Time to recognise a true blue leader of the SLFP
President Maithripala Sirisena announced at the 66th SLFP convention held in Colombo that he would create a new image for the SLFP free of waste, corruption and family rule and re-establish the party on the policies enunciated by the Party’s founder leader S.W. R.D. Bandaranaike.To assure people of his intentions, the iconic “hand” symbol reappeared prominently in the backdrop, bringing back nostalgic memories of the real SLFP.
Ever since the assassination of Prime Minister S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike in September 1959 by persons close to the SLFP, the SLFP has suffered from self-inflicted political wounds. Therefore, the present SLFP leader is expected to act honestly, decisively and courageously in the troubled times we are in now, in the face of the biggest ever challenge to the unity of the party led by the defeated Rajapaksa and his family and their cronies in arms.
Giving C.P. De Silva his due place in the SLFP leadership will give a signal that a real change of leadership in the party has taken place
The SLFP was established in 1951 as an alternative to the UNP. S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike felt that he could not aspire to become the leader of the UNP despite the many credentials he had, due to competing interests of personalities close to D. S. Senanayake in the UNP. At the 1952 general election, the newly formed SLFP emerged as a formidable party with 8 seats in Parliament. Come 1956, Bandaranaike cleverly targeted the newly independent Sinhala Buddhist majority during the 1956 general election. He urged the Sinhala elitist and the left oriented Sinhala Buddhist majority to form a SLFP government with the MEP to regain their rightful place in the body politic of Ceylon.
However, our history a few years later proved that Bandaranaike unwittingly let loose a calculating breed of politicians who had no hesitation in riding to power on the back of race and religion in a multi-ethnic society. Thankfully, we have today two visionary leaders from the SLFP and the UNP genuinely striving hard without battling each other at least till 2020, with the twin objectives of bringing all races together and rescuing the economy from the serious wounds inflicted on the country by the corrupt and wasteful Rajapaksa administration.
With this great opportunity mandated by the people, there is hope that the SLFP and the UNP will seize this last chance and lead the process of reconciliation irrespective of politics, race and religion. In this regard, the SLFP should undertake to strengthen itself under President Sirisena in order to be equal partner to the UNP in driving the government towards reconciliation at all levels. For this, the party should critically analyse its own origins and learn from past mistakes before paying lip service to lofty ideals. One such undertaking should be for the SLFP to recognize first of all who its own Party leaders are. If not, future generations and the emerging intelligentsia will eventually judge the SLFP and the current leadership for their inability to rise above petty politics.
During the last three annual conventions under the leadership of President Maithripala Sirisena in Polonnaruwa, Kurunegala and Colombo respectively, much effort was made to rekindle the romanticism surrounding the SLFP’s Bandaranaike image and the hand symbol.At the Kurunegala sessions, the new leadership in contrast to the Rajapaksa administration, commemorated the life and times of the third leader of the SLFP Mrs.Bandaranaike, who died on October 10, 2000.
But at all three events, the new leadership failed to recognize the fact that C. P. De Silva was the SLFP’s second leader. C. P. De Silva was persuaded by S.W. R. D. Bandaranaike to enter politics from premature retirement and living a life of a farmer in Tabbowa in the Puttalam district to face the 1st election after the SLFP was born in 1952. He contested from Polonnaruwa. This was the initial District in the vast NCP that D.S. Senanayake built, irrigated and colonized with his trusted civil servant on the ground, young C.P. De Silva.
CP was quick to win the hearts and minds of the peasants, for whom he sacrificed his personal life for over 15 years from the 1930s in capacities such as AGA, GA and thereafter as Land Commissioner in the 40s and 50s.
Unlike the modern leadership, Bandaranaike had the inner strength and ability to judge people. This made the SLFP capture for his party the massive Polonnaruwa seat, the heartland of the UNP. CP became one amongst the first nine SLFP MPs elected to Parliament. The others were S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike (Attanagalla), S.D. Bandaranayake (Gampaha), George R. De Silva (Colombo North), A. P. Jayasuriya (Horana) D.A.Rajapakse (Beliatta), Jayaweera Kuruppu (Ratnapura), Maithripala Senanayake (Medawachchiya) and Bernard Aluwihare (Matale).
C. P. soon became the trusted second in command to SWRD. Silently he worked for the famous 1956 victory of the SLFP- considered as the victory of the common man. ‘Ape Banda’ became the Prime Minister. C.P. De Silva retained Polonnaruwa easily with 10,072 votes to UNP’s G. L. Kotelawala’s 3948 and was made the Land and Land Development Minister. His acceptance in a party that was only four years old was shown by his being appointed the Leader of the House. Soon Bandaranaike faced strike after strike orchestrated by the left who had grand designs of entering government through the back door – a ploy CP objected to strenuously without success, during Mrs Bandaranaike’s Premiership between 1960 and 1964. Bandaranaike was called various unkind names by the leftists and other vested interests. C. P. stood by Bandaranaike and once in his absence broke the Port strike by calling the Army and challenging the strikers with serious consequences. When the infamous Cabinet strike took place in 1959, MEP leader Minister Philip Gunawardena resigned with P.H. William De Silva (Minister of Industries and Fisheries).Bandaranaike then called on C. P. De Silva to take over Philip’s Ministry of Agriculture and Food.
Before long, Bandaranaike’s enemies from within the SLFP led by Buddarakkitha Thero and Minister Wimala Wijewardena succeeded in physically eliminating Bandaranaike in September 1959 for not heeding the many demands of those who bankrolled him to power. The conspiracy plotted by his enemies within the SLFP was to poison him at a Cabinet meeting on August 25, 1956. They were influenced to fast forward the elimination of Bandaranaike on the reading of a famous horoscope reader who predicted that the next leader of the SLFP would be a woman.The poisoned glass of milk served to Bandaranaike was pushed towards C.P. by Bandaranaike who sat next to him in Cabinet. Soon thereafter C.P. collapsed unconscious in a toilet. He was airlifted to England from Ratmalana airport for treatment in a semi-conscious state.
Exactly one month later, on September 25, 1959, Bandaranaike was shot by a man named Somarama dressed in robes. He passed away on September 26. CP was under treatment in London and could not return to take oaths as the Prime Minister. At the time of the assassination, Stanley De Zoysa (Minister of Finance) was in Washington. D. A. Rajapakse was acting Minister holding C. P. De Silva’s portfolio.
Bandaranaike had created a niche for his Party by respecting the caste system deeply ingrained and highly respected by the Sinhala and Tamil people of Ceylon. But the Governor General, Sir Oliver Goonatilake conspired to deny C.P. De Silva of the premiership based on caste considerations. The day after Bandaranaike died, Sir Oliver Goonetillake appointed Wijayananda Dahanayake as the Prime Minister.
In fact, in Dr. Wijedasa Rajapakse’s book “C P De Silva – Minneriya Deviyo” (pg 49) it is stated that Sir Oliver had a great antipathy towards the Salagama community. Henry Abeywickrama’s book “Bandaranaike Revolution” and the Lankadeepa supplement “Diyatha,” stated that Dahanayake did not hold any high position in the SLFP government to be appointed the Prime Minister and therefore was never really accepted by the SLFP as the rightful heir to the throne.Dahanayake led the Basha Peramuna within the MEP during the elections.
Another view expressed elsewhere was that Bandaranaike was due to go to the US late September. Since his trusted second in command was in a hospital in London for poisoning, Bandaranaike requested Sir Oliver to appoint Dahanayake, the least offensive minister to his leadership in Cabinet, to act for him while he was in the US. Sir Oliver abused the Prime Minister’s intentions after his death and appointed Dahanayake as the Prime Minister given his mind set against C. P. De Silva.
Sir Oliver’s political manoeuvrings were obvious. As a result, Dahanayake became more and more unacceptable to the SLFP. The Central Committee of the SLFP met to appoint a leader for the SLFP in December 1959 no sooner CP returned. Senior Vice President A. P. Jayasuriya proposed that C.P. De Silva be appointed the leader of the SLFP. He was elected uncontested. At the time Bandaranaike was assassinated, Vice Presidents of the SLFP were C. P. De Silva, A. P. Jayasuriya and Maithripala Senanayake. The secretary was J. C. W. (Jim) Munasinghe and the Assistant Secretaries were Dr W. R. ‘Dadibidi’ De Silva ( Borella ) and M.P. De Zoysa (Ratgama).
CP held the party together at a very difficult time. Even Mrs Sirimavo Bandaranaike who was appointed a Patron of the party, was not in a frame of mind to play any role in politics. The present leadership of the SLFP must be aware that even D. A. Rajapakse, father of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa who was a Deputy Minister in the Bandaranaike Cabinet, deserted the SLFP at a difficult time and joined the MEP led by Philip Gunawardena after Bandaranaike was assassinated.
On his return having escaped death narrowly, C. P. De Silva was appointed Minister of Home Affairs from which post he soon resigned. Nevertheless C. P. De Silva retained his original portfolio and the post of Leader of the House. When some Ministers started revolting against Dahanayake, they were summarily dismissed. Sir Razeek Fareed, Gate Mudliyar M. S. Kariappa, R. E. Jayatillake and Layard Jayasundara were appointed Ministers. According to Dr Wijedasa Rajapakse, when the SLFP organiser for Kelaniya R. S. Perera went to meet the Prime Minister with sensitive information regarding the assassination, Dahanayake advised him to mind his own business. It was obvious that Dahanayake was carrying on as the Prime Minister with great difficulty.
Dahanayake escaped a no confidence vote in Parliament by one vote. News spread that Dahanayake was aligning with the UNP for his political survival. A speech made at the Tamil Union Cricket Club grounds where he said that Dudley Senanayake would be the next Prime Minister, was quoted extensively by his detractors. Dahanayake formed a new Party ‘Lanka Prajathanthravadi Paksaya’( LPP ) which some insultingly referred to as the Lanka Pisthola Party and Lanka Pissange Paksaya. Finally, Dahanayake advised the Governor General to dissolve Parliament after a mere six months as Prime Minister. An election was scheduled for March 1960.
The SLFP turned to C. P. De Silva as the leader of the SLFP, to lead the party at the March general elections. The SLFP was in serious disarray after its leader was killed. Though not fully recovered himself and without finances, C. P. De Silva led the party admirably but narrowly lost the election to the UNP( 50 seats ) by 4 seats. Dahanayake’s LPP won 4 seats but he lost his own Galle seat.
Nevertheless C. P. De Silva enjoyed widespread support in Parliament with the LSSP, Communist Party and the Tamil parties expressing support in writing to Sir Oliver requesting C.P. De Silva be asked to form a government in March. However, for the second time, C. P. De Silva missed becoming the Prime Minister. Sir Oliver on the 25th of March 1960 called upon Dudley Senanayake to form the government. C. P. became the Leader of the Opposition. Dr. Wijedasa Rajapakse states in his book that Sir Oliver had blurted out to the press when asked if he had a moral right to ask the UNP to form the government as the UNP did not have a Parliamentary majority, by saying that he could not ask a Silva to form a government.
Sir Oliver faced an avalanche of criticism for not appointing C. P. De Silva as Prime Minister for the second time, obviously because of his caste. He prevented a stable government being formed at a difficult time for the country. As expected, the UNP lost the Throne Speech vote and Parliament was dissolved with another election announced in July 1960.
Being the honourable man that he was, C. P. De Silva voluntarily offered his resignation from the leadership of the SLFP in favour of Mrs Bandaranaike, to checkmate the UNP at the July election. When it was known CP would give way to Mrs Bandaranaike in the interest of the Party, pressure was brought upon her by Ven. Henpitigedera Gnanaseeha Thero and several Buddhist monks, Dr G.P. Malalasekera and Dr Badudin Mahamood to accept the leadership of the party. This act of supreme sacrifice from the leader of the SLFP alone was enough for the SLFP to honour CP. Mrs B. finally accepted the leadership provided C .P. De Silva agreed to lead the SLFP in Parliament. She agreed to take a seat in the Senate if elected the Prime Minister.
The SLFP had a resounding victory with 75 seats to UNP’s 30, in a Parliament of 151 members. Mrs Bandaranaike took oaths as the world’s first Woman Prime Minister on July 21, 1960. C. P. De Silva was reappointed to the same Ministries he held before and was also re-elected Leader of the House.
With such overwhelming evidence to prove that C. P. De Silva was accepted as the leader of the SLFP after Bandaranaike and led the Party at the 1960 March general election and voluntarily handed over the leadership to the assassinated leader’s widow and led the SLFP government in Parliament while Mrs B sat in the Senate, it was sacrilege to deny C. P. De Silva his place in the honour board of the SLFP as the Party’s second leader.On the contrary, the UNP offered the Premiership to CP in 1965 though he quite rightly refused to accept it from Dudley Senanayake who won the 1965 general election.
The SLFP has failed to realize it produced a political leader who even today is recognized as “Minneriya Deviyo” throughout the Polonnaruwa district and elsewhere. Though in self-denial, the SLFP can boast of a political leader with rare distinction of very high academic qualifications. He passed out with Maths honours from the University and became one of the youngest civil servants with a first class at the Ceylon Service exam. No political party can boast of a leader who sacrificed his personal life to work with dedication for the peasant farmers living in inhospitable geographical locations for over 20 years in the 1930s to 1950s, prior to becoming a MP. But the irony is that his party erased his name from the honour board for dubious reasons. In an era of reconciliation, it is disheartening to note that President Maithripala Sirisena, who has repeatedly stated that he wishes to tread a new path, failed to give C. P. De Silva his rightful place as the Party’s second leader. The President would do well to remember that C. P. De Silva became the second leader of the SLFP while being the MP for Polonnaruwa.
If President Sirisena, continues to disregard the truth about the past SLFP leadership merely because C.P. De Silva crossed over in 1964 and broke the SLFP government or because he joined the UNP towards the latter part of the UNP government of Dudley Senanayake in 1969, the SLFP should be reminded that stalwarts of both the SLFP and the UNP such as Chandrika Kumaranatunga, Anura Bandaranaike, Mathripala Senanayake, T. B. Illangaratne,Vijaya Kumaratunaga to name a few from the SLFP and Speaker Karu Jayasuriya and Presidential candidate Gamini Dissanayake to name a few from the UNP also left their respective parties and formed new parties and or returned and attained high office in their former parties. Chandrika Kumaranatunga became the President from the SLFP. Gamini Dissanayake had a fighting chance of becoming President if he had not been assassinated by the LTTE. Philip Gunawardena abandoned the MEP and joined a UNP government in 1965 but is still respected as its first leader. The leader that did the biggest harm to the SLFP and Bandaranaike policies was Mahinda Rajapaksa. But he is rightfully considered a former leader of the SLFP and is currently its Patron.
The difference between C.P. De Silva and all others was that, C. P. and the 13 other MPs who opposed the Press take over bill and voted against the SLFP government’s Throne speech on December 3, 1964, knew they had to face a by-election under election laws at the time if the government won in Parliament and decided to dismiss them from the SLFP. Instead, the government fell and C.P. De Silva faced a general election and his actions were vindicated by his own electorate and the people of the country in 1965.
Therefore, the SLFP will enhance its stature if Bandaranaike policies are broadened and modernised, the “Hand symbol” is reintroduced to disassociate itself from its chequered past, family politics and corruption and wastage is eschewed at all levels, the current understanding between the SLFP and the UNP is kept alive at least until 2025 and ethnic reconciliation is genuinely implemented to showcase a change in attitudes and practices for the younger generations to follow.
Giving the man his due place in the SLFP leadership will give a signal that a real change of leadership in the party has taken place. On the other hand, if President Maithripala Sirisena does not recognize a leader who represented Polonnaruwa before him and who was the leader of his party before he entered politics, then he too will be no different to the other leaders of the SLFP, incapable of regaining a major plank in politics and capturing the true Bandaranaike image of the SLFP.