Veteran SLFP politician Lakshman Jayakody passed away this week and the funeral was held in his home constituency of Divulapitiya on Thursday amidst a large and representative gathering.
He was 80 at the time of his death.
Mr. Jayakody hailed from the landowning Jayakody clan of Divulapitiya but was a simple socialist at heart. He first entered Parliament in July, 1960 - fifty years ago, at the age of 30 when he defeated an older relative Percy Jayakody who had won the March elections of that same year from the UNP.
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| President Mahinda Rajapaksa paying his last respects to Parliamentarian Lakshman Jayakody. Pic by Pushpakumara Mallawarachchi. |
In 1970, he was made the Deputy Minister of Defence and External Affairs, a portfolio held by the Prime Minister, Sirima Bandaranaike. He played a prominent role when the first JVP uprising took place in 1971.
His weekly press conferences kept the local and international media regularly briefed on developments in Sri Lanka, especially on foreign policy. His opening remarks when answering a question, "our position is well known on this matter…." became a familiar phrase with journalists covering the press conferences, a practice that he began and is now taken over as the weekly post-Cabinet press conference. In 1976, he was the Government spokesman for the NAM Summit in Colombo, while Dr. Vernon Mendis was the conference spokesman.
He was defeated in the UNP landslide of 1977, but returned to Parliament as the MP for Attanagalla when Mrs. Bandaranaike lost her civic rights. A trusted loyalist of Mrs. Bandaranaike, Mr. Jayakody was sidelined by Mrs. Chandrika Kumaratunga when the SLFP returned to power in 1994 and made Minister of Cultural Affairs and Buddha Sasana, a portfolio he however enjoyed given his wide interest in the arts, culture and religion.
When he retired from politics, he became Senior Advisor to President Mahinda Rajapaksa especially on cultural and religious matters.
An old boy of Trinity College, Kandy, Mr. Jayakody played both cricket and rugby football, vice captaining the cricket team under Lakshman Kadirgamar, who later became Foreign Minister of Sri Lanka. With both having the same first names, they called each other "captain" and "vice captain" throughout their lifetime.
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