1.
Sri Lanka
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Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an island country in South Asia near south-east India. Sri Lanka has maritime borders with India to the northwest and the Maldives to the southwest, Sri Lankas documented history spans 3,000 years, with evidence of pre-historic human settlements dating back to at least 125,000 years. Its geographic location and deep harbours made it of strategic importance from the time of the ancient Silk Road through to World War II. Sri Lanka was known from the beginning of British colonial rule until 1972 as Ceylon, Sri Lankas recent history has been marred by a thirty-year civil war which decisively ended when the Sri Lankan military defeated the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in 2009. A diverse and multicultural country, Sri Lanka is home to many religions, ethnic groups, in addition to the majority Sinhalese, it is home to large groups of Sri Lankan and Indian Tamils, Moors, Burghers, Malays, Kaffirs and the aboriginal Vedda. Sri Lanka has a rich Buddhist heritage, and the first known Buddhist writings of Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka is a republic and a unitary state governed by a semi-presidential system. The legislative capital, Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, is a suburb of the capital and largest city. Along with the Maldives, Sri Lanka is one of the two countries in South Asia that are rated among high human development on the Human Development Index. In antiquity, Sri Lanka was known to travellers by a variety of names, according to the Mahavamsa, the legendary Prince Vijaya named the land Tambapanni, because his followers hands were reddened by the red soil of the area. In Hindu mythology, such as the Mahabharata, the island was referred to as Lankā, in Tamil, the island is referred to as Eelam. Ancient Greek geographers called it Taprobanā or Taprobanē from the word Tambapanni, as a British crown colony, the island was known as Ceylon, it achieved independence as the Dominion of Ceylon in 1948. The country is known in Sinhalese as Śrī Laṃkā and in Tamil as Ilaṅkai, in 1972, its formal name was changed to Free, Sovereign and Independent Republic of Sri Lanka. Later in 1978 it was changed to the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, as the name Ceylon still appears in the names of a number of organisations, the Sri Lankan government announced in 2011 a plan to rename all those over which it has authority. The pre-history of Sri Lanka goes back 125,000 years, the era spans the Palaeolithic, Mesolithic and early Iron Ages. Among the Paleolithic human settlements discovered in Sri Lanka, Pahiyangala and it is said that Kubera was overthrown by his demon stepbrother Ravana, the powerful emperor who built a mythical flying machine named Dandu Monara. The modern city of Wariyapola is described as Ravanas airport, early inhabitants of Sri Lanka were probably ancestors of the Vedda people, an indigenous people numbering approximately 2,500 living in modern-day Sri Lanka. According to the Mahāvamsa, a written in Pāḷi, the original inhabitants of Sri Lanka are the Yakshas and Nagas. Ancient cemeteries that were used before 600BC and other signs of advanced civilization has also discovered in Sri Lanka
2.
United National Party
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The United National Party, often abbreviated as UNP, is a political party in Sri Lanka. It currently is the ruling party in the government of Sri Lanka and is headed by Ranil Wickremesinghe. The UNP is considered to have right-leaning, pro-capitalist, and liberal conservative policies. 66% of the popular vote and it beat the United Peoples Freedom Alliance, a left-leaning coalition, which won 44. 38% of the vote. The Front held a majority in parliament with the support of some UPFA members, the UNP had previously been the governing party or in the governing coalition from 1947 to 1956, from 1965 to 1970, from 1977 to 1994 and 2001 to 2004. In total, the UNP governed Sri Lanka for 38 of 69 years of its independent history, the UNP also had control of the executive presidency from the presidencys formation in 1978 to 1994. The UNP is a party to the right of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party. The UNP is also member of the International Democrat Union, the UNP was founded on 6 September 1946 by amalgamating three right-leaning pro-dominion parties from the majority Sinhalese community and minority Tamil and Muslim communities. The UNP represented the community and the landed gentry. However, Senanayake also adopted populist policies that made the party accepted in the grassroots level. S Senanayake is considered as the father of the nation, after independnece he refused a Knighthood but maintained good relations with Britain and was a Privy Counsel. These measures were intended primarily to undermine the Left electorally, in 1952 Prime Minister Senanayake died in a riding accident, and his son Dudley became Prime Minister. This irked long standing UNP stalwart S. W. R. D, bandaranaike, a Buddhist nationalist leader known for his centre-left views. Bandaranaike quit the party to found the Sri Lanka Freedom Party as a force between the UNP and Marxist parties. In 1953 the UNP attempted to reduce the rice ration and there was a Hartal, there was growing disaffection with the UNP particularly because of its support of minority religious groups, most notably Catholics, to the consternation of the predominantly Buddhist Sinhalese. Bandaranaike was able to take advantage and lead the SLFP to victory in the 1956 elections, soon afterwards he passed the controversial Sinhala Only Act, which led to communal clashes in 1958. For the latter, he was called “Yankee Dickey. ”After Dudley Senanayake’s death in 1973, J. R. Jayewardene became leader of the UNP, the party won an unprecedented five-sixths of the seats in parliament. J. R. Jayewardene got himself elected Executive President by Parliament and, in 1978, the UNP opened up the economy and revolutionized the entire outlook of the country. Free-trade zones such as in Katunayaka and Biyagama were established in order to generate employment which resulted in leading international companies investing in Sri Lanka, the government undertook massive development work to promote hydroelectricity and agriculture. Reservoirs were built at Victoria, Randenigala, Rantambe and Kotmale while Maduru Oya and he created the University of Ruhuna and the Eastern University as well as the Medical faculty of the Jaffna university Bandaranayake International Airport was modernized and Air Lanka was created
3.
Parliament of Sri Lanka
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The Parliament of Sri Lanka is the 225-member unicameral legislature of Sri Lanka. The members of Parliament are elected by proportional representation for five-year terms, Parliament reserves the power to make all laws. It is modeled after the British Parliament, the Speaker or, in his absence the Deputy Speaker and Chairman of Committees or the Deputy Chairman of Committees, presides over Parliament. The nations President has the power to summon, suspend, prorogue, or terminate a legislative session, of the 225 members,196 are elected from 22 electoral districts, which are multi-member. The remaining 29 MPs are elected from National Lists allocated to the parties in proportion to their share of the national vote, at first it was made up of only British officials but later included native citizens. At the beginning 16, and later 49, members were elected for the Legislative Council, but a limited number of people were qualified to vote. It was based on the Westminster model with a house, the Senate, whose members were appointed and a lower house of parliament. The Senate was abolished on 2 October 1971, on 22 May 1972 when the republican constitution was enacted, the House of Representatives was replaced with the National State Assembly which had 168 elected members. This itself was replaced by the Parliament of Sri Lanka when the constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka was enacted in 1977, in 1987, a grenade was lobbed into a conference room inside the Parliament complex where government MPs were meeting. Two people were killed and sixteen injured, but the target of the attack, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna claimed responsibility for the attack. The Presidential Secretariat announced that the Government will be functioning as joint government comprising two major parties, until 1972, the post was known as Clerk of Parliament. Currently, the Secretary Generals administration is divided into eight departments, the Staff Advisory Committee established under the Parliamentary Staff Act provides advice and guidance to the Parliamentary Secretariat with respect to matters concerning Parliamentary staff. The SAC consists of the Speaker, the Leader of the House, the Minister of Finance and the Leader of the Opposition. On January 29,1930 the British Governor of Ceylon, Sir Herbert Stanley, opened a building fronting the ocean at Galle Face, Colombo and it was subsequently used by the State Council, the House of Representatives, the National State Assembly and the Parliament of Sri Lanka. Today the Old Parliament Building is used by the Presidential Secretariat, in 1967 under Speaker Albert F. The island was where the palace of the King Vikramabahu IIIs powerful Minister Nissaka Alakesvara had been situated and it had belonged to E. W. Perera prior to being vested in the state. The building was designed by architect Deshamanya Geoffrey Bawa and built with Sri Lankan funds, on April 29,1982, the new Parliamentary Complex was declared open by President J. R. Jayewardene. Committee On Public Enterprises Politics of Sri Lanka List of legislatures by country Official website
4.
Leader of the Opposition (Sri Lanka)
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The Leader of the Opposition in Sri Lanka is the politician who leads the main opposition party. This is the leader of the largest party not within the government, the post of Leader of the Opposition is a political office common in countries that are part of the Commonwealth of Nations. R. Sampanthan is the current opposition leader, since 3 September 2015 Those who have served as President or Prime Minister are indicated in italics, Parliament of Sri Lanka - Handbook of Parliament, Leaders of the Opposition President of Sri Lanka Prime Minister of Sri Lanka
5.
Eastern Province, Sri Lanka
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The Eastern Province is one of the nine provinces of Sri Lanka, the first level administrative division of the country. The provinces have existed since the 19th century but did not have any legal status until 1987 when the 13th Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka established provincial councils, between 1988 and 2006 the province was temporarily merged with the Northern Province to form the North Eastern Province. The capital of the province is Trincomalee, in 1815 the British gained control of the entire island of Ceylon. They divided the island into three ethnic based administrative structures, Low Country Sinhalese, Kandyan Sinhalese and Tamil, the Eastern Province was part of the Tamil administration. The districts of Batticaloa, Bintenna, Tamankaduva and Trincomalee formed the new Eastern Province, Tamankaduva was transferred to the newly created North Central Province in 1873 and Bintenna was transferred to the newly created Uva Province in 1886. The accord required a referendum to be held by 31 December 1988 in the Eastern Province to decide whether the merger should be permanent, crucially, the accord allowed the Sri Lankan president to postpone the referendum at his discretion. On 14 November 1987 the Sri Lankan Parliament passed the 13th Amendment to the 1978 Constitution of Sri Lanka, on September 2 and 81988 President Jayewardene issued proclamations enabling the Northern and Eastern provinces to be one administrative unit administered by one elected Council. The proclamations were only meant to be a temporary measure until a referendum was held in the Eastern Province on a permanent merger between the two provinces, however, the referendum was never held and successive Sri Lankan presidents issued proclamations annually extending the life of the temporary entity. The merger was opposed by Sri Lankan nationalists. The combined North-East Province occupied one fourth of Sri Lanka, the thought of the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam controlling this province, directly or indirectly, alarmed them greatly. On 16 October 2006 the Supreme Court ruled that the proclamations issued by President Jayewardene were null, the North-East Province was formally de-merged into the Northern and Eastern provinces on 1 January 2007. Much of the Eastern Province was under the control of rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam for many years during the civil war, the entire province was recaptured by the Sri Lankan military in 2007. After coming under Government control communities in the Eastern Province suffered from insecurity in the form of taxes, political killings. Many community members blamed Pro-Government Tamil groups such as the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal, in 2008 due to the indiscriminate firearm use by various Tamil factions government planned to disarm Tamil Paramilitary groups. However the TMVP kept arms due to threat of LTTE and denied they were active in Civilian areas, TMVP was finally disarmed in 2009 after the LTTE was defeated. There are currently 88 Nanasala ICT education centers in the Eastern Province, Eastern province has an area of 9,996 square kilometres. The province is surrounded by the Northern Province to the north, the Bay of Bengal to the east, the Southern Province to the south, the provinces coast is dominated by lagoons, the largest being Batticaloa Lagoon, Kokkilai lagoon, Upaar Lagoon and Ullackalie Lagoon. The Eastern Province is divided into 3 administrative districts,45 Divisional Secretarys Divisions and 1,085 Grama Niladhari Divisions, the Eastern provinces population was 1,551,381 in 2012
6.
D. S. Senanayake
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Don Stephen Senanayake, PC was the first Prime Minister of Sri Lanka. He emerged as the leader of the Sri Lankan independence movement that led to the establishment of self-rule in Sri Lanka and he served as Prime Minister from the formation of an independent nation in 1948 until he died in office in 1952. He is considered as the Father of the Nation and he was born in the village of Botale. He was the son of Mudaliyar Don Spater Senanayake and Dona Catherina Elizabeth Perera Gunasekera Senanayake and he had two brothers, Don Charles D. C. Senanayake and Fredric Richard F. R. Senanayake, and one sister, brought up in a devout Buddhist family, he entered the prestigious Anglican school S. Thomas College, Mutwal. After completing schooling, he worked as a clerk in the Surveyor Generals Department, the three Senanayake brothers were involved in the temperance movement formed in 1912. When World War I broke out in 1914 they joined the Colombo Town Guard, the brothers were imprisoned without charges during the 1915 riots and faced the prospect of execution since the British Governor Sir Robert Chalmers considered the temperance movement as seditious. Brutal suppression of the riots by the British initiated the independence movement led by the educated middle class. Don Stephen and Don Charles were prominent members of the political party Lanka Mahajana Sabha, Fredrick Richard and Don Charles were committed supporters of the Young Mens Buddhist Association. D. S. Senanayake played a role in the independence movement. In 1924 Senanayake was elected unopposed to the Legislative Council of Ceylon from Negombo, Fredrick Richard died on a pilgrimage to Buddha Gaya in 1925 and Don Stephen assumed his leadership of the independence movement. In 1931 he was elected to the newly formed State Council of Ceylon representing the Ceylon National Congress and he effectively combated Ceylons agricultural problems and established the Land Development Ordinance, an agricultural policy to counter Ceylons rice problems. This policy earned him respect, and he continued to be a minister for fifteen years and he also enforced a productivity programme of Agricultural Modernisation. At the onset of World War II in the far east, D. S. Senanayake, as Minister of Agriculture and Lands and a member of the Ceylon war cabinet took an active role in food supply and control. A close relationship developed between Senanayake and the deputy commissioner Dr Ivor Jennings, principal of the Ceylon University College, Jennings, an expert on constitutional law, subsequently became D. Ss adviser on constitutional reforms aimed at gaining independence for the island. In December 1942, Senanayake became the Leader of the House and Vice Chairman of the Board of Ministers in the State Council, upon the retirement of Sir Baron Jayatilaka, Minister of Home Affairs. On 26 May 1943, the British Government made the Whitehall Declaration of 1943 on Ceylon constitutional change and this bypassed the Governor, who called for a commission from the colonial office to halt the activities of the ministers. In 1944, the Soulbury Commission was formed, in 1945, following Labours win in the 1945 general election, he proceeded to London and met the newly appointed Secretary of State for the Colonies, George Hall
7.
N. M. Perera
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Nanayakkarapathirage Martin Perera, better known as Dr. N. M. Perera, was one of the leaders of the Sri Lankan Trotskyist Lanka Sama Samaja Party. He was the first Trotskyist to become a cabinet minister, Perera started his schooling in the vernacular section of St. Josephs School, Grandpass and was later was admitted to the English section. From there he was sent for one year to a Branch School of S. Thomas College, Mutwal, then known as Cathedral Boys School, in 1919 he entered St Thomas prep, but left in 1922 and joined Ananda College. At Ananda he played cricket for the school, there he was a student of the legendary Professor Harold Laski, being awarded a PhD for his thesis on the Constitution of the German Weimar Republic. A further comparative study, of the Constitutions of the UK, United States, France and Germany, at the time Perera was the only person in Sri Lanka to hold the degree of Doctor of Science. In 1935 Perera was one of the members of the LSSP. His opponent was Molamure Kumarihamy of the Meedeniya Walauwa, the manor which had tremendous power over the poor people of the Sabaragamuwa area at the time. He was to hold this seat, or its Yatiyantota portion on division and he was imprisoned in 1940 during World War II, but succeeded in escaping on 5 April 1942. He secretly went to India and worked with the Bolshevik-Leninist Party of India, Ceylon, but According to Encyclopedia of Marxism 1936–40, he was the LSSP delegate to Indian National Congress session,1937. Formed Ratmalana Railway Workers Union,1937, and All-Ceylon Estate Workers Union,1939, led militant strike at Mooloya Plantation, January 1940. Arrested June 1940, incarcerated at Wellikade Jail and Bogambara Prison, after the war, when the LSSP split, Perera was the leader of the faction that retained the party name. After the 1947 general election, he was elected Leader of the Opposition, on reunification with the Bolshevik Samasamaja Party, he remained with the LSSP when the Viplavakari Lanka Sama Samaja Party split off under Philip Gunawardena. Perera was elected Mayor of Colombo in 1954, the only non-United National Party-politician to take office after 1945. He was Mayor for two years, in 1956 he was elected Leader of the Opposition again, a post he held until 1960. He was Minister of Finance in the short lived Coalition government of 1964 –1965, in the general election of 1977, he lost his parliamentary seat for the first time, having won every single election for the Ruanwella constituency or for its successor, Yatiyantota. His funeral in 1979 was one of the largest ever seen in Sri Lanka, Perera was the president of the All Ceylon United Motor Workers Union, and the United Corporations and Mercantile Union the Ceylon Federation of Labour. He was appointed their chief negotiator by the workers during the 1946 general strike. An avid cricket fan, like many Commonwealth Trotskyists, he became Chairman of the Board of Control of Cricket in Sri Lanka, Dr. N. M. Pereras Policies and Achievements by Prof. B
8.
Prime Minister of Sri Lanka
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The Prime Minister of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is the leader of the cabinet business in Sri Lanka. However, the President is both head of state and head of government in Sri Lanka, the post of Prime Minister of Ceylon was created in 1947 prior to independence from Britain and the formation of the Dominion of Ceylon in 1948. United National Party leader D. S. Senanayake became the first Prime Minister of Then Ceylon in 1947 after independence, in 1972 when Sri Lanka became a republic the name of the post changed to Prime Minister of Sri Lanka. With a Westminster-based political system established the Prime Minister was the head of government therefore held the most powerful office of the country at the time. This changed with a change in 1978, when the Executive Presidency was created. Until 1978 the Prime minister was also the Minister of Defence, the Prime Minister is appointed by the President as a member of the cabinet of ministers. In the event the post president is vacant, the Prime Minister becomes the president until Parliament convenes to elect a successor or new elections could be held to elect a new president. This was the case with H. E, united National Party leaders Dudley Senanayake and Ranil Wickramasinghe together with Sri Lanka Freedom Party leader Sirimavo Bandaranaike was appointed three times to the position. With passing of the 19th amendment to the constitution in 2015, the current Prime Minister of Sri Lanka is Ranil Wickremesinghe, he was appointed by President Maithripala Sirisena on 9 January 2015. This was the time that Wickramasinghe was appointed Prime Minister of Sri Lanka. The official residence of the minister is the Prime Ministers House most commonly referred to as Temple Trees. The Prime Ministers Office is located on Sir Ernest de Silva Mawatha in Colombo, President of Sri Lanka Prime Ministers Office Parliament of Sri Lanka - Handbook of Parliament, Prime Ministers
9.
Central Province, Sri Lanka
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The Central Province is one of the nine provinces of Sri Lanka, the first level administrative division of the country. The Central Province is primarily in the mountainous terrain of Sri Lanka. It is the 6th largest province by area and is home to 2.5 million people and it is bordered by North Central Province to the north, Uva Province to the east, North Western Province to the west and Sabaragamuwa Province to the south and west. The cities of Matale and Nuwara Eliya are in the Central Province, the province is famous for its production of Ceylon tea, planted by the British in the 1860s after a devastating disease killed all the coffee plantations in the province. The Central Province attracts many tourists, with hill station towns such as Gampola, Hatton, the British then established a colonial headman ranking system in 1824, which came into effect in 1832. All headman positions were passed down to the newly elected governor-general of Central Province. This was established in 1929 as a way for the British to directly rule the provinces, the historic Matale town, Temple of the Tooth, Dambulla cave temple, Aluwihare temple and the Sigiriya rock are in the Central Province. The province has an area of 5,674 km² and a population of 2,421,148, major towns include Kandy, Matale, Dambulla, Gampola, Nuwara Eliya and Hatton. Knuckles Mountain Range, Adams Peak and Horton Plains are UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the Central Province, the climate is cool, and many areas above 1,500 metres often have chilly nights. The western slopes are very wet, some places have almost 7,000 mm of rain per year, the eastern slopes are parts of the mid-dry zone as it is receiving rain only from North-Eastern monsoon. The temperatures range from 24°C at Kandy to just 16°C in Nuwara Eliya, the highest mountains in Sri Lanka are in the Central Province. The terrain is mountainous, with deep valleys cutting into it. The two main regions are the central massif and the Knuckles range to the east of Kandy. The population is a mixture of Sinhalese, Tamil and the Moors, many tea plantation workers are Indian Tamils, brought over to Sri Lanka by the British in the 19th century. Central Province is divided into three districts and 36 divisional secretariats, the districts of the Sri Lanka are divided into administrative sub-units known as divisional secretariats. These were originally based on the counties, the korales. They were formerly known as D. R. O, Divisions after the Divisional Revenue Officer. Later the D. R. O. s became Assistant Government Agents, currently, the divisions are administered by a Divisional Secretary and are known as a D. S. Divisions
10.
Sri Lanka Freedom Party
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The Sri Lanka Freedom Party is one of the major political parties in Sri Lanka. It was founded by S. W. R. D Bandaranaike in 1951 and and it first came to power in 1956 and since then has been the predominant party in government on a number of occasions. The party is considered as having a democratic socialist or progressive economic agenda and is often associated with nationalist Sinhala parties. The Sri Lanka Freedom Party is a constituent party in the United Peoples Freedom Alliance. After independence, the SLFP represented a form of non-revolutionary socialism, founding leader, S. W. R. D Bandaranaike stated that the basis of the party would be the ‘Pancha Maha Balavegaya’ which consisted of the native doctors, clergy, teachers, farmers and workers. After winning 9 seats in the 1952 parliamentary election, leader S. W. R. D Bandaranaike contested the 1956 election on a platform of giving meaning to the independence achieved in 1948. Amongst the many achievements of S. W. R, working people, a core base of support for the party, also benefited through the setting up of an Employees Provident Fund and the empowerment of peasants through the Paddy Lands Act. The S. W. R. D Bandaranaike government also had a contribution in language policy. In 1956 Sinhala replaced English as the language of Sri Lanka. In reaction to Tamil unease, the Bandaranaike–Chelvanayakam Pact was signed to grant official status to the Tamil language, however, this agreement was vehemently opposed by extremists led by the main opposition party UNP and instead a watered down act was passed. In September 1959, Bandaranaike was assassinated by an extremist monk opposed to his attempts to allegedly appease Tamils and he was replaced as Prime Minister for an interim period by Wijeyananda Dahanayake. After this, the party turned to Bandaranaikes widow Sirimavo Bandaranaike who consequently in 1960 became the worlds first elected head of government. Sirimavo Bandaranaike was determined to carry on the programme of her husband, issues arose during the state takeover of foreign businesses which upset the United States and Britain. Consequently, this augmented the SLFP’s foreign policy shift towards the East, further, in 1972, the SLFP led government oversaw the introduction of a new constitution which changed the country’s name from Ceylon to Sri Lanka and declared Sri Lanka to be a republic. Likewise, in 1971 the SLFP led government was almost toppled by a violent Marxist insurrection and this was the start of 17 years in opposition. This period of opposition was greatly difficult after President J. R. Jayewardenes government stripped Sirimavo Bandaranaike of her civic rights for 7 years. As a result, the SLFP fielded Hector Kobbekaduwa at the 1982 Presidential Election, the SLFP suffered a further blow in the same year, when a referendum to delay parliamentary elections by 6 years was passed. During this period, the party suffered from conflicts, with Sirimavo’s daughter and future party leader Chandrika Kumaratunga even leading a breakaway group
11.
Ceylonese parliamentary election, 1952
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General elections were held in Ceylon in 1952. Prime Minister D. S. Senanayake died in March 1952, the national wave of mourning for Ceylons first prime minister greatly boosted the UNPs fortunes. The UNP won a majority, mainly at the cost of the CIC, result of Parliamentary General Election 1952. Archived from the original on 4 February 2016, chapter 14, Post-colonial realignment of political forces
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