Electing people’s representatives

August election will see voters going to polls for 16th time since grant of Universal Adult Franchise in 1931

By D.C. Ranatunga

Last week saw the dissolution of the seventh Parliament under the Democratic Socialist Republic of 1978. Nominations for the new Parliament will be called from 6-15 July and the general election is fixed for 17 August.

The August election will see the voters going to the polls for the 16th time to vote at a general election since the grant of Universal Adult Franchise in 1931. (In between they have voted at by-elections resulting from either unseating of elected members or deaths of members.)

The first time that Sri Lankans over 21 years voted was in 1931 to elect 50 members to the State Council. The Donoughmore Commission’s recommendation to introduce universal adult franchise whereby everyone over 21 years of age irrespective of income or educational qualifications got the right to vote was a far-reaching one.

There were 1,577,932 males and females eligible to vote out of a population of around four million. Earlier only about 200,000 had the right to vote. That was to elect the unofficial members to the Legislative Council which preceded the State Council. The Commission’s decision was significant because the senior politicians were not interested in giving a wider electorate the right to vote.

Of the eligible voters, 978,578 were males while 599,354 were females. This was the first time that females were going to vote. 

A gazette notification issued on 15 April 1931 detailed the setting up of the State Council including the way to elect the members, eligibility to vote and to stand for election.

The debate of the new Constitution recommended by the Donoughmore Commission led to a sharp division among members of the National Congress. Stalwarts including E.W. Perera, Francis de Zoysa KC, D.E. Weerasuriya, P.B. Nugawela and T.B. Jayah left the Congress and formed the Liberal League. A.E. Goonesinghe formed the Ceylon Labour Union (later called Ceylon Labour Party).

The Tamil leaders formed their own party 

Among the leaders who saw the new constitution as a stepping stone to self-government and supported it were Sir D.B. Jayatilake and D.S. Senanayake. 

The Nomination Day was fixed as 4 May 1931 by a gazette notification with elections to be held between 13-20 June. Each candidate had to pay a deposit of Rs. 1,000. Fifty electorates had been demarcated earlier.

There was a lot enthusiasm over the nominations in all districts except in the north where Tamils decided to boycott eth election. The Indian Tamils, however, contested the election and one of the members, Peri Sunderam, became a minister.

Seven candidates were elected uncontested on Nomination Day. They were D.B. Jayatilake (Kelaniya), D.S. Senanayake (Minuwangoda), Adigar John Henry Meedeniya (Ruwanwella), D.H. Kotelawela (Badulla), A.F. Molamure (Dedigama), S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike (Veyangoda), Adigar James Kuda Ratwatte (Balangoda), J. Peri Sunderam (Hatton) and G.D. Rambukpotha (Bibile).

Territorial electorates

Discussing the ‘Systems of Government in Sri Lanka’, one time Secretary General of Parliament, Sam Wijesinha wrote: “One important consequence of the Donoughmore Constitution arose from its institution of territorial electorates, where to be elected, an individual had to develop a close relationship of people living in a particular area. Before the State Council, a tradition had developed in which the main intermediary between the foreign government and the local people was the Chief Headman in the recognised form of Mudaliyar, Rate Mahattaya and Maniyagar. These were elected from feudal families in the area, though occasionally an appointment given to someone who was comparatively an outsider could lead to an increase in influence of his family in the area. 

“With the new system the representatives elected by the people also achieved an exalted status, while they recognised that they had to work to maintain it, given that they needed to win a subsequent election. There were bound to be conflicts between them and headmen appointed by the government and, given their influential position at the centre of affairs in Colombo, by 1937 the new class had begun to take over from the old order. 

“To some extent indeed an even old social structure, the feudal system of patronage that pre-dated the colonial period, shifted to the elected representatives who were not only representatives of the government, but even looked up to as the source of employment and the vehicle of advancement. In that respect, the introduction of democracy in a colonial context, in which not only the authority but also the socio-economic control of the central Government was supreme, led to a multiplication of roles for the elected representatives which they were not always well suited to fulfil.”

In spite of several political groups forming political parties, the candidates stood for election as individuals and not as party members. However, their party loyalty could be identified.

Creating awareness 

Being a new experience for the voters, the Government launched an awareness campaign to educate them on what they should do. Printed leaflets written in simple language were distributed. 

Describing voting as a very simple operation, the leaflets explained that there was no need for a voter to be literate to exercise his vote. They were assured that the officials at the polling booth would assist them. ‘No one can force you to vote’, they were told. They were also advised not to ask the headman whom they should vote for.

The candidates were allotted different colours and the ballot boxes were with those colours, enabling the illiterate voters also to cast the vote without a problem.

Propaganda meetings were held throughout the country, most of them being organised by political parties. Smaller meetings were held at village level. Minor incidents were in certain places reported. 

Nuwaraeliye Hemapala, one time official in the Department of Archives, records what he refers to as the first-ever disruption at an election meeting, in one of his publications. It happened at a meeting held at Colombo Town Hall organised by the YMBA on 23 May 1931. 

People became restless when the speaker, C.A. Corea who was not well-versed in Sinhala tried to speak in English. He had to stop the speech midway. The next speaker, H Sri Nissanka was shouted down and was not even allowed to remain on the stage. The meeting was postponed. A press release issued by the organisers stated that the disruption of the meeting was the work of J.N. Jinendradasa and a brother of A.E. Goonesinghe.

Reciting of verses to break the monotony of speeches was a feature at the meetings. The verses invariably praised the candidate and assured him of the vote. 

The election began on Saturday, 13 June in 16 electorates and continued until the following Saturday, except on 14 June Sunday.

The first result announced was that of the victory of E.W. Perera in Kotte. The much-respected Liberal leader recorded a majority of 12,432 votes demonstrating the people’s loyalty. The next day’s Ceylon Observer had a banner headline – ‘Sweeping Majority of E.W. Perera’.

Among the elected Councillors were two Englishmen – H.R. Freeman (Anuradhapura) and A. Fellowes Gordon (Bandarawela) who defeated Sinhalese candidates. Religion and caste did not play a significant role.

Out of 1,577,922 registered voters, 706,723 had voted. 

Among the elected Councillors were 23 lawyers, 13 proprietary planters, two engineers, two doctors, two former village headmen, a teacher, a bank manager, a journalist and a retired civil servant. 

On a party basis the winners could be categorised as 16 from the National Congress, 13 from the Liberal League, three for the Labour Party, one each from Unionist and Independent Labour, and 14 Independents. 

A.F. (later Sir Francis) Molamure was elected Speaker. He served from 17 July 1931 until 10 December 1934 when he resigned due to personal reasons. He was succeeded by Forestwer (later Sir) Obeysekera (1934-35).

The elected and appointed members (other than the Speaker, Deputy Speaker and Deputy Chairman of Committees) divided themselves into seven committees. Each committee chose its own chairman who became the minister in charge of the subject(s) of that particular committee. These chairmen along with the three officers of state (Chief Secretary, Financial Secretary and Legal Secretary) formed the Board of Ministers. The Board elected a minister as the Leader of the Council. 

The committees and the chairmen were:

1. Home Affairs – D.B. Jayatilake

Subjects: Provincial administration, Police, Prisons, Customs

2. Agriculture and Lands – D.S. Senanayake 

Government lands, Agriculture, Irrigation and Cooperatives

3. Local Government – Charles Batuwantudawe

Local Government, Motor Transport

4. Health – T.B. Panabokke 

Health and Sanitation

5. Labour, Industry and Commerce – Peri Sunderam

Commerce, Tourism, Labour Affairs, Statistics and Industries

6. Education – C.W.W. Kannagara

Education and Archaeology

7. Transport and Works – M. Macan Marker

Public Works, Posts, Railway and Electricity

The Chief Secretary was the Chairman of the Board of Ministers and the Leader of the Council was the Deputy. The first Leader of the Council was D.B. (later Sir) Jayatilake.