From the day W. Dahanayake entered the political arena, he attracted widespread attention. When the Duke of Gloucester arrived in Ceylon, he led a black-flag demonstration against the visit. He felt it was a way of showing the representative of the King Emperor George V our desire to be an independent sovereign nation.
Much of the early period of his political life was spent in making the people aware of the burning issues of the day. From the steps of the Galle Cricket Club pavilion, he used to address the people when there was an important national issue. People came in their numbers to listen to him.
As Mayor of Galle, Dahanayake became a national figure. He took up all the national issues of the day. Even before he entered Parliament, he had already become the champion of the masses, irrespective of race, caste, class or religion. It is significant that he was invited to speak at the Congress of Jaffna Youth by Handy Perimpanayagam. He was drawn in a chariot by the members of the Jaffna Congress to the meeting hall.
Dahanayake's parliamentary career began in 1944 when he was elected to the State Council from the Bibile constituency at a by-election, defeating bus magnate Simon Pieris. Dahanayake kept all the Ministers at bay with his sharp criticism and pungent language.
When the Free Education Bill was introduced by C.W.W. Kannangara, Dahanayake was one of its leading supporters. It was he who launched a signature campaign which led to the Colonial Secretary giving up his opposition to the Bill.
Longest speech
Dahanayake still holds the record for the longest speech ever made by a member in the Legislature of Sri Lanka- during the debate on the Appropriation Bill in the State Council when he spoke for 13 ½ hours.
When the elections to the first Parliament under the Soulbury Constitution was held in 1947, J.R. Jayewardene and Dudley Senanayake had tried to woo him just before the formation of the U.N.P. Finally, he gave the 'nod' to the B.L.P., as he had presided over most of their meetings, demanding the release of the L.S.S.P. and B.L.P. detainees. The people of Galle elected him, recognizing his immense service to them, defeating his rival H.W. Amarasuriya, one of the richest men in the island during that time.
Expelled from the L.S.S.P.
In 1952 he contested the Galle seat as a candidate of the L.S.S.P. Before long, he was expelled from the party for welcoming the then Prime Minister Dudley Senanayake at the foundation-stone laying ceremony of the new Town Hall building in Galle. Dahanayake did what was correct according to his conscience. Galle got an excellent Town Hall. He was not prepared to sacrifice common sense for theory.
Confounding everybody, Dahanayake in the 1956 elections, became the chief speaker and crowd-puller for the M.E.P. The chief contenders for the post of Prime Minister and leadership of the country were S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike, the leader of the newly formed MEP, and John Kotelawala, the leader of the U.N.P. Dahanayake became the Minister of Education in the M.E.P. Government. His record of service as Minister of Education was outstanding. He gave the swabasha teacher his due place. He started MahaVidyalayas. He did not wait for laboratories to be built in order to start science education in rural schools but provided science kits so teachers could started work immediately.
The Vidyalankara and Vidyodaya Pirivenaswere elevated to university status. Dahanayake also provided the free mid-day meal to all school children.
Following the assassination of Bandaranaike, Dahanayake found himself installed as Prime Minister, under "fortuitous circumstances", as he himself described it. It is to his credit that he brought back stability and security to the country during his short tenure of six months as head of the Government. He was responsible for holding a General Election on one day for the first time.
At the General Elections of March 1960, Dahanayake suffered the biggest setback in his political career when he lost his own seat at Galle to U.N.P. candidate W.D.S. Abeygunawardena.
But he was quick to win back his seat in the elections of July 1960.
In the elections of 1965, he retained his seat in Galle and was appointed as Minister of Home Affairs in the Dudley Senanayake Government. He was elected again in 1970, but lost in the election of 1977, contesting as an independent candidate, to D.G. Albert de Silva of the U.N.P.
But he was not prepared to give in. He filed an election petition and argued his own case before the Supreme Court. Albert de Silva was unseated. J.R. Jayewardene remarked:"Dahanayake did what a generation of lawyers could not do."
At the by-election which followed, Dahanayake was nominated by the U.N.P. and won comfortably. He remained a back-bencher for some time until he was appointed as Minister of Co-operatives in 1986.
In 1989, at the age of 86, he retired from active politics, ending a remarkable career in public life. In office or out, he was always a servant of the people at all hours of the day or night, for over 60 years, a great example for young politicians of today.
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