A new era begins

The shifting of Parliament from its old home at Galle Face to Diyawannawa was a landmark event. Here Nihal Seneviratne, former Secretary General of Parliament recalls President J.R Jayawardene’s speech at the opening of the new Parliament on April 29, 1982

The big day for the opening of the new Parliament was fixed for April 29, 1982.

 President J.R. Jayewardene was the first to speak on that day. It was indeed a historic speech which is reproduced below:

Hon. Members of Parliament, our country has a very ancient history of government with which the people were associated. Anuradhapura had a Mayor- Nagaraguththika – 2,000 years ago; Polonnaruwa in the 11^th Century A.D. had a Cabinet of Ministers and the buildings in which they deliberated are still to be seen. Village assemblies – gan sabhas – have existed from the earliest dates.

When the Maritime Provinces came under British rule, Chief Justice Sir Alexander Johnston recommended in 1810 that Sri Lanka should be given a free Constitution. This did not happen because of a change of Government in the United Kingdom. A Legislative Council with official and unofficial members was, however, established in 1833.

Elections to the Legislative Council were first held in 1911 and a member called the Ceylonese Member was elected by the whole Island on a very restricted franchise. Ponnambalam Ramanathan, later Sir, was the first to be so elected. In 1920 and 1924, the membership was enlarged and more members were elected. This Legislative Council existed till the grant of universal franchise and the creation of the State Council in 1931. The elected municipalities of Colombo, Kandy and Galle were established in 1865.

The Legislative Council sat in the building erected opposite Gordon Gardens, which later was the home of the Senate and is now the Presidential Secretariat and Conference Hall. From 1930, sittings were held in the State Council buildings which hon. Members vacated a few weeks ago. The Legislative Council, the State Council, the House of Representatives, the National State Assembly and Parliament  sat here from 1930-1931; 1931-1947; 1947-1972; 1972-1978 and 1978-1982 respectively.

Many famous sons of Sri Lanka elected by the people, no longer with us, have taken part in debates in these two buildings – Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan, Sir James Peiris, Sir D.B. Jayatilake, E.W. Perera, D.S. Senanayake, W.A. de Silva, Sir Francis Molamure, S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike, Sir John Kotelawala, Dudley Senanayake, T.B. Jayah, Geo. E. de Silva, A.E. Goonesingha, Philip Gunawardena, N.M. Perera, G.G. Ponnambalam, S.J.V. Chelvanayakam, S.A. Wickremesinghe and several others whose names are part of the political history of our country. They belonged to two generations that preceded the generation that sits in this chamber today. I have been associated with all of them, except Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan and Sir James Peiris, during the 44 years of my public career. My father and his brothers were Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan’s sponsors in the 1911 election and they worked with Sir James Peiris and some of the others mentioned above to establish the Ceylon National Congress in 1918.

There is only one Member of the 1931 State Council elected by universal franchise still alive – Mr. Vaithialingam. I hope he is here today. There are two who were Members of the second State Council elected in 1936 alive and still in active politics – myself elected in 1943 and Dr. W. Dahanayake, M.P. elected in 1944. Both of us have seen these Assemblies in peaceful periods and also in turbulent moods. We have both been State Councillors, Members of Parliament, back-benchers, Ministers, Opposition Leaders and Prime Ministers and I am sure it is as much a pride to him as it is to me to be able to be with you today.

In 1947 was elected the first Parliament which had the opportunity of governing a Lanka free once again after 133 years. From 1947 we have had eight general elections, several by-elections, six changes of Government. Free elections and democratic freedoms have survived throughout this period.

It was on 4^th April 1967, during the Dudley Senanayake Government of 1965-1970, that the Leaders of Parties at a meeting presided over by the Hon. Sir Albert Peries, Speaker, unanimously agreed to construct a new building for the House of Representatives and to demarcate land close to the Galle Face Green by the side of the Beira lake parallel to the land where the building we have vacated stands. The others present at this meeting were – Mr. T. Quentin Fernando, Deputy Chairman of Committees, Hon. J.R. Jayewardene, Minister of State, Mr. Maithripala Senanayake, M.P, Mr. M.P de Zoysa Siriwardene, M.P, Mr. S.J.V. Chelvanayakam, Q.C, M.P, Dr. N.M. Perera, M.P, Hon. C.P. de Silva, Minister of Irrigation, Power & Highways, Mr. P.G.B. Keuneman, M.P, Mr. G.G. Ponnambalam, Q.C, M.P, and Hon. D.P.R. Gunawardena, Minister of Industries & Fisheries.

The decision was taken because the engineers had expressed the view that alterations or extensions to the Chamber or to the building to accommodate 200 Members was not possible as it was constructed to accommodate 50 Members only. A token provision was included in the 1967-70 Estimates. Several meetings of the Committee continued to be held, but not much progress was made.

In 1970, the General Election elected the Government of Prime Minister Mrs. Sirima R. Dias Bandaranaike. Mr. Stanley Tillekeratne was now the Speaker and I was the Leader of the Opposition. Dr. N.M. Perera became the Minister of Finance and Mr. Maithripala Senanayake, Mr P.G.B. Keuneman and Mr M.P. de Zoysa Siriwardene became Ministers. Sir Albert Peries and Mr. Quentin Fernando were no longer alive. Mr. C. P. de Silva, Mr. D.P.R. Gunawardena and Mr G.G. Ponnambalam were defeated at the polls.

On 3^rd August 1970, at a meeting of the Leaders of Parties presided over by the Hon. Stanley Tillekeratne (Speaker), it was suggested that Mr. Geoffrey Bawa of Messrs. Edward, Reid, and Begg, Architects, should prepare the preliminary plans for consideration by the Committee. Meetings of Party Leaders were held, feasibility reports were prepared and plans drawn up. The site on Galle Face Green, as mentioned earlier, was agreed upon.

The Prime Minister (Mrs. Sirima Bandaranaike) then suggested that the project should be postponed. At a meeting presided over by the Hon. Stanley Tillekeratne (Speaker), held on 6^th June 1972, it was resolved that the Committee should meet the Hon. Prime Minister to discuss the matter further with a view to obtaining her approval for the project.

Consequent to this meeting, the Cabinet granted its approval to proceed with the project and approved the allocation of Rs. 2.2 million required for Stage 1 of the scheme.

Finally, on 3^rd May 1973, the Committee of Leaders of Parties agreed that the foundation stone for the new Parliament Building should be laid by the Hon. Prime Minister (Mrs. Sirima Bandaranaike). It was further agreed that: (a) the ceremony should be confined to a simple ceremony ; (b) the invitees to this ceremony should be limited to the Members of Parliament and their spouses ; (c) after the laying of the foundation stone, all the invitees should be served with “kiribath” and “kewun” at the National State Assembly Restaurant ; (d) the Clerk to the National State Assembly should work out the details in consultation with the other officials concerned.

In pursuance of these decisions, the Hon. Speaker addressed the Hon. Prime Minister inquiring whether it would be convenient for her to inaugurate the work on the new Parliament Building on the 17^th May 1973 at 1.09 p.m. which was considered to be an exceptionally auspicious day and time.

There was no response from the Prime Minister. The progress of the New Parliament Building Project thus came to an inauspicious halt; luckily, for the Parliament Building would have been built on a cemetery, and hon. Members would have been deliberating and speaking on the graves of those who died during the early days of the British regime.

After the July 1977 General Election the Government of Mr. J.R. Jayawardene assumed office. It gave consideration to the long overdue need of adequate accommodation and facilities for the Legislature and decided that the Parliamentary Complex, which should consist of (a) adequate accommodation for the Chamber and ancillary offices, (b) the Secretariat of the Secretary-General of Parliament, (c) the hostel for Members of Parliament, (d) the Parliamentary press, etc., should be located completely away from the heart of the City of Colombo. It decided that the Parliamentary Complex should be located at a suitable site in Sri Jayawardhanapura Kotte. An island in the historic Diyawanna Oya was chosen. Mr. Geoffrey Bawa was accepted as the architect, and Mitsui Ltd. were chosen as the builders of our new Parliamentary buildings.

That is why we are here today. Of those connected with the construction of the new Parliamentary Building from 1967, only 3 persons are still connected with it and are in this House today – Mr. Maithripala Senanayake, M.P., Mr. S.N. Seneviratne, Secretary General of the Parliament, and myself. I hope I have not left out anyone.

The new building we occupy today is situated in a city, Sri Jayavardhanapura, Kotte, which was the capital of Sri Lanka from 1411 to 1568. Western imperialists first came to our land during this period. Though Bhuvenekabahu V ruled in Gampola during the latter years of his reign, he also called himself King of Sri Jayavardhanapura Kotte where Nissanka Alagakkonara had built the Fort of Jayavardhanapura, Kotte. It was however in 1411, when Parakramabahu VI began what was to be a very long reign, that he established himself here, and it was he who really founded the Jayavardhanapura Kotte Kingdom. He gave it supremacy over other subject kingdoms in the country, contributed to its golden era of poetry, and during his 55 years of rule made this period rich in literature, incidents, and achievements. He was the first Sinhalese monarch since the days of Parakramabahu I and Nissankamalla to bring the whole Island under one rule, and the last ever to do so. Even today the Sandesa poems which reached their maturity in his period and Kavyasekera and Guttila Kavya are a source of enduring joy.

Owing to the constant harassment by the Portuguese, the kingdom moved from Jayawardhanapura (Kotte) to the Udarata (Kandy), and in 1597 the city was finally abandoned and its temples, buildings and monuments were razed to the ground by the Portuguese.

We see around us in these new buildings features that represent the culture and heritage of the past and embody our hopes and aspirations for the future. We commence here a new era of Parliamentary Democracy in a Chamber worthy of an Elected and Sovereign Assembly. Let us look after this building and its environs carefully.

What should be the standard of conduct we should maintain? Let us ask ourselves some of the questions The Buddha asked when King Ajasatta of Magadha sought his advice as to whether they should go to war with the Republic of the Vaggis: Do the Vaggis have frequent gatherings? Are they well attended? Do they assemble and disperse peacefully? Do they attend to their affairs in concord? Do they proceed in accordance with their ancient laws? Do they show respect and honour, esteem and veneration towards their elders and deem it worthwhile to listen to them? Do they show respect and honour, esteem and veneration towards their shrines? “These conditions lead to a nation’s welfare. If they follow them their growth is to be expected, not their decline,” he said.

In this Temple of Democracy let us so conduct ourselves for the welfare of the many that generations yet unborn may say that within this Chamber our words and conduct represented our finest hours.

Thank you.

President Jayawardene was followed by Prime Minister R. Premadasa, Leader of the Opposition A. Amirthalingam, Maithripala Senanayke, Sarath Muttetuwegama and Ananda Tissa de Alwis.

The day ended with President Jayewardene hosting a lunch in Parliament inviting all those mentioned above.