Sri Lanka Freedom Party - 60 years young

Dr. Telli C Rajaratnam

Today (September 2, 2011) the Sri Lanka Freedom Party will celebrate its 60th anniversary at the Temple Trees from 4 p.m. onwards.

The Sri Lanka Freedom Party is one of the major political parties in Sri Lanka. It was founded by S.W.R.D Bandaranaike, D.A. Rajapaksa and Herbert Sri Nissanka in 1951 and since then, has been one of the two largest parties in the Sri Lankan political arena. The Party first came to power in 1956 and since then has been the predominant party in government on a number of occasions. The Sri Lanka Freedom Party is currently a part of the UPFA (United People’s Freedom Alliance) which is the current ruling party of Sri Lanka. The current leader of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party is President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

After independence the SLFP represented a form of non-revolutionary socialism and a policy of non-alignment with strong ties to socialist countries.

At the Parliamentary elections held on April 2, 2004, the party was the leading party in the United People’s Freedom Alliance that won 45.6 percent of the popular vote and 105 out of 225 seats.

Presidential elections

After the elections the party became the predominant party in government with Mahinda Rajapaksa as the Prime Minister.

Following the November 17, Presidential Elections, SLFP candidate Mahinda Rajapaksa was elected President of Sri Lanka - winning 50.3 percent of the votes cast.

The First SLFP Journal was published in 1956 by the Founder editor Dharma Sri Kuruppu and the first newspaper for the SLFP was the Dinakara.

The SLFP today has joined hands with many political parties and is the UPFA in government.

The UPFA consists of various political parties.

Herbert Sri Nissanka KC, was born on December 7, 1898 and passed away on February 26, 1954. He received his early education at Ananda College. He later attended Royal College. Nissanka Herbert Mendis as he was then known entered St Edmund Hall at Oxford and obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree.

He was also called to the Bar by the Middle Temple and made his first appearance at the Ceylon Bar in 1923 before Sir Thomas de Sampayo, KC, as Junior to E W Jayewardene, K C.

He was an eloquent speaker and his deep and wide knowledge of men and matters coupled with his mastery of the law made him a much sought-after Counsel everywhere and especially in the criminal courts.

Senior statesman

The United National Party was inaugurated on September 6, 1946 by a combination of the Ceylon Congress and Sinhala Maha Sabha of S W R D Bandaranaike. The general election to the first Parliament was held in August and September 1947. The UNP fielded 92 candidates and obtained 751,432 votes and secured 42 seats. Independent candidates with 549,381 votes won 21 seats, while the Marxist groups, the Sri Lanka Sama Samaja party gained 10 seats, the Bolshevik Leninist Party gained five seats and the Ceylon Communist Party won three seats, altogether gaining 387,544 votes and won 18 seats.

Forty two MPs headed by celebrated lawyer Sri Nissanka KC, who had been elected as the MP for Kurunegala, assembled at his residence ‘Yamuna’ and decided to call on Bandaranaike to form the government as he had more MPs loyal to him. He further presented the resolution to Bandaranaike at his Rosmead Place residence. Bandaranaike thanked him and said D S Senanayake was a senior statesman who consistently agitated for freedom and therefore deserved to be the first Prime Minister of independent Sri Lanka. He did not give his consent.

Sri Nissanka who was the protagonist of the party had discussed the proposal with politicians, parliamentarians and various groups of people and found a remarkable unanimity of opinion that Bandaranaike was admirably suited to lead the proposed alternative party.

Sri Lanka Freedom Party

However Bandaranaike resigned from the Cabinet of Ministers on July 12, 1951 in a dramatic turn of events. Sri Nissanka was so very happy with the resignation that he presented himself at the Rosmead Place residence of Bandaranaike and congratulated him very warmly. Sri Nissanka was one of the architects of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party which was founded on September 2, 1951. Further, he was responsible for the designation, the symbol and the colour of the party.

D S Senanayake was succeeded by his son Dudley Senanayake on March 30, 1952. He dissolved Parliament prematurely seeking a fresh mandate. At the general election the UNP secured 54 seats, while SLFP secured nine seats. However Dudley Senanayake resigned from office on October 12, 1953. Sir John Kotelawala formed the new government. Since the debacle of the 1952 general election, the SLFP achieved a greater degree of co-ordination in the organization of the party and a substantial cohesion and stability. At this juncture SLFP lost its stalwart. H Sri Nissanka; perhaps the greatest Sinhala orator breathed his last at the age of 54.

Soon after it was formed the party faced a general election in 1952. They contested 48 seats and won nine, polled a total of 361,250 and received a percentage of 15.52 of the votes.

This desire for freedom made him endorse the word freedom as a name in his party.

Bandaranaike, it is believed used the word Sri, because it was a word used in Nissanka’s name. He agitated for greater freedom and led the people to victory in 1956. Many changes came after 1956 and freedom became more meaningful.

Legal system

On the death anniversary of Sri Nissanka K.C., on February 26, President Mahinda Rajapaksa renamed Maya Avenue as Herbert Sri Nissanka Mawatha. Sri Nissanka residence ‘Yamuna’ has been donated to The Buddhist Aramaya. Thus a legend is remembered for his contribution to the legal system, the formation of the SLFP, the development of Buddhism, the development of charity, the contribution to the country, the nation and society and most of all to humanity.

The loyalists of the Sinhala Maha Sabha, including the six Members of Parliament, who had followed Bandaranaike to the Opposition benches, formed the nucleus of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party. Foremost amongst them was D A Rajapaksa, father of President Mahinda Rajapaksa who was the pioneer to both Bandaranaike and Sri Nissanka about the will of the people and the participation of the people in a democracy. Both Bandaranaike and Sri Nissanka considered D A Rajapaksa as their mentor to win the hearts and votes of the people. Bandaranaike it is believed used the word Sri on the advice of D A Rajapaksa because it was a word used in Nissanka’s name.

He agitated for greater freedom and led the people to victory in 1956. Many changes came after 1956 and freedom became more meaningful. It is under the leadership of President Mahinda Rajapaksa that the SLFP became a vibrant and active political party with numerous branch offices all over the country.

(The writer is an Advisor, Chief Editor of Sri Lankan Patriot News line, author of several publications including ‘The Dawn of Sri Lanka-The Miracle of Asia: Selected Essays of the Patriotic Legacy of President Mahinda Rajapaksa’ and author of ‘The Historical & Political Evolution of the SLFP’ to be launched today; Senior Tamil Member of the SLFP)