1947 Ceylonese parliamentary election

1st Ceylonese parliamentary election

23 August 1947 - 20 September 1947
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 UNP LSSP Leader since 1946 1945 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 UNP

General elections were held in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) from 23 August to 20 September 1947. It was the first election overseen and administered by the newly-formed Department of Parliamentary Elections.

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 obtained full independence as a dominion in 1948. The British nevertheless 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.

References

• "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1947" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 February 2016. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
• "1947 General Election Results". LankaNewspapers.com. Archived from the original on 10 March 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
• "Table 31 Parliament Election (1947)". Sri Lanka Statistics. 10 February 2009.
• Rajasingham, K. T. (20 October 2001). "Chapter 11: On the threshold of freedom". Sri Lanka: The Untold Story. Asia Times.
• Rajasingham, K. T. (27 October 2001). "Chapter 12: Tryst with independence". Sri Lanka: The Untold Story. Asia Times.