Maithripala Senanayake’s 14th death commemoration:

A friend of the common people

Tissa Karalliyadda -Minister of Child Development and Women’s Affairs

Maithripala Senanayake who was born and bred in the village and emerged from the common man to conquer the political arena, both nationally and internationally, is in the hearts of people as a great politician. Maithripala Senanayake who was born on July 17, 1916 in a village in the Rajarata, Kunchuttu Korale, Kiulekada was the son of Senanayake Appuhami. Punchihami Manike was his mother.

Maithripala had his early education at St Joseph's College, Anuradhapura. He also studied at St. John College, Jaffna, and NalandaCollege, Colombo. After his higher education Maithripala served as an Agricultural Officer which was a profession that was not strange in his native place and for the people in the area.

He worked unceasingly with the farmers from 1940 to 1947 despite the very poor transportation facilities and dedicated his time purely to uplift the agrarian life of Rajarata.

The difficult and tiring life he himself led with the common people motivated him to enter politics to give a better life to the people in Rajarata. In 1947, he resigned from government service to run for Medawachchiya electorate as a United National Party member which made a remarkable deviation in his life.

Political career

He was elected as a Member of Parliament on September 13, 1947 to represent the Medawachchiya electorate. The victory he gained was a beginning of a long lasting political career which was never challenged by any politician for nearly five decades.

After he was re-elected to represent Medawachchiya in 1952 Maithripala was appointed as Parliament Secretary to the Home Affairs Minister which was the position of a deputy minister. Following the increase in prices of rice and sugar by the government he decided to convey his disapproval by way of resigning from the posts he held and from the UNP as he greatly felt the hardships the poor villagers in North Central Province had to experience.

He joined the Sri Lanka Freedom Party in June, 1955 and was elected MP for Medawachchiya at the 1956 general elections. He was appointed as the Minister of Transport and Works in the Cabinet of the S W R D Bandaranaike led government.

Senanayake always wanted to uplift the lives of the common man that he introduced the Motor Transport Bill to nationalize the public transport system and the establishment of the Ceylon Transport Board was a great success.

Industrial sector

Senanayake further introduced the Port Cargo Corporation Bill where cargo operations of the Colombo harbour were nationalized. The entire operation of the port was vested with the public sector in a smooth transition giving more opportunity for the labour force in the country.

Then Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike appointed Senanayake as the Minister of Industries, Home affairs and Cultural Affairs in July 1960. He stepped forward to abolish the Headman system and introduced the Grama Sevaka system to give the people what they needed by making a change in administration.

After having been appointed as Commerce and Industries Minister in 1963, Senanayake revived the industrial sector and served the people at his best by setting up the Ceylon Steel Corporation, Tyre Cooperation, the Hardware Cooperation and the State Engineering Cooperation. He also completely nationalized the petroleum industry by taking over the internal distributions of petroleum products.

As a devout Buddhist, he held the position of chairman of the Sri Lanka Ramanna Nikayarakshaka Sabha for 14 years and the Ramanna Nikaya conferred the honourific title of ‘Sri Lanka Sasanabhimani Dharmapriya’ on him at a function at the Navarangahala on February 27, 1988.

As Cultural Affairs Minister, he organized the bringing in of the Sacred Tooth Relic in China to Sri Lanka in 1961 and provided the opportunity for Sri Lankan Buddhists to pay homage to the relics.

Golden experience

His appointment as the Minister of Irrigation, Power and Highways and also to the post of the Leader of House in 1970 were pillar stones in his political career.

Stage one of Mahaweli system was completed which enabled to divert Mahaweli water to Anuradhpura District. His superior management skills made him popular and a person who was pleasant to work with among the administrators.

During his 47 years of service as Member of Parliament and four year period as the Central Province Governor enabled him to bring development to the Rajarata. The redevelopment of hospitals, schools, tile factories, textile weaving centres, renovations in the railway stations, improvements and renovations in the irrigations systems in Rajarata are some of his mega services rendered to the country.

Senanayake was the leader of the delegation to the Inter Parliamentary Conferences held in various countries and also for the Commonwealth Parliamentary Conferences regularly.

Senanayake's talents and skill and his knowledge of administration led him to cover the duties of Prime Minister on many occasions. In Samagi Peramuna government he served as acting Prime Minister periodically which was a golden experience for him as well.

Former Indian PM Dr Rajendra Prasad, Indira Gandhi, Zambian President Kenath Kaunda, Malaysian PM Mahatir Mohommad, Pakistan PM Ali Bhutto, British PM Harold Macmilan, Indian President Radakrishnan, Yugoslav President Marshal Tito, UK Duke Edinburough were his close friends.

Though he was extremely busy with the workload he had, Senanayake visited the fields and villagers in Rajarata and never was away from his people in Rajarata. Whenever he was in Anuradhapura at his home he listened patiently to the endless queues of people who wanted to see him seeking assistance.

Once Senanayake said that “sun and rain are gifts for our profession, farming, and there cannot be any profession where there is no sun, rain and wild life, and I am quite amazed that Vanni people can overcome the hardships and smile”.

A great leader, friend of the common people and a person loved by many regardless of race or party, he passed away on July 12, 1998 which created a vacuum in the Sri Lankan political arena.