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95 seats in the House of Representatives of Ceylon 48 seats were needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Turnout |  61.3% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Parliamentary elections were held in Ceylon between 23 August and 20 September 1947. They were the first elections overseen and administered by the newly formed Department of Parliamentary Elections. [1]
This is considered the first national election held in Sri Lanka (then known as Ceylon). Although it took place before independence was actually granted, it was the first election under the Soulbury Constitution.
Some of the major figures who had led the independence struggle were found in the right-wing United National Party led by D.S. Senanayake. In opposition were the Trotskyist Lanka Sama Samaja Party and Bolshevik Leninist Party of India, the Communist Party of Ceylon, the Ceylon Indian Congress and an array of independents.
Senanayake's UNP fell short of a majority, but was able to form a government in coalition with the All Ceylon Tamil Congress, which had taken most of the seats in the Tamil-majority regions of the island.
Sri Lanka obtained full independence as a dominion in 1948. The British nevertheless retained military bases in the country and English remained as the official language along with much of the administrative system put in place by the British along with British officials.
| Party | Votes | % | Seats | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United National Party | 751,432 | 39.81 | 42 | |
| Lanka Sama Samaja Party | 204,020 | 10.81 | 10 | |
| BSP–BLP | 113,193 | 6.00 | 5 | |
| All Ceylon Tamil Congress | 82,499 | 4.37 | 7 | |
| Ceylon Indian Congress | 72,230 | 3.83 | 6 | |
| Communist Party of Ceylon | 70,331 | 3.73 | 3 | |
| Ceylon Labour Party | 38,932 | 2.06 | 1 | |
| United Lanka Congress | 3,953 | 0.21 | 0 | |
| Swaraj Party | 1,393 | 0.07 | 0 | |
| Independents | 549,381 | 29.11 | 21 | |
| Total | 1,887,364 | 100.00 | 95 | |
| Total votes | 1,701,150 | – | ||
| Registered voters/turnout | 3,048,145 | 55.81 | ||
| Source: Nohlen et al. [2] [lower-alpha 1] | ||||
The State Council of Ceylon was the unicameral legislature for Ceylon, established in 1931 by the Donoughmore Constitution. The State Council gave universal adult franchise to the people of the colony for the first time. It replaced the Legislative Council of Ceylon, the colony's original legislative body.
Ganapathipillai Gangaser Ponnambalam was a Ceylon Tamil lawyer, politician and cabinet minister. He was the founder and leader of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC), the first political party to represent the Ceylon Tamils.
Parliamentary elections were held in Sri Lanka on 21 July 1977. The result was a landslide victory for the United National Party, which won 140 of the 168 seats in the National State Assembly.
Parliamentary elections were held in Ceylon in 1970.
Parliamentary elections were held in Ceylon in March 1965.
Parliamentary elections were held in Ceylon in 1956. They were a watershed in the country's political history, and was the first elections fought to realistically challenge the ruling United National Party. The former Leader of the House, S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike who was passed over after the death of the first Prime Minister D. S. Senanayake, crossed over to the opposition to form the Sri Lanka Freedom Party to launch his bid for Prime Minister.
Parliamentary elections were held in Ceylon in 1952. It is notable for being the second and final election overseen and administered by the Department of Parliamentary Elections before its merger in 1955.
Parliamentary elections were held in Ceylon on 19 March 1960.
Snap parliamentary elections were held in Ceylon in July 1960.
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The fourth election to the Legislative Council of Ceylon was held in 1924.
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Thamodarampillai Thirunavukarasu was a Sri Lankan Tamil politician and Member of Parliament.
The 8th Parliament of Sri Lanka was a meeting of the Parliament of Sri Lanka, with the membership determined by the results of the 1977 parliamentary election held on 21 July 1977. The United National Party won a 5/6 majority to form a government under J.R. Jayewardene. Later Jayawardane introduced a new constitution to Sri Lanka and was elected the 1st President of Sri Lanka. The government extended their term to stay in power in 1983 without an election and stayed in power until 1989. The 1982 Sri Lankan national referendum took place on December 22, 1982, giving the people of Sri Lanka the option to extend the life of parliament by 6 years. It was the first and so far only national referendum to be held in Sri Lanka.[1] The referendum was called for by President J. R. Jayawardene, who had been elected to a fresh six-year term as President in October 1982. With the life of the current parliament due to expire in August 1983,
Sidambarampillai P. Vythilingam was a Ceylonese politician.
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