'
Wijeyananda Dahanayake
'' ( ; 22 October 1902 – 4 May 1997) was a Sri Lankan politician. He was the

Prime Minister of Ceylon The prime minister of Sri Lanka, officially the prime minister of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is the most senior member of parliament in the cabinet of ministers. It is the second-most powerful position in Sri Lanka's exec ...

from September 1959 to March 1960. Born as one of the twin children to a conservative family in Galle, Don Wijeyananda Dahanayake was educated at

Richmond College, Galle Richmond College () is a primary and secondary school in Galle, Sri Lanka which was established as the Galle High School in 1876. The founder of the school was the Wesleyan Missionary George Bough. The first principal of the school was Rev Samu ...

and

S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia (abbreviated as STC), is a fee-levying Anglican selective entry boys' private school in Sri Lanka. Started as a private school by James Chapman, the first Anglican Bishop of Colombo, in 1851, it was founded as ...

. He became a teacher at St. Aloysius' College, Galle before entering active politics having been elected to the

Galle Municipal Council The Galle Municipal Council is the local council for Galle, the capital city of Southern Province of Sri Lanka, the third level administrative division of the country. The council was established under the Municipalities Ordinance of 1865 as the ...

in 1939 as a leftist and served as Mayor of Galle. In 1944, he was elected to the

State Council of Ceylon The State Council of Ceylon was the unicameral legislature for Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), 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 ...

and was thereafter elected to the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

. He served as the member of parliament from Galle from 1947 to 1977, with a brief interval in 1960. In 1956, he was appointed to the

Cabinet of Ministers A cabinet in governing is a group of people with the constitutional or legal task to rule a country or state, or advise a head of state, usually from the executive branch. Their members are known as ministers and secretaries and they are ...

as the

Minister of Education An education minister (sometimes minister of education) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with educational matters. Where known, the government department, ministry, or agency that develops policy and deli ...

. He unexpectedly succeeded

S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike (8 January 1899 – 26 September 1959), also known as "The Silver Bell of Asia" (ආසියාවේ රිදී සීනුව), was a Sri Lankan statesman who served as the fourth Prime Minister of ...

as Prime Minister when the latter was assassinated on 26 September 1959. His tenure as the caretaker Prime Minister was short as he was unable to keep together the alliance formed by Bandaranaike. He dismissed the Cabinet of Ministers and called for fresh elections, for which he formed his own party. Although he lost his parliamentary seat in the 1960 March elections, he regained it in the general election that followed two months later. Sitting in the opposition from 1960 to 1965, he served as

Minister of Home Affairs An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

from 1960 to 1965 and again sat in opposition from 1970 to 1977. He then served as Minister of Co-operatives from 1986 to 1988. He is noted for having contested from almost every major party of his time and has the record for the longest speech in parliament, lasting thirteen and half hours.

Early life and education

He was born as a twin in Dangedera, Richmond Hill,

Galle Galle (, ; , ) (formerly ) is a major city on the southwestern tip of Sri Lanka, south of Colombo. Galle is the provincial capital and largest city of Southern Province, Sri Lanka and is the capital of Galle District. Galle was known as ''Gi ...

and was named Don Wijeyananda Dahanayake after the Wijayananda Pirivena. His father was Don Dionesius Panditha Sepala Dahanayake, was a

Muhandiram Muhandiram (, ) was a post in the native headmen system in the lower-country (coastal districts) of Ceylon (Sri Lanka) during the colonial era. It was awarded as a title of honor until suspension of Ceylonese honours in 1956. History The post ...

, who later served as the Kackckeri Mudliyar of Galle and was a scholar in oriental languages. His twin brother was Kalyanapriya Dahanayake. Dahanayake received his education first at Rippon Girls' School, Galle] and then at the Government English Training School on Thurstan Road, Colombo; before moving to

and

for his secondary education.

Teaching career

He joined the teaching staff of St. Aloysius' College, Galle, where he taught English, mathematics, history and geography and received training at the teaching college in Maharagama. In addition he coached the college athletics and the junior cricket teams and organized the English Literary Union and the Debating Society. He also organized student protests against the British colonial administration.

Political career

Early years

Dahanayake became active in pre-independence politics while serving as a teacher and switched to full-time politics. As a member of the

Trotskyite Trotskyism (, ) is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Russian revolutionary and intellectual Leon Trotsky along with some other members of the Left Opposition and the Fourth International. Trotsky described himself as an ...

Lanka Sama Samaja Party The Lanka Sama Samaja Party, often abbreviated as LSSP ( literally: Lanka Equal Society Party, Sinhala: ලංකා සම සමාජ පක්ෂය, Tamil: லங்கா சமசமாஜக் கட்சி), is a major Trotskyist po ...

, he was elected to the

from the Kumbalwella Ward, which he held until 1944. He was elected the first Mayor of Galle in 1939 and served till 1941. When

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

started in the far-east, the Lanka Sama Samaja Party refused to support the British war effort. Dahanayake was prosecuted by the police for organising a strike during the height of war, which angered the British colonial administration. He represented himself in court without a lawyer and won against the crown prosecution.

State Council

He contested in a by-election to the

in 1944 from Bibile. Even though he lost to the bus magnate

S. A. Peiris S is the nineteenth letter of the English alphabet. S may also refer to: History * an Anglo-Saxon charter's number in Peter Sawyer's, catalogue Language and linguistics * Long s (ſ), a form of the lower-case letter s formerly used where "s ...

, he filed an

election petition An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operate ...

against his opponent and unseated him. He once again represented himself in court without a lawyer. In the following by-election, Dahanayake was elected to the State Council from Bibile. That year, when the Lanka Sama Samaja Party split, he joined the Bolshevik–Leninist Party led by Dr Colvin R. de Silva. He supported the education reforms initiated by C. W. W. Kannangara by collecting a large number of signatures for a public petition in support of the reforms that ushered equal opportunities for education for all children in the island. In 1947, he was only one of three members who voted against the Soulbury Constitution which enabled self rule for Ceylon as an independent

Dominion A dominion was any of several largely self-governance, self-governing countries of the British Empire, once known collectively as the ''British Commonwealth of Nations''. Progressing from colonies, their degrees of self-governing colony, colon ...

inside the

British Commonwealth The Commonwealth of Nations, often referred to as the British Commonwealth or simply the Commonwealth, is an international association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire The B ...

Parliament

He contested the 1947 general elections from the Bolshevik–Leninist Party in the Galle electorate. With a campaign in which he did not spend any money, he won against the wealthy H. W. Amarasuriya contesting from the

United National Party The United National Party (UNP; , ) is a Centre-right politics, centre-right political party in Sri Lanka. Founded in 1946, the party was one of Sri Lanka's two main parties for several decades. The UNP has served as the country's ruling party ...

and was elected to the

. In parliament, he gave a thirteen and half-hour speech during the first budget speech, which is the record for the longest speech. He later re-joined the Lanka Sama Samaja Party under Dr

N. M. Perera Nanayakkarapathirage Martin Perera, commonly known as Dr. N. M. Perera ( Sinhala එන්.එම්.පෙරේරා ; 6 June 1904 – 14 August 1979), was one of the leaders of the Sri Lankan Trotskyist Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP). He w ...

and successfully contested the 1952 general elections from the Lanka Sama Samaja Party and retaining his seat. He was expelled from the party for hosting a reception for the Prime Minister

Dudley Senanayake Dudley Shelton Senanayake (Sinhala language, Sinhala: ඩඩ්ලි ශෙල්ටන් සේනානායක: ; 19 June 1911 – 13 April 1973), was a Sri Lankan wikt:statesman, statesman who thrice served as Prime Minister of C ...

's visit to Galle. In 1955, he gave leadership to the nationalist movement that sort for "

Sinhala only The Official Language Act (No. 33 of 1956), commonly referred to as the Sinhala Only Act, was an Act of Parliament, act passed in the Parliament of Ceylon in 1956. The act replaced English language, English with Sinhalese language, Sinhala as th ...

" under a new party called the "Basha Peramuna" (Language Front) which aligned with the alliance

Mahajana Eksath Peramuna The Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (People's United Front) is a political party in Sri Lanka. The party is currently led by former Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena, son of Philip Gunawardena, the founder of the party. History Under Philip Gunaw ...

(Peoples United Front) led by

which contested the 1956 general elections and won a

landslide victory A landslide victory is an election result in which the winning Candidate#Candidates in elections, candidate or political party, party achieves a decisive victory by an overwhelming margin, securing a very large majority of votes or seats far beyo ...

against the ruling

which was reduced to eight seats in parliament. Dahanayake was himself re-elected from Galle having joined the

Sri Lanka Freedom Party The Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP; ; ) is a centre-left political party in Sri Lanka. Founded by S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike in 1951, the party was one of Sri Lanka's two main parties from the 1950s to the 2010s, serving as the main rival of the c ...

Minister of education

With S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike becoming prime minister, Dahanayake was appointed

by Bandaranaike. As Education Minister he re-introduced the mid-day school meal for students by providing a free bun, which gained him the nickname "Bannis Mama" (Bun Uncle). He gave university status to the

Vidyodaya Pirivena The Vidyodaya Pirivena was one of the prominent ''Pirivena, piriven'' (a monastic college, similar to a seminary, for the education of Buddhism, Buddhist Buddhist monasticism, monks) in Sri Lanka. It was founded in 1873 by Ven. Hikkaduwe Sri Sumang ...

and

Vidyalankara Pirivena Vidyalankara Pirivena is one of the largest Buddhist pirivenas in Sri Lanka. Located in Peliyagoda, it is nearly 150 years old. Under the pirivena's leadership, several schools were started in the region; one is Sri Dharmaloka College, one of th ...

. In 1959, he became the acting leader of the house after the incumbent C. P. de Silva was taken to London for medical treatment after becoming ill after consuming a glass of milk at a cabinet meeting.

Prime Minister of Ceylon

Bandaranaike had been scheduled to go to New York to attend the UN General Assembly in late September 1959. With the absence of C. P. de Silva, Bandaranaike had sent a letter to the

Governor-General of Ceylon The governor-general of Ceylon was the representative of the Ceylonese monarch in the Dominion of Ceylon from the country's independence in 1948 until it became the republic of Sri Lanka in 1972. History There were four governors-general. Si ...

recommending that he appoint Dahanayake as acting Prime Minister during his absence. Bandaranaike was assassinated on 26 September 1959 and with the letter as a reference,

Sir Oliver Goonetilleke Sir Oliver Ernest Goonetilleke () (20 October 1892 – 17 December 1978) was a Sri Lankan statesman. Having served as an important figure in the gradual independence of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) from Britain, he became the third Governor-Genera ...

, the

Governor General of Ceylon The governor-general of Ceylon was the representative of the Ceylonese monarch in the Dominion of Ceylon from the country's independence in 1948 until it became the republic of Sri Lanka in 1972. History There were four governors-general. Sir ...

appointed Dahanayake as Prime Minister. He was later confirmed by parliament in this position. He also took on the portfolios of defence and external affairs (customary held by the Prime Minister) as well as education. His tenure as prime minister was controversial and difficult. His first challenge came when the opposition in the house of representatives moved a vote no confidence against the government on 30 October 1959, the government on the vote 48 votes to 43. Even before Bandaranaike's assassination, there was infighting among the alliance parties of the

. The situation deteriorated under Dahanayake, which was compounded by the investigation into the assassination which drew suspicion on several ministers and resulted their resignation or removal. Dahanayake made a sudden request to the

for the dissolution of parliament on 5 December 1959 calling for fresh elections. On 7 December, announced his intentions to resign from the

. The Party in turn refused his resignation and instead expelled him. Dahanayake then responded with dismissing

Cabinet Minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ' prime minister', ' p ...

from the Freedom Party. For the interim he ran the country with a five member cabinet. He formed Lanka Prajathanthravadi Pakshaya (Ceylon Democratic Party) from which he contested the March 1960 general elections from Galle which he lost to

W. D. S. Abeygoonawardena Wijesekera Don Simon Abeygoonawardena (3 October 1907 – 30 December 1975), known as W. D. S. Abeygoonawardena, was a Sri Lankan businessman and politician. He served as a Member of Parliament for the Galle electorate and as the Mayor of Gall ...

by 400 votes. His party put forward 101 candidates, but is only four candidates won a seat in parliament. His most notable achievement during his tenor was the repeal of the Capital Punishment Act which Bandaranaike had suspended in Ceylon. The repeal made way for the execution of those convicted of the assassination of Bandaranaike.

Return to parliament

He successfully contested the July 1960 general elections from the Lanka Prajathanthravadi Pakshaya in Galle and elected to parliament defeating

. He seat in the opposition and was called before the

commission of inquiry A royal commission is a major ad-hoc formal public inquiry into a defined issue in some monarchies. They have been held in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, Malaysia, Mauritius and Saudi Arabia. In republics an equiv ...

into the Bandaranaike assassination to give evidence in 1963. That year he was awarded an

honorary An honorary position is one given as an honor, with no duties attached, and without payment. Other uses include: * Honorary Academy Award, by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, United States * Honorary Aryan, a status in Nazi Germany ...

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

from the

Vidyodaya University Vidyodaya School is a private college-preparatory combined-grades school located in Thevakkal, Kochi, India. It provides comprehensive school education from lower primary to grade 12. About Established in 1990-91 the school conducts classes fr ...

and adopted the style "Dr Wijeyananda Dahanayake". In 1964, Dahanayake gained fame when he attempted and was prevented from entering parliament chambers in a span cloth (known locally as an Amude) in protest of government of Prime Minister

Sirima Bandaranaike Sirima Nicole Wiratunga (14 February 1964 – 7 December 1989), known simply by her first name Sirima, was a singer who sang in English and French. She was primarily known for her duet " Là-bas", recorded in 1987 with Jean-Jacques Goldman, which ...

's rationing of clothing to two yards of textiles per month per person due to foreign exchange shortage. The following day dailies carried photos of Dahanayake in an Amude.

Cabinet minister and opposition

He was re-elected 1965 general elections from the Sri Lanka Freedom Socialist Party led by C. P. de Silva. The party supported the United National Party in forming a national government and Dahanayake was appointed

. He was re-elected in the 1970 general elections from the United National Party and sat in the opposition. He resigned from United National Party and sat as an independent after his request for a free vote for the republican constitution was refused. In the 1977 general elections, he contested from Galle as an independent candidate, but lost to the United National Party candidate

Albert de Silva Albert may refer to: Companies * Albert Computers, Inc., a computer manufacturer in the 1980s * Albert Czech Republic, a supermarket chain in the Czech Republic * Albert Heijn, a supermarket chain in the Netherlands * Albert Market, a street mar ...

. Dahanayake challenged Silva in an election petition in the Galle High Court and in the Supreme Court, once again representing himself and a judgment in his favor unseating Silva in 1979. Dahanayake gained the seat in the following by-election as the candidate from the United National Party with a majority of 13,012 votes and sat as a backbencher. He was appointed Minister of Co-operatives by

J. R. Jayewardene Junius Richard Jayewardene (; ; 17 September 1906 – 1 November 1996), commonly referred to by his initials JR, was a Sri Lankan lawyer, public official and statesman who served as Prime Minister of Sri Lanka from 1977 to 1978 and as the secon ...

in March 1986 and serving till 1988. The United National Party nominated Dahanayake through the

national list The National List (, ''Reshima Mamlakhtit''), sometimes translated as the State List, was a political party in Israel. Despite being founded by David Ben-Gurion, one of the fathers of the Israeli left, the party is one of the ancestors of the mo ...

for the 1989 general elections, his name was removed later and he was not able to enter parliament. This marked the end of his political career.

Death

Dahanayaka died on 4 May 1997 at the age of 95 after a short illness at his home in Richmond Hill, Galle.

Personal life

Dahanayake was a simple man. When appointed Prime Minister, he moved into

Temple Trees Temple Trees is the official residence of the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka. It is located in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Several recent presidents have used it as their official residence as well. History Private residence The history of ''Temple Tree ...

carrying his own things in two old suitcases from his room in the

Srawasthi Mandiraya The Srawasthi Mandiraya is the primary office complex of the Western Provincial Council, located in Cinnamon Gardens, a suburb of Colombo. Built in 1913, it saw use for most of its lifetime as a hostel for Members of Parliament from outside C ...

. He found the prime minister's bed room too large and had it partitioned. When he resigned from the post of prime minister following his electoral defeat, he packed his personal belongings to the same suitcase left Temple Trees to

. He remained a bachelor throughout his life.

Electoral history

References

External links

Website of the Parliament of Sri LankaSri Lanka Freedom Party's official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dahanayaka, Wijeyananda 1901 births 1997 deaths Sri Lankan Buddhists Mayors of Galle Ministers of education of Sri Lanka Members of the 1st Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 2nd Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 3rd Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 5th Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 6th Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 7th Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 8th Parliament of Sri Lanka Prime ministers of Sri Lanka Ministers of defence of Sri Lanka Home affairs ministers of Sri Lanka People from British Ceylon Alumni of Richmond College, Galle Alumni of S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia Sri Lankan twins People from Galle