Somaweera_Chandrasiri

Somaweera Chandrasiri

Somaweera Chandrasiri

Sinhalese poet and Ceylonese politician

Somaweera Chandrasiri (11 February 1909 – 11 July 1971) was a Sinhalese poet and Ceylonese politician.[1][2]

Quick Facts Hon., Member of the Ceylon Parliament for Moratuwa ...

Somaweera Chandrasiri was born 11 February 1909 in Mampe. He attended Prince of Wales College, Moratuwa.[3] In 1937 he was elected to the Mampe-Kesbewa Urban Council. Although he was not a member of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP) Chandrasiri edited and published a pro-LSSP weekly newspaper Nidahasa.[4] He was arrested and jailed for contempt of court, whilst he was in jail he lodged his nomination papers for the country's first parliamentary elections.[4]

At the 1st parliamentary election, held between 23 August 1947 and 20 September 1947, Chandrasiri was elected as the LSSP candidate in the Moratuwa electorate, securing 48.15% of the total vote, 3,917 votes ahead of his nearest rival.[5] He retained the seat at the 2nd parliamentary election, held between 24 May 1952 and 30 May 1952, receiving 41.19% of the total vote.[6]

In October 1953 he split from the LSSP and was unsuccessful in his attempt to retain the seat of Moratuwa at the 3rd parliamentary election, held between 5 April 1956 and 10 April 1956, where he ran as an independent candidate. He polled 6,559 votes (16.26% of the total vote), 12,970 votes behind the successful LSSP candidate, Meryl Fernando.[7]

Candrasiri contested the newly created Kesbewa electorate at the 4th parliamentary elections in March 1960, where he received 11,115 votes (38.58% of the total vote) and was duly elected.[8] He subsequently joined the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), and ran as the party's candidate in the July 1960 parliamentary election, where he polled 45.37% of the total vote, retaining the seat.[9] At the 6th parliamentary election, held on 22 March 1965, he increased his winning margin to 57.87% of the total vote, over 7,000 votes clear of his nearest rival.[10]

At the 7th parliamentary election in May 1970 he polled 32,332 votes (64.37% of the total vote) and 14,606 votes in front of his United National Party rival, Dharmasena Attygalle.[11] In 1970 he was appointed the Deputy Minister of Cultural Affairs in the Second Sirimavo Bandaranaike cabinet.

In September 1970 a Tamil militant, Pon Sivakumaran, attempted to assassinate Chandrasiri by placing a time bomb under Chandrasiri's car when he was visiting Urumpirai Hindu College however the bomb exploded whilst nobody was in the car.[12][13][14]

References

  1. [1]
    "Hon. Chandrasiri, Somaweera, M.P." Parliament of Sri Lanka. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
  2. [2]
    Members of the Legislatures of Ceylon: 1931-1972. Library, National State Assembly. 1972. p. 44.
  3. [3]
    Abeynaike, H. B. W.; Ameratunga, H. P. (1970). Parliament of Ceylon, 1970. Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited. p. 59.
  4. [4]
    Nakkawita, Wijitha (4 October 2005). "Politicians of yesteryear". The Island. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
  5. [5]
    "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1947" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
  6. [6]
    "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1952" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 2 October 2017.[permanent dead link]
  7. [7]
    "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1956" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 2 October 2017.[permanent dead link]
  8. [8]
    "Result of Parliamentary General Election March 1960" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
  9. [9]
    "Result of Parliamentary General Election July 1960" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 3 October 2017.[permanent dead link]
  10. [10]
    "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1965" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 3 October 2017.[permanent dead link]
  11. [11]
    "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1970" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
  12. [12]
    Heynes, Stephen (2016). The Bleeding Island: Scars and Wounds. Partridge India. ISBN 978-1-4828-7479-2.
  13. [13]
    Imtiyaz, A. R. M. (2008). "Ethnic Conflict in Sri Lanka: The Dilemma of Building a Unitary State". In Chatterji, Manas; Jain, B. M. (eds.). Conflict and Peace in South Asia. Emerald Group Publishing. p. 140. ISBN 978-0-4445-3176-6.
  14. [14]
    Kingsbury, Damien (2012). Sri Lanka and the Responsibility to Protect: Politics, Ethnicity and Genocide. Routledge. p. 65. ISBN 978-0-415-58884-3.
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