DS the political strategist

In his book ‘Memoirs of a Cabinet Secretary’, Bernard Percival Peiris presented his own personal glimpse of the Father of the Nation. We publish here extracts from the chapter titled The Rt. Hon. D.S. Senanayake. “Memoirs of a Cabinet Secretary” is published by Sarasavi Publishers.

Cabinet Government was established with the promulgation of the new constitution. Sir Henry Monck-Mason Moore, Governor, who had been appointed Governor-General, called on D.S. Senanayake to form a Government. He formed a Cabinet of fourteen consisting of S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike, Sir Oliver Goonetilleke, George E. De Silva, J.L. Kotelawala, J.R. Jayewardene, L.A. Rajapakse, R.S.S. Gunawardena, Dudley Senanayake, C. Suntharalingam, T.B. Jayah, E.A. Nugawela, A. Ratnayake and C. Sittampalam.

The first meeting was held on October 8, 1947, in the Cabinet Room, said to be one of the most beautiful in the whole of the Commonwealth. The only door leading to the room was closely barred. Police officers kept guard at the entrances leading to the Prime Minister's Office and the Senate to prevent unauthorized persons from entering the building.

At this meeting, the Ministers, the Secretary and the Assistant took an oath of secrecy, which was an adaptation of the Privy Councillor's oath but which had no statutory force. This was considered necessary by D.S. as the decisions of the Board of Ministers in the days of the State Council reached in the morning, regularly appeared in the late editions of the evening newspapers the same day. In the absence of the Secretary, I had no power to administer the oath and, on two occasions, Ministers had to suffer the indignity of having to be taken round by me before a Justice of the Peace. D.S. therefore had me appointed a Justice of the Peace for the Judicial District of Colombo ex officio while holding the post of Assistants Secretary. The oath of secrecy, however, did not prevent the leakage of Cabinet news to the Press. The same thing probably happens in other countries.

Except on one occasion when he had to see his doctor, D.S. was never late for a meeting and he insisted on other Ministers being punctual. All the Ministers complied with this request except S.W.R.D. who was invariably more than one hour late and who, on, arrival, would greet the Prime Minister with a "Good morning, D.S." when every other Minister addressed him as "Sir" and inquire what business the Cabinet had transacted in his absence. The ground had then to be gone over again for his benefit and D.S. resented the waste of time but seemed unable to remedy it. In the Chair, D.S. was firm and would not allow a Minister to raise a matter which was not on the Agenda unless the circumstances were exceptional. When a Minister attempted to raise a matter orally, he would say he knew nothing about it and ask a Cabinet Paper be submitted.

After the first meeting, the Prime Minister entertained the Ministers and the Secretaries to lunch in the Senate. It is strange that his first meeting and his last should have ended with a Cabinet lunch in the Senate.

D.S. was not a scholar; he had not been to a university and had no academic degree. He was an agriculturist and a gentleman-farmer and loved the land. He told me that he had planted his coconut land, probably at Botale, with his own hands and was very proud of it. But he had also been brought up early in the school of politics and was a master of political strategy which was the result of experience. There was no hypocrisy about him. In fact, it might be said that his want of hypocrisy was his greatest liability. He was able, with that experience of his, to seize the core of the matter under discussion and throw away the non-essential covering. Often, when a Minister was arguing a Cabinet Paper and taking more time than he thought was necessary, he would say "But actually, as a matter of fact, isn't this the point?" The matter would then be settled in a few minutes. In this way, he used, very often, to clear the entire agenda. Of D.S. it can be said, "I come not, friends, to steal your hearts away: I am no orator, as Brutus is, but as you know me all, a plain blunt man.."

It was clear that we were not experienced in the theory and technique of Government by collective responsibility. One Minister told the Cabinet, after a decision had been reached, that he had to put it to his constituents! D.S. was working hard at this time to establish certain traditions and conventions. Heads of Departments were asking for copies of Cabinet Papers to which they were not entitled. The Legal Draftsman was being asked to draft Bills by individual Ministers before the policy involved in the Bill had been approved collectively. D.S. consulted me and laid down a few rules for the guidance of Ministers. The Legal Draftsman was not to undertake the drafting of a Bill until he had been informed by the Cabinet Secretariat that the proposal had the approval of the Cabinet. No paper was to be placed on the Agenda unless it had been in the hands of Ministers for three clear days before the meeting. These might be considered to be matters of detail; but D.S. was convinced that it was only by setting the details and straightening things out that the Ministers could be made to function as a collective body. In this, I think he succeeded to a large extent.There were occasional lapses.

After the promulgation of the new Constitution, D.S. was in constant communication with the United Kingdom regarding the grant of full Dominion Status to Ceylon. This meant the removal of the reserved powers vested in the Governor under the earlier Order in Council. He informed the Ministers that the Imperial Government was willing to accede to Ceylon's request but that, before this could be done, it would be necessary to pass a Bill in the Imperial Parliament conferring fully responsible status on Ceylon within the British Commonwealth. It was possible that this Bill would become law before the next session of the Ceylon Parliament. Before the Bill was introduced in the Imperial Parliament, it was necessary that Ceylon should sign certain agreements with the United Kingdom. These were accordingly signed. In the External Affairs Agreement, Ceylon agreed to adopt and follow the resolutions of past Imperial Conferences. Was it intended by this, Ministers asked, to impose on this Government, a higher obligation in respect of such resolutions than existed in the case of any one of the other Dominions? The Prime Minister stated that was clearly not the intention. The Agreements were to continue in force only as long as the two Governments considered them to be of mutual benefit, and it was implied that the Government could denounce the Agreements, in whole or in part, if the need arose. The Prime Minister was authorized to sign the Agreements on behalf of the Government.

Five documents were necessary to confer Dominion status on Ceylon:

A Ceylon Independence Act passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom to confer on the Ceylon Parliament full legislative powers, and to deprive the United Kingdom of responsibility for the Government of Ceylon.

An Order in Council to remove the limitations on self-government in the Ceylon Constitution.

An External Affairs Agreement to provide for certain matters relating to external affairs.

A Defence Agreement of such a nature that the necessary measures could be taken for the defence of Ceylon.

A Public Officers' Agreement transferring to the Ceylon Government the responsibilities hitherto vested in the Government of the United Kingdom in relation to public officers.

The three Agreements were signed in Colombo on November 11, 1947, by the Governor-General, on behalf of the Government of the United Kingdom, and by the Prime Minister of behalf of the Government of Ceylon. The Ceylon Independence Act, passed by the United Kingdom Parliament, received the Royal Assent on December 10, 1947. On December 19,1947 His Majesty approved the Ceylon Independence (Commencement) Order in Council and the Ceylon Independence Order in Council. D.S. was a very happy man; his labours had succeeded, but they had to wait for official information that the documents had received Royal Approval. D.S. was waiting at Queen's House for the news which was late. When it finally came on the ticker, he was so elated, he broke all his rules and opened a few bottles of champagne at his house "Woodlands."

The Cabinet approved the following resolution to be moved in Parliament:

This House rejoices that after many years of subjection to foreign rule, the struggle of the people of Ceylon for freedom has culminated in the attainment of independence….

March 20, 1952, was Mr. D.S. Senanayake's last Cabinet meeting. On that day, after the meeting, he entertained the Ministers and the Secretaries to lunch in the Senate Refreshment Room. Some Ministers were absent and I pointed out that thirteen were sitting to table. I was sent out to bring somebody, some extra person, to make the number fourteen, but everyone I met appeared to have had his lunch. And so, thirteen of us sat down to lunch. Minister Nugawela did not like it at all and said so. Next morning, while on horseback, the Prime Minister fell off his horse although he was a good horseman. He had apparently had a stroke. He passed away the next day. Her Majesty the Queen was one of the first persons to send a message of sympathy.

Ceylon had lost the Father of the Nation. His wise leadership gave us peace and prosperity. There were no communal differences and controversies in his time. He had Muslims and Hindus in his Cabinet. He was not out for cheap notoriety. There was nothing mean or common in his nature, and his qualities of sincerity, good faith, and love of his native land have generally been accepted by the country. I have attempted to draw a vignette. Some future historian or research worker must give us his biography.

'J.L.F'. writing in the Ceylon Observer of March 23, 1952, said:

Mr. Senanayake was not merely a Prime Minister of a country: he was a leader of men. It was this quality both inborn and matured by experience which gave our country stability when he piloted the ship of state. His was not the leadership buttressed by bayonets and concentration camps in a country's hinterland. The people followed him, and even his political critics admired him because he was known to be just. And a country of different communities, different religions and different castes needs at the helm someone whom they can all trust as a just man.

Sir Alan Rose, Acting Governor-General, said:

During my seven years in this country I have had the opportunity and happiness of seeing Mr. Senanayake at very close quarters and from a variety of aspects. Quite apart from his many personal kindnesses, his inflexible courage, his power of mind and his breadth of outlook have combined to create an impression of greatness which I shall always remember.