight. The Buddhist\nRevival and the Left movement   also\nhelped pave the way. People had worked hard for long years to usher in this change, said\nAnanda Meegama.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 1956\nParliament met for the first time on 20th<\/sup> April 1956, amid scenes of\nunprecedented popular enthusiasm. Supporters of the government,  mainly lower middle and working class crowded\nthe public galleries. There were enthusiastic cheers as Prime Minister took his\nplace. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When\nParliament had finished its business, those in\nthe public galleries, came down into the Parliament area and took turns\nto sit on Speakers seat.  SWRD, as Prime Minister said \u2018let them in.\u2019\nThis was a once in a lifetime experience for the island and SWRD realized\nthis.  This is a historic event and it\nshould be recorded as such. It is not something to be sneered at.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1956\nwas a major event in the political history of Sri Lanka\nsaid Wiswa Warnapala.  A\nchange that this country badly needed at that point of evolution.  it was a watershed\nin the modern history of Sri Lanka, said I.D.S. Weerawardena.It changed the political landscape, agreed Meegama.Even the Marxist parties saw the 1956\nas an advance to further democratic changes in the country. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

1956\nsaw the first real change of regime the young state had ever faced, observed\nBradman Weerakoon. it brought about a total transformation in the political culture of the\ncountry.  A new\npolitical leadership emerged. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A\nnew set of politicians who did not belong to the urban based English educated elite came\nto the forefront and began dominating the political landscape. They came from the\nrural intelligentsia  and were Sinhala\neducated.  Many came to Parliament straight\nfrom the village. Their manners, life style and leadership style showed their\nrural origin.    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rural\nintelligentsia, led by the chief priest of the village temple, the village\nschool master and the Ayurvedic physician, also now came to the forefront of\nthe political scene. This intelligentsia had become a political force in the\nrural areas long before, thanks to the State Council. They now graduated to the\nnational platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1956\ngave new life to the village. Neglected and impoverished, the village nevertheless had   continued to function as a stable community.\nIts social values were intact, observed Wiswa. Language,\nreligion and culture were emphasised in 1956 election campaign. This generated a great deal of\npopular enthusiasm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this new\npolitical culture, the common man became important. HM Gunasekera recalls that at the opening of the\nKelani new bridge in 1957, SWRD invited a highly surprised worker in the\naudience to perform the opening. There was thunderous applause. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\ncommon man for the first time found that he could change the government of the\ncountry peacefully, through ballot. He became a\nformidable factor. He now found that his\ngrievances were addressed seriously by the politicians. His\naspirations were taken into account by the new set of legislators who\nthemselves came from the village and therefore could identify with the ordinary\nman. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The public\ninstitutions became more responsive to the needs of the \u2018common man\u2019.  The Police,\nheadmen, and Kachcheri officers now found that they had to treat the \u2018villager\u2019\nwith respect and not roughly as they used to do.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 1956\nchange of government also led to a cultural\nrenaissance in literature, cinema, drama and arts.  The long neglected Sinhala culture got\nrecognition only in 1956, observed Sarachchandra.  Dance, music, kavi and other forms of the\narts were given an important place in 1956. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nEnglish speaking intelligentsia had persons who were supportive of Sinhala\nculture and wanted to strengthen it. Their products also   appeared in 1956.  Rekawa\u201d by Lester James Pieris was shown in\ncinemas in 1956. Sarachchandra\u2019s Maname\u201d appeared on the stage.  Sinhalese\nSocial Organization<\/em> by Ralph Pieris, Society\nin Medieval Ceylon<\/em> by MB Ariyapala \nand Traditional Sinhalese culture<\/em>\u201d edited by Ralph Pieris,  appeared in  bookshops in 1956. These products were\nreceived enthusiastically by an appreciative audience, who saw straightaway\nwhat this elite was trying to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 1956 MEP government unleashed\na process of change which was unprecedented in the history of Sri Lanka.  A series of people oriented\npolicies were introduced. The reforms were\nfar reaching  and made a fundamental impact on public\npolicy. The changes they introduced reverberate today.  The ideas they initiated are now a part of\naccepted policy, said analysts.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The political\nand social upheaval caused by the 1956 government received a mixed reaction in\nSri Lanka society. It had different connotations for\ndifferent groups.  For the English\nspeaking elites in Colombo  and a large section of the English educated group in the\nisland, the world turned upside down. For the first time since\nindependence Tamils were not included in the cabinet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To\nothers it heralded the beginning of a new dawn. It ended the\nprivileges of the English speaking minority. \nThe Sinhala educated had long objected to the \u2018Mahaththaya\u2019\nculture, which treated them as inferior to the anglicized English educated\nmiddle classes. (Continued) <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS The results of the 1956 election baffled even the architects of its victory, said analysts. The MEP was stunned by its victory.  SWRD was not expected to win. He had no proper candidates and the MEP coalition lacked financial resources.   The 60 MEP candidates were facing a solid phalanx of 76 UNP, many […]<\/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-113139","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\/113139","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=113139"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113139\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=113139"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=113139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}