Stanley Tillekeratne passes away

Former Speaker and ex-Governor of the Central Province Stanley Tillekeratne passed away yesterday. He was 76.

Stanley as he was affectionately known was a seasoned politician who was much in demand at election rallies where he held the audience spellbound by his lyrical oratory.

He had a long liaison with the country's Left movement from 1947 before joining the SLFP in 1965.

Prior to that he contested and won Kotte on the Communist Party ticket at the 1960 July elections and retained the seat in 1965 from his new party the SLFP which lost at the hustings.

He was re-elected in 1970 and was made Speaker in the United Front Government of Premier Sirimavo Bandaranaike. As Speaker, Stanley won the admiration even of his opponents for the impartial manner in which he conducted the affairs of the House.

Along with many of the SLFP stalwarts Stanley too suffered defeat at the 1977 poll but succeeded in remaining in the public eye as a champion Human Rights lawyer especially during the 1989\90 turbulent period. Stanley figured in several groundbreaking cases.

He was virtually an institution at Hulftsdorp.

At the 1989 elections Stanley was returned to Parliament with the highest preference vote from the SLFP in the Colombo District and remained as an MP until his exit in 1994.

His funeral takes place on Saturday at the General Cemetery, Borella.