Sirimavo Bandaranaike

Sirimavo Bandaranaike (born 1916) became the first woman prime minister in the world when she was chosen to head the Sri Lankan Freedom Party government in 1960, following the assassination of her husband. She pursued policies of nonalignment abroad and democratic socialism at home.

Sirimavo (also Sirima) Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike was born on April 17, 1916, to an aristocratic Kandyan family and was educated in a Roman Catholic convent in Colombo. Married to Solomon West Ridge-way Dias (SWRD) Bandaranaike in 1940 when he was a minister in the government of Ceylon, then a British crown colony, Bandaranaike's life was politically uneventful. She had the preoccupations of a housewife married to an eminent national leader who became the prime minister of Ceylon in 1956, eight years after its independence. In 1959, however, SWRD Bandaranaike was assassinated by a Buddhist monk, and such was SWRD's charisma that his party, the Sri Lankan Freedom Party (SLFP), chose Sirimavo Bandaranaike to be its leader.

First Woman Prime Minister

SWRD's assassination resulted in a brief period of political instability. The minority government of the United National Party (UNP) was unable to sustain itself in power after the elections in March 1960. Consequently, the country went to the polls again in July 1960. In this election Bandaranaike succeeded in mobilizing a parliamentary majority for her party and became the first woman prime minister in the world. When Bandaranaike became the prime minister she was not a member of the House of Representatives but of the Senate - the upper house - that her party was to abolish in 1971.

In office, Bandaranaike sought to carry forward her husband's policies, which had been tempered with socialist principles of a government-directed and controlled economy in contrast to the free economy advocated by the main opposition UNP party.

In foreign affairs, Bandaranaike staunchly believed in pursuing a policy of nonalignment (with neither East nor West), as her husband had done. She actively participated in the nonaligned conferences and also mediated the India-China border conflict during 1962.

Bandaranaik is credited with successfully negotiating with Indian Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri an agreement pertaining to the political status of the plantation workers of Indian origin in Ceylon, most of whom had been disenfranchised soon after Ceylon became independent. The agreement, known as the Sirimavo-Shastri Pact, was signed in October 1964 at New Delhi. It specified the modalities of granting Ceylonese or Indian citizenship to the workers of Indian origin on a proportionate basis. In the domestic sphere, during her premiership, the American and British oil companies operating in Ceylon were nationalized and a state controlled commercial banking system was established.

Fall of Bandaranaike's Government

As the Parliament was nearing the end of its five year term, differences began to surface in the SLFP. A group of 14 members of Parliament revolted against Bandaranaike and crossed over to the opposition in protest against the enactment of the Press Bill, which enabled the government to take over the well-established independent media. Consequently, Bandaranaike's government fell.

Bandaranaike Returns As Prime Minister

In the elections that ensued in 1965, the SLFP was defeated by the UNP, although Bandaranaike herself retained her seat and became the leader of the opposition. She utilized the opportunity to consolidate the "opposition party," concluding an agreement with the left parties that they would not contest each other in the event of a general election. This agreement paid off in the 1970 elections, and Bandaranaike was back as the prime minister and the SLFP and its allies secured a massive majority.

Soon, however, Bandaranaike found herself confronted with an insurrectionary situation of considerable magnitude. With unemployment among the Sinhalese educated youth swelling, a group of radicals calling itself the Jatika Vimukti Perumana (JVP) - National Liberation Front - launched an insurrection. With military assistance from the United States, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, India, and Pakistan, Bandaranaike finally overcame the insurrection and restored normalcy in the island.

Thereafter, Bandaranaike set about implementing her electoral promises, a major one of which was that the SLFP would convene a constituent assembly and give the country a republican constitution. This was duly done in 1972, and the island reacquired its ancient name, Sri Lanka.

Apart from this, major socialist measures taken by the government included the abolition of agency houses as well as the nationalization of tea estates and the imposition of land ownership ceilings. Credit also goes to her for having successfully negotiated an agreement with India over the disputed status of an uninhabited island, Kachchathivu, in the Palk Straits. Finally, Sri Lanka hosted the fifth summit of the nonaligned movement in Colombo and Bandaranaike became its chairperson in 1976.

Disastrous Defeat

Despite implementing its electoral pledge, the SLFP suffered a disastrous defeat in the parliamentary elections of 1977, and the party won just eight seats while the UNP won 140 of the 168 seats.

Yet Bandaranaike's worst days in her political life were to follow. The UNP government set up a presidential commission of inquiry to investigate charges that Bandaranaike misused her office as prime minister for personal and family benefit. She refused to participate in the proceedings of the commission on the ground that she considered it to be a political vendetta against her. The commission sustained the charges against her and deprived her of civic rights for a period of seven years. Consequently, in October 1980 she was expelled from the Parliament. Intraparty factionalism also weakened her support basis. Her daughter Chandrika, along with her actor husband, formed one of the several splinter parties formed in this period. Stripped of her political rights, Bandaranaike took a place offstage. Early in 1986, however, she received a pardon from her successor, President Junius Jayewardene.

An Unprecedented Comeback

Bandaranaike turned heads by making an unprecedented comeback after 17 years out of office. She and her Sri Lanka Freedom Party, along with the People's Alliance coalition, emerged victorious in a March 24, 1994 provincial council election in the southern province of the country. Later that same year, Bandaranaike again became Prime Minister. Her daughter, Chandrika Kumaratunge, also briefly Prime Minister in 1994, became the President.

Sirimavo Bandaranaike

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Bandaranaike, Sirimavo (sērēmä'vō bändränī'kē), 1916-2000, Sri Lankan political leader, b. Sirimavo Ratwatte. She and her husband, S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike, converted to Buddhism from Christianity before he became prime minister of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) in 1956. After his assassination (1959), she became the first woman in the world to serve as a nation's prime minister. She led the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, which her husband had founded, and headed two coalition governments (1960-65, 1970-77). As prime minister, she emphasized Buddhist and Sinhalese nationalist policies and promoted a new constitution (1972) that proclaimed a republic and changed the country's name to Sri Lanka. The coalition broke up in 1975, and her government was defeated in 1977. She was expelled from parliament in 1980 and stripped (1980-82) of her civil rights because of abuses as prime minister. She reentered politics in the late 1980s and was an unsuccessful candidate for president in 1988. In 1994 her daughter, Chandrika Kumaratunga, was elected president, and appointed Bandaranaike prime minister, a post she held until she resigned because of ill health in 2000.

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Sirimavo Bandaranaike

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Sirimavo Bandaranaike

Prime Minister of Sri Lanka
In office 14 November 1994 – 10 August 2000
President	Chandrika Kumaratunga
Preceded by	Chandrika Kumaratunga
Succeeded by	Ratnasiri Wickremanayake
In office 22 May 1972 – 23 July 1977
President	William Gopallawa
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Junius Jayewardene
Prime Minister of Ceylon
In office 29 May 1970 – 22 May 1972
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Governor General	William Gopallawa
Preceded by	Dudley Senanayake
Succeeded by	Position abolished
In office 21 July 1960 – 27 March 1965
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Governor General	Oliver Goonetilleke William Gopallawa
Preceded by	Dudley Senanayake
Succeeded by	Dudley Senanayake
Personal details
Born	17 April 1916(1916-04-17) British Ceylon
Died	10 October 2000(2000-10-10) (aged 84) Colombo, Sri Lanka
Political party	Sri Lanka Freedom Party
Spouse(s)	Solomon Bandaranaike (1940–1959)
Religion	Theravada Buddhism

Sirimavo Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike (Sinhala:සිරිමාවෝ රත්වත්තේ ඩයස් බන්ඩාරනායක) (April 17, 1916 – October 10, 2000) was a Sri Lankan politician and the modern world's first female head of government. She served as Prime Minister of Ceylon and Sri Lanka three times, 1960–65, 1970–77 and 1994–2000, and was a long-time leader of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party.

Bandaranaike was the widow of a previous Sri Lankan prime minister, Solomon Bandaranaike and the mother of Sri Lanka's fourth Executive President, Chandrika Kumaratunga, as well as Anura Bandaranaike, former speaker and cabinet minister.^[1]^[2]

Contents

1 Early life
2 Political career
3 See also
4 References
5 External links

Early life

Sirimavo Bandaranaike was born on April 17, 1916, as Sirimavo Ratwatte to a prominent Radala family, who were descended from Ratwatte Dissawa, Dissawa of Matale, a signatory on behalf of the Sinhalese to the Kandyan Convention of 1815. Born to Barnes Ratwatte Dissawe and Rosalind Mahawelatenne Kumarihamy of Mahawelatenne Walauwa, Balangoda, she was the eldest of six, with four brothers and one sister. Bandaranaike was educated at St Bridget's Convent, Colombo, but was a practising Buddhist. In 1940 she married Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike, a member of the State council and son of Sir Solomon Dias Bandaranaike, the Maha Mudaliyar (chief native interpreter and advisor to the Governor). They had three children, Chandrika, Sunethra and Anura.

Political career

Husband's premiership

Her husband Solomon, was a founding member of the United National Party (UNP) in 1946 and was elected to the House of Representatives (elected lower house of Parliament) in the first elections of the Dominion of Ceylon in 1947. Breaking away from the UNP he went on to form the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and became its leader. A coalition led by the SLFP won a majority in the House of Representatives in 1956 general election and Solomon became Prime Minister. After initiating much change on socialist and nationalistic lines, he had his tenure cut short three years later when he was assassinated by a Buddhist monk on September 26, 1959. The assassination created a power vacuum, due to Solomon's likely successor C. P. de Silva (leader of the House of Representatives and Finance Minister) being gravely ill and in London for treatment at the time. Wijeyananda Dahanayake, Minister of Education, was appointed caretaker Prime Minister. Turmoil in the government followed as Dahanayake sacked and appointed ministers. This led to a defeat of the SLFP in the March 1960 elections.

First term

During this time Sirimavo was brought forward as legitimate successor to her husband's party leadership and she entered politics. In 1960 M. P. de Zoysa Jnr stepped down from his seat in the Senate (appointed upper house of Parliament) paving the way for Sirimavo to be appointed as a member of the Senate from the SLFP. She led her party to win the July 1960 elections on the pledge to continue her husband's policies, notably the Sinhala Only Act, and to proceed with repatriation of the estate Tamils to India. On July 21, 1960, as a Senator she became prime minister, thus becoming the first female prime minister in the world.

Known to her fellow Sri Lankans as "Mrs. B," she could skillfully use popular emotion to boost her support, frequently bursting into tears as she pledged to continue her assassinated husband's policies. Her opponents and critics called her the "weeping widow".

Bandaranaike was a socialist who continued her husband's policies of nationalizing key sectors of the economy, such as banking and insurance, and also nationalizing all schools then owned by the Roman Catholic Church in 1961.^[3] Bandaranaike was on a roller-coaster ride from the moment she took office. Within a year of her 1960 election victory she declared a "state of emergency". This followed a civil disobedience campaign by part of the country's minority Tamil population who were outraged by her decision to drop English as an official language and her order to conduct all government business in Sinhala, the language of the majority Sinhalese. This they considered a highly discriminatory act and an attempt to deny Tamils access to all official posts and the law. This led to an increase in Tamil militancy which escalated under succeeding administrations.

Further problems arose with the state takeover of foreign businesses, particularly petroleum companies, which upset the United States and the Britain; they ended aid to Sri Lanka. As a result, Bandaranaike moved her country closer to China and the Soviet Union and championed a policy of nonalignment. At home, she crushed an attempted military coup by Christian officers in 1962. In 1964, she entered into a historic coalition with the Marxist Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP). At the end of 1964, she lost a vote of confidence. The SLFP coalition was defeated in the 1965 elections, ending her first term as Prime Minister.

Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike with Soviet Union Prime Minister Alexei Kosygin, Tissa Wijeyeratne and Anura Bandaranaike

Pact with India

According to Encyclopedia of the Third World, in 1964 the Sirimavo^[4] was reached with India regarding the status of Indian Tamils in the then Ceylon (1992, 1794). However, The Far East and Australasia 1996 refers to this 1964 agreement with India as the Bandaranaike-Shastri pact, which "laid the basis for an equitable settlement of Sri Lanka's Indian problem" (1996, 972). At the time of this agreement, Sirimavo Bandaranaike was prime minister of Ceylon (The New Encyclopædia Britannica 1989a, 860) and Lal Bahadur Shastri was prime minister of India (ibid. 1989b, 705).

According to Encyclopedia of the Third World,

Under the terms of the 1964 agreement with India, 600,000 Indian Tamils were to be repatriated, while 375,000 were to be granted Sri Lankan citizenship. By October 31, 1981, when the two countries were to have settled this issue, India had taken more than 300,000 persons as repatriates. Sri Lanka had granted citizenship to over 185,000 plus over 62,000 post-1964 offspring. Over 207,000 Indian Tamils in Sri Lanka before 1964, plus nearly 45,000 offspring, were granted Indian citizenship but still awaited repatriation. In the wake of the July 1983 anti-Tamil violence, some in this latter group are being processed for repatriation or have emigrated to India.

With the lapse of the 1964 agreement India declined to consider any more applications for citizenship. The government of Sri Lanka believes that the 1964 pact remains in force until the citizenship cases and permanent residence of all Indian Tamils covered by the pact have been settled. The All-Party Conference has agreed that the government should grant Sri Lankan citizenship to stateless Indian Tamils who did not apply for Indian citizenship and were not granted Sri Lankan citizenship under the 1964 agreement (ibid., 1779).

Second Term

She regained power after the United Front coalition (SLFP, LSSP, and the Communists) won the 1970 elections with a large majority. But after just 16 months in power, the government was almost toppled by the 1971 JVP Insurrection of left-wing youths. Bandaranaike had disbanded the government's intelligence service, suspecting that it was loyal to the opposition United National Party (UNP). Thus there was no warning of the uprising, and Sri Lanka's small army was caught off guard. The army mobilized its reserves and held the capital, but some outlying areas were occupied by the insurgents. The government was saved by military aid from both India and Pakistan, thanks to Bandaranaike's skillful foreign policy. In those tough political years, she turned herself into a formidable leader. "She was the only man in her cabinet", one of her officials commented during the height of the insurgency.

Her second term saw a new constitution introduced in 1972, replacing the Soulbury constitution. Ceylon was renamed Sri Lanka and became a republic instead of a Commonwealth realm, nominally subject to the British crown. The 1973 oil crisis had a traumatic effect on the Sri Lankan economy: the government had no access to Western aid and her socialist policies stifled economic activity. Rationing had to be imposed. Bandaranaike became more and more intolerant of criticism and forced the shut-down of the Independent newspaper group, whose publications were her fiercest critics. Earlier she had nationalized the country's largest newspaper, Lake House, which has remained the government's official mouthpiece. Bandaranaike enjoyed continued success in foreign affairs. She was chosen chairman of the Non-Aligned Movement in 1976, and hosted the Movement's conference, attended by numerous heads of state. Despite her high international standing, she was losing Sri Lankan support rapidly amid allegations of corruption and against the background of a rapidly declining economy.

Under the Soulbury constitution, election would have been held in 1975. However, the government had become very unpopular. Bandaranaike used a clause of the 1972 constitution to delay elections until 1977. This did not help. In the 1977 elections, the United Front was routed, winning only 8 seats.

Opposition

Bandaranaike held her own seat in 1977, but in 1980, she was charged with abuse of power for the 1975-77 delay in elections. She was expelled from parliament and banned from public office for seven years.

The 1980s were her dark days. She became a political outcast, rejected by the people who had once worshipped her. Banadaranaike spent the next seventeen years in opposition warding off challenges to her leadership of the SLFP, even from her own children. Always the politician, she played her ambitious daughter Chandrika and son Anura against one another, holding on to party control despite losing every subsequent general election.

Third Term

In 1994, the SLFP-led coalition won the general elections Chandrika then outmanoeuvred her mother to become prime minister; and then was elected President the same year.

Bandaranaike became prime minister again, but the constitution had changed since her last tenure. As prime minister she was now subordinate to her daughter, the President. She remained in office till a few months before her death, but had little real power. She died on Election Day, October 10, 2000, after having cast her vote for the last time.

References

^ "Sirimavo R.D. Bandaranaike (prime minister of Sri Lanka)". BRITANNICA-Online. http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9012125/Sirimavo-RD-Bandaranaike.
^ "Sirimavo Bandaranaike: First woman premier". BBC News. 10 October 2000. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/964914.stm.
^ Sinhala Without Tears, TIME Magazine, May 5, 1961
^ {{cite web [1] title=Srimavo-Shastri Pact between India and Sri Lanka==access date=03 January 2012.}}

External links

Political offices
Preceded by Dudley Senanayake	Prime Minister of Ceylon 1960–1965	Succeeded by Dudley Senanayake
Preceded by Dudley Senanayake	Prime Minister of Ceylon 1970–1972	Position abolished
New office	Prime Minister of Sri Lanka 1972–1977	Succeeded by Junius Richard Jayewardene
Preceded by Chandrika Kumaratunga	Prime Minister of Sri Lanka 1994–2000	Succeeded by Ratnasiri Wickremanayake

v d e Prime Ministers of Sri Lanka

D.S. Senanayake • Dudley Senanayake • John Kotelawala • S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike • W. Dahanayake • Dudley Senanayake • Sirimavo Bandaranaike • Dudley Senanayake • Sirimavo Bandaranaike • J.R. Jayewardene • Ranasinghe Premadasa • D.B. Wijetunga • Ranil Wickremasinghe • Chandrika Kumaratunga • Sirimavo Bandaranaike • Ratnasiri Wickremanayake • Ranil Wickremasinghe • Mahinda Rajapaksa • Ratnasiri Wickremanayake • D. M. Jayaratne

v d e ← Members of 5th Parliament of Ceylon (1960 (1960)-1964) →

Speaker: R. S. Pelpola/Hugh Fernando · Prime Minister: Sirimavo Bandaranaike · Leader of the Opposition: Dudley Senanayake

Appapillai Amirthalingam · Felix Dias Bandaranaike · Sirimavo Bandaranaike · S. J. V. Chelvanayakam · Alfred Duraiappah · Razik Fareed · Hugh Fernando · Philip Gunawardena · Abdul Cader Shahul Hameed · Junius Richard Jayewardene · P.B.G. Kalugalla · Pieter Keuneman · Anil Moonesinghe · E. M. V. Naganathan · V. Navaratnam · V. N. Navaratnam · James Peter Obeyesekere III · R. S. Pelpola · Dudley Senanayake · Maithripala Senanayake · Murugesu Sivasithamparam · Savumiamoorthy Thondaman · Kathiripillai Thurairatnam · Ratnasiri Wickremanayake · M.C. Ahamed *This list is unfinished.

v d e ← Members of 7th Parliament of Ceylon (1970 (1970)-1972) →

Speaker: Stanley Tillekeratne · Prime Minister: Sirimavo Bandaranaike · Leader of the Opposition: Junius Richard Jayewardene

Veerasingham Anandasangaree · Arunasalam Thangathurai · Felix Dias Bandaranaike · Sirimavo Bandaranaike · S. J. V. Chelvanayakam · Colvin R. de Silva · Gamini Dissanayake · Monty Gopallawa · Abdul Cader Shahul Hameed · T. B. Ilangaratne · D. M. Jayaratne · Junius Richard Jayewardene · P.B.G. Kalugalla · Sivasubramaniam Kathiravelupillai · Pieter Keuneman · Vasudeva Nanayakkara · V. N. Navaratnam · M. Joseph Michael Perera · Ranasinghe Premadasa · Mahinda Rajapaksa · Dudley Senanayake · Maithripala Senanayake · Rukman Senanayake · Kathiripillai Thurairatnam · Stanley Tillekeratne · Richard Udugama · Ratnasiri Wickremanayake *This list is unfinished.

Persondata
Name	Bandaranaike, Sirimavo
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	17 April 1916
Place of birth	British Ceylon
Date of death	10 October 2000
Place of death	Colombo, Sri Lanka

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Sirimavo Bandaranaike

Sirimavo Bandaranaike

Sirimavo Bandaranaike

Sirimavo Bandaranaike

Early life

Political career

Husband's premiership

First term

Pact with India

Second Term

Opposition

Third Term

See also

References

External links