March 22, 1965 political turning point:

Hath Havula led to first 'National Government'

by Uditha Kumarasinghe

The General Election of March 22, 1965 paved the way for the concept of a National Government making a dramatic change in the country's political fabric when Prime Minister Dudley Senanayake formed the 'Hath Havula' or the first seven party coalition government in Sri Lanka to preserve democracy in the country. 'Hath Haula' mainly comprised veteran Marxist Guru Philip Gunawardena, Federal Party agitator M. Tiruchelvam QC and several other prominent politicians.

Sirimavo Bandaranaike	Colvin R. de Silva	Dr. N.M.Perera Pix: ANCL Library

Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike's government collapsed on December 3, 1964 when C.P. de Silva, Leader of the House and Minister of Land, Irrigation and Power took the irrevocable step of crossing the floor of the House and finally casting his vote along with 13 other MPs against the government of Sirimavo Bandaranaike on the Throne Speech. Consequently, Parliament was dissolved on December 17, 1964 and fresh polls were held on March 22, 1965.

Allegations

The March General Election was a fight for a democratic way of life as represented by those opposed to the Government in power as against what was called by the opposition "the crude attempts at dictatorship".

In a message on January 10, 1965, on the eve of nomination day, UNP Leader Dudley Senanayake said " When the people trek to cast their votes on March 22, they will be deciding whether this country is to go under the yoke of foreign dictators or not. During the election campaign, Premier Bandaranaike said that there were allegations that she was trying to set up a dictatorship in the country. She said if she wanted to be a dictator, she could do so easily because the the Police and the Armed Services were under her control. She further said that she had no such intention and she was only interested in protecting " the parliamentary system of democracy."

Full term

Another landmark of the 1965 political transformation was that teenagers between the ages of 18 to 21 exercised their franchise for the first time at the 1965 General Election. They obtained their vote as a result of an amendment to the election laws passed in 1960. It was stated by the Elections Department that 82 percent exercised their franchise at the 1965 General Election and that was the highest percentage ever recorded.

However, a new UNP-led National Government consisting of seven political parties was formed after the General Election of March 22, 1965. The seven coalition partners of the 1965 National Government were the United National Party(UNP), Federal Party (FP), Sri Lanka Freedom Socialist Party(SLFSP), All Ceylon Tamil Congress(ACTC), Mahajana Eksath Peramuna(MEP), Jathika Vimukthi Peramuna(JVP) and the Ceylon Workers Congress(CWC).

Dudley Senanayake was appointed Prime Minister for the fourth time on the results of the 1965 General Election and he completed his full term of five years, the first time in Sri Lanka's parliamentary history when a Prime Minister completed the full term of five years. A Cabinet of 17 Ministers headed by Premier Senanayake was sworn in on March 27, 1965 by the Governor General William Gopallawa.

A total of 4,056,467 voters had been polled at the General Election. A total of 494 candidates of whom 14 were women contested the elections and there were 4771 polling booths. When election results of the 1965 March General Election were announced no single party had obtained a simple majority on its own. The UNP polling 1, 579,181 of the votes had obtained 66 seats. The Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) polling 1, 226, 833 of the votes came next with 41 seats. Federal Party (FP) was third with 14 seats and it had polled 217,986 votes.

The Lanka Sama Samaja party (LSSP) polled 302,095 votes and obtained 10 seats while the Communist Party (CP) got 109,744 votes with 4 seats. Among the other parties secured seats were the SLFSP led by C.P. De Silva which polled 129, 986 votes getting 5 seats. The Tamil Congress led by G.G. Ponnambalam got 98,726 votes and 3 seats. The MEP led by Philip Gunawardena polled 110,388 votes and got a one seat while the JVP led by K.M.P. Rajaratne secured 18,791 votes with a one seat.

Political parties

Yet another significant feature of the 1965 General Election, was that apart from these MP's from accredited political parties, six candidates contesting as independents were also elected in 1965 polls. They were Prins Gunasekera (Habaraduwa), Percy Samaraweera (Welimada), M. A. Abdul Majeed (Pottuvil), M.S. Kariapper (Kalmunai), R.G.Senanayake (Dambadeniya) and Mudiyanse Tennekoon (Nikaweratiya). An interesting feature of the poll was that of elections not being held to two-member electorate of Colombo South. J.R. Jayewardene of the UNP and Bernard Soysa of the LSSP were the only candidates to have filed nomination papers there in 1965 and both were elected unopposed as Colombo South MPs. It was generally expected that as soon as the full election results were announced on March 23, 1965, Mrs.Sirimavo Bandaranaike would hand over her resignation to the Governor General and allow His Excellency to call whoever commanded a majority in the House of Representatives and entrust him with the task of forming a new government.

But Mrs. Bandaranaike hesitated and there was a delay of nearly 40 hours before she finally resigned. Winding up the debate on the Governor-General's speech from the Throne, Dudley Senanayake stated in the House of Representatives on April 23, 1965 " We are aware of the rally on Galle Face where an attempt was made to induce the then Prime Minister to ignore democratic traditions.

We are well aware of the fact that was the reason for delay in dissolving Parliament. We are also well aware of the fact that you brought large numbers again to prevent then Prime Minister from resigning. I am not blaming the Leader of the Opposition. I am blaming those who talk glibly of democracy, but who are wedded to the complete elimination of democracy".

On March 25, 1965, a statement signed by Dudley Senanayake (UNP), S.J.V. Chelvanayakam (FP), C.P. de Silva (SLFSP), G.G.Ponnambalam (TC) and Philip Gunawardena (MEP) was handed over to the Governor General.

Totalitarianism

The statement said " We represent an overall majority in the House of Representatives, and we will support a National Government under the leadership of Dudley Senanayake, leader of the UNP, pledged to protect and preserve democratic freedom and to rescue the country from the economic and other difficulties that now face it". Premier Senanayake announced his National Government on March 27, 1965 which included the members of those parties which fought for the preservation of the democratic systems in the country in opposition to totalitarianism and dictatorship.

When the political breakdown on the basis of party positions was taken, it appeared the UNP with 66 seats was also sure of the support of the SLFP Bloc of five MPs. The National Government of Dudley Senanayake completed its full term and confidently went to the polls in 1970 seeking a renewed mandate from the people, but the Sri Lankan voters passed a harsh judgement on the performance of the National Government. The united front of the SLFP (91), LSSP(19) and CP (06) won 116 seats out of 151 seats in Parliament and the UNP was routed with the party getting only 17 seats.