Ceylonese parliamentary election, 1947

1st Ceylonese parliamentary election

1936 ← 23 August 1947 - 20 September 1947 → 1952

95 seats to the House of Representatives of Ceylon 48 seats were needed for a majority Turnout 61.3%   First party Second party   Leader D. S. Senanayake N. M. Perera Party United National Party Lanka Sama Samaja Party Leader's seat Mirigama Ruwanwella Seats won 42 10 Popular vote 751,432 204,020 Percentage 39.81% 10.81%

Prime Minister before election n/a Prime Minister-designate D. S. Senanayake United National Party

General elections were held in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) from August 23 to September 20, 1947.

Background

This is considered the first national election held in Sri Lanka (then known as Ceylon). Although it took place before independence was actually granted, it was the first election under the Soulbury Constitution.

Some of the major figures who had led the independence struggle were found in the rightwing United National Party led by D.S. Senanayake. In opposition were the Trotskyist Lanka Sama Samaja Party and Bolshevik Leninist Party of India, the Communist Party of Ceylon, the Ceylon Indian Congress and an array of independents.

Results

Senanayake's UNP fell short of a majority, but was able to form a government in coalition with the All Ceylon Tamil Congress, which had taken most of the seats in the Tamil regions.

Sri Lanka became a dominion rather than attaining full independence. The British retained military bases in the country and English remained as the official language along with much of the administrative system put in place by the British along with British officials.

e • d Summary of the 1947 Ceylonese parliamentary election

Party		Candidates	Votes	%	Seats
	United National Party	98	751,432	39.81	42
	Lanka Sama Samaja Party	28	204,020	10.81	10
	All Ceylon Tamil Congress	9	82,499	4.37	7
	Ceylon Indian Congress	7	72,230	3.83	6
	Bolshevik-Leninist Party / Bolshevik Samasamaja Party	10	113,193	6.00	5
	Communist Party of Ceylon	13	70,331	3.73	3
	Labour Party	9	38,932	2.06	1
	United Lanka Congress	2	3,953	0.21	0
	Swaraj Party	3	1,393	0.07	0
	Independents	181	549,381	29.11	21
Valid Votes		360	1,887,364	100.00	95
Rejected Votes
Total Votes Polled
Total Electors Polled1			1,710,150
Registered Electors			3,048,145
Turnout2			56.10%
Source: Sri Lanka Statistics Some variation exists over the exact results. 1. Total electors polled is less than total votes polled due to multiple-member seats where electors can cast more than one vote. 2. Actual turnout was slightly higher due Puttalam electoral district which was uncontested and returned H. S. Ismail (UNP).

References

• "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1947". Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. http://www.slelections.gov.lk/pdf/Results_1947%20GENERAL%20ELECTION.PDF. 
• "1947 General Election Results". LankaNewspapers.com. http://www.lankanewspapers.com/news/election/general_election1947.jsp. 
• "Table 31 Parliament Election (1947)". Sri Lanka Statistics. 10 February 2009. http://www.jpp.co.jp/lanka/gov/govd/govde/gov31e.htm. 
• Rajasingham, K. T. (20 October 2001). "Chapter 11: On the threshold of freedom". Sri Lanka: The Untold Story. Asia Times. http://www.atimes.com/ind-pak/CJ20Df03.html. 
• Rajasingham, K. T. (27 October 2001). "Chapter 12: Tryst with independence". Sri Lanka: The Untold Story. Asia Times. http://www.atimes.com/ind-pak/CJ27Df05.html.