Ceylon Politics

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30712, 30 March 1965, Page 12

Ceylon Politics

Religious, economic, and social cleavages continue to mark politics in Ceylon, where Mrs Bandaranaike’s Sri Lanka Freedom Party has lost power after nine years in office. Mr Dudley Senanayake, leader of the right-wing United National Party, faces a massive task of reconstruction as Mrs Bandaranaike’s successor. Cambridge-educated and more sympathetic than Mrs Bandaranaike to the West, Mr Senanayake finds himself with strange bedfellows in the coalition he has formed to assure a Parliamentary majority. Landowners, Buddhist monks, Christian newspaper-owners, and Tamils are some of the diverse elements represented. Mr Senanayake’s first aim must be to retain the support of these groups long enough to consolidate his own position; it seems too much to expect that such a mixed team can be held together long. Mrs Bandaranaike’s attempt to control the press, culminating in the Ceylon Newspaper Corporation Bill last year, led to her downfall. Mr Senanayake’s party made the most of the fact that the Marxist Lanka Sama Samaj Party’s support was sought to give the S.L.F.P. a Parliamentary majority for this measure. The U.N.P. claimed the muzzling of the press was intended to pave the way for a Left-wing coup d’etat. At the same time the Buddhist priesthood became alarmed at the growing power of the S.L.F.P. and fearful of such measures as the expropriation of their lands under a Left-wing Government. Deprived of Buddhist support, Mrs Bandaranaike’s party won only 41 seats to Mr Senanayake’s 66 in the election. The L.S.S.P., under Dr. N. M. Perera, won 14 seats, and Dr. Perera, who was Finance Minister in the last Government, promptly broke his alliance with Mrs Bandaranaike to throw in his lot with Mr Senanayake. Nationalisation of foreign-owned assets has exhausted Ceylon’s credit in the Western world and driven out all but a handful of the English business executives, administrators, and scientific experts whose skills were so valuable to Ceylon. The first need of the new Government will be massive credits from abroad. Imports of fuel, food, raw materials for idle factories and capital equipment will have to be poured into Ceylon this year to revive the economy. The new Government will need to reverse many of the nationalistic measures of its predecessor to win back the confidence of other Governments, business firms, and migrant workers.