Letter from Ceylon
Sentimentalism,
Buddhism
and
Politics
J u l y 23
A F T E R a l o n g period of d r i f t and
confusion, the shape of politics
in Ceylon was stiffened and reanimated by the s u r p r i s i n g l y decisive
v i c t o r y of the S r i L a n k a Freedom
Party in last Wednesday's elections.
A i d e d by a no-contest arrangement
w i t h the T r o l s k y i t e L S S P and the
Communist p a r t y , the S L F P , led by
Smt S i r i m a v o Bandaranaike, w o n 75
seats. W i t h the six successful independent candidates who arc w i l l i n g
to j o i n the p a r t y and the automatic
allegiance of six members to be
n o m i n a t e d by
Government,
the
S L F P w i l l have a firm m a j o r i t y in
the 157-seat Parliament. U n t i l the
by-election to f o l l o w the promised
resignation by a f e l l o w party member occurs, Smt Bandaranaike w i l l
be P r i m e M i n i s t e r
w i t h o u t being
a member of Parliament as she d i d
not contest a seat. T h i s is possible
under a constitutional clause permitt i n g a M i n i s t e r , who is not a member of either House, to hold office
up to four months.
UNP. T H E SECOND STRONGEST
S h r i Dudley Senanayake's U N P
—shaky victor in the M a r c h elections t u m b l i n g
on the very first
confidence vote in parliament, w h i c h
led to last week's p o l l — is the
second strongest party w i t h t h i r t y
seats, representing a loss of twenty
f r o m its M a r c h total.
The M a r x i s t
partners of the S L F P had slight
gains, the L S S P w i n n i n g
twelve
seats and the Communist p a r t y f o u r .
The t h i r d M a r x i s t party,
Phillip
Gunawardene's MEP, d i d not do
w e l l , securing only three seats to
ten i n M a r c h . S h r i
Gunawardene
had fought in a n g r y isolation against
both the w i n n i n g coalition and the
UNP.
T h e p o s i t i o n of the T a m i l parties
remains v i r t u a l l y unchanged
since
M a r c h . The Federal Party returned
sixteen candidates.
representing a
gain of one, and the T a m i l Congress
w i l l again have a single member in
the new Parliament.
In sentimental terms, there was
general satisfaction over the recapture
by
Shri
W
Dahanayake,
Bandaranaike's
b r i e f successor as
P r i m e M i n i s t e r , o f the Galle Con-
stituency he had h u m i l i a t i n g l y lost
in M a r c h . Despite his strange and
even a l a r m i n g performance as caretaker P r i m e M i n i s t e r after he had
fired a number of S L F P colleagues
f r o m the Cabinet and was in t u r n
expelled f r o m the p a r t y in December, the absence of such an interesting
personality f r o m
Parliament
was widely regretted. H i s
party,
the L P P , w h i c h set some sort of record by r e t u r n i n g only four out of
101 candidates in M a r c h , ventured
to contest a more modest six seats
this time and w o n two, i n c l u d i n g
that o f S h r i Dahanayake.
NO-CONTEST
PACT
The S L F P v i c t o r y ,
although it
puts a welcome end to the fruitless
stalemate of the
March
election
w h i c h many feared w o u l d be d u p l i cated this time, does not settle all
questions.
First among the uncertainties is the role of the LSSP and
the Communist p a r t y , partners i n
the no-contest pact. The U N P was
undoubtedly c r i p p l e d because it had
to fight many more straight fights
than it d i d in M a r c h when the three
parties to the pact
contested one
another as well. The terms of the
agreement were, however, studiously vague, and neither the S L F P nor
the two M a r x i s t parties made any
c o m m i t m e n t on whether the alliance
was to persist after the
elections.
Both the S L F P and the LSSP suffered f r o m some i n t e r n a l strains over
the arrangement:
sections of each
complained respectively about associa t i n g w i t h Marxists o r reactionaries,
and there
were some
defections.
Communist doubts, i f they existed,
were discreetely muffled.
T h e S L F P now finds that it can
get along quite well
w i t h o u t the
L S S P and the C o m m u n i s t P a r t y i f
it so wishes. As this is
being
w r i t t e n , Smt Bandaranaike has not
yet announced her Cabinet, and the
position of her government vis a vis
the M a r x i s t s remains undefined. I t
may be noted that the only passage
in, D u d l e y Senanayake's message as
outgoing
Prime Minister, which
seemed
genuinely
cheerful,
was
where he pointed o u t that the S L F P ' s
m a j o r i t y ' w i l l enable i t t o f o r m a
government o f its o w n ' .
1188
CASTE AND P A R T Y L E A D E R S H I P
Smt Bandaranaike was the key to
SLFP's victory.
H e r appeal
that
the c o u n t r y p e r m i t her to c a r r y o u t
the policies of her late husband was
v e r y p o w e r f u l , especially to women
voters.
It f u r t h e r appears that her
somewhat reluctant
acceptance of
the p a r t y leadership i n A p r i l rescued the
S L F P f r o m an
unseemly
scramble f o r c o n t r o l by a n u m b e r of
undistinguished possible heirs. Sinhalese p o l i t i c i a n s are not k n o w n f o r
discipline and p a r t y l o y a l t y ,
and
there are considerable doubts about
how successful S m t Bandaranaike
w i l l be
in exercising
authority.
C o r r u p t i o n is also prevalent, and a
c o n t i n u i n g special B r i b e r y Commission has been r e c o r d i n g
testimony
against a number of past a n d present S L F P members of P a r l i a m e n t ,
i n c l u d i n g several ex-Ministers. The
Commission recently
accepted the
charges against
three of them as
proved. One of the three was returned on the S L F P ticket in last
week's election, and as of now he
remains a full-fledged p a r t y member.
I n p a r t i c u l a r , Smt Bandaranaike'a
assumption of leadership prevented
what had threatened to become an
open argument over caste
which,
although extremely i m p o r t a n t i n i n dividual
constituencies, was o n l y
m u t e d l y mentioned i n p u b l i c . W h e n
Smt Bandaranaike accepted the presidency of the S L F P , it p r o v i d e d a
graceful o p p o r t u n i t y f o r the exit o f
the then
president, S h r i
C P de
Silva, w h o h a d stood as the party's
most l i k e l y candidate f o r the position
o f P r i m e M i n i s t e r had the p a r t y w o n
in M a r c h . S h r i de Silva is of the
H a l a g a m a caste, w h i c h is
concentrated along the west and
south
coasts. H i s v o l u n t a r y w i t h d r a w a l
p u t an end to the w i d e l y - r u m o u r e d
sense of uneasiness w i t h i n the S L F P ,
a n d Smt Bandaranaike
maintains
the u n b r o k e n t r a d i t i o n that the
P r i m e M i n i s t e r be f r o m the
Goyigama caste, the largest in Ceylon.
FOR DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISM
The S L F P ' s stand i n p o l i c y matters was not sharply o u t l i n e d d u r i n g
the c a m p a i g n . Its m a i n pledge was
to continue the w o r k of the B a n d e r a naike Government.
It declared it-
July 30, 1960
THE ECONOMIC WEEKLY
self for d e m o c r a t i c
socialism and
flatly against what it called the cap i t a l i s t , unprogressive
d i r e c t i o n of
the U N P .
L i t t l e i s g a i n e d i n detail
by t u r n i n g to the record of
Shri
Bandaranaike's Government
before
it was t e r m i n a t e d by his assassinat i o n . At that t i m e , the S L F P was
r e c o i l i n g f r o m its association w i t h
the L e f t .
Phillip
Gunawardene's
V L S S P (since then the M E P )
resigned f r o m Government and j o i n e d
the O p p o s i t i o n in
the s p r i n g of
1959, m a k i n g bitter charges
that
reactionaries in Bandaranaike's Government had obstructed
any prog r a m m e of genuine Socialist development.
T h e last months of S h r i
Bandaranaike's r u l e saw h i m a d r o i t
ly m a i n t a i n i n g a teetering m a j o r i t y
in P a r l i a m e n t against the combined
o p p o s i t i o n of the
M a r x i s t parties,
bolstered by the V L S S P defection,
remnants of the U N P after its heavy
losses in 1956 and the T a m i l s .
In terms of concrete issues, such
as the scope and pace of nationalisation of banks, insurance companies
and the estates
a n d the status of
Government-financed d e n o m i n a t i o n a l
schools, w h i c h now operate
under
p r i v a t e management, the S L F P has
not shown how it
w i l l move. Its
ideology is barely articulated w h i l e
its i n t e r n a l d i v i s i o n s are wide-spread.
It is d o u b t f u l whether it can generate
either the force or the w i l l to alter
m a r k e d l y the
hesitant
pattern of
Ceylon's development.
FEDERALISTS
AND
UNP
T u r n i n g t o the m a j o r O p p o s i t i o n
parties, the Federalists
w i l l suffer
almost complete
isolation.
Their
block of sixteen seats
ensures no
b a r g a i n i n g power in the new Parliam e n t , and their hopes of achieving
even modest advance towards t h e i r
goal of some degree of r e g i o n a l
a u t o n o m y , acceptance of T a m i l as
the official
regional language and
T a m i l p r i o r i t i e s i n land settlement i n
the n o r t h a n d east, b o t h of w h i c h
are s h a r p l y r e p u d i a t e d by the Sinhalese, are utterly remote.
In the
m i l l i n g that preceded the f a l l o f
the U N P Government i n A p r i l , the
Federalists f o r a b r i e f p e r i o d were
in a c r u c i a l position and c o m m a n d ed a t t e n t i o n . U n a b l e to w i n recognit i o n o f t h e i r demands
f r o m Senanayake, they were
instrumental in
bringing
his
Government
down.
They
are now once more on
the
m a r g i n o f politics i n C e y l o n ; and
w h i l e they m a y receive some rewards
f r o m the S L F P , they w i l l have t o
take what is g i v e n f o r they do not
have the power to insist.
Despite the fact that the U N P has
won 38 per cent of the votes cast,
4 per cent h i g h e r than the S L F P
( w h i c h , however, contested t h i r t y
fewer seats), it too is now in a pecul i a r l y isolated p o s i t i o n .
Although
D u d l e y Senanayake is generally like d and respected, p a r t l y i n m e m o r y
o f his f a t h e r , Ceylon's f i r s t P r i m e
M i n i s t e r , the U N P is not a p o p u l a r
party.
There is some force in the
f r e q u e n t contention that the S L F P is
heavily supported by voters w i t h little in common except for their dislike of the U N P . T h e o b v i o u s wealth
of its leadership and its general aura
of a s l i g h t l y smug g e n t r y — t h e p i c t u r e
of S i r John Kotelawala r i d i n g briskly to hounds in E n g l a n d has yet to
fade f r o m the m e m o r y o f m a n y have but m i n i m a l appeal to the mass
of Sinhalese whose a w a k e n i n g to
n a t i o n a l i s m was simultaneous w i t h
the o v e r t h r o w of the U N P in 1956.
LACKS
INSPIRATION
A l t h o u g h unlike the S L F P , the
U N P does have a defined i d e o l o g y —
no f u r t h e r nationalization, a continuance of the present school system
etc—the best evidence that it lacks
i n s p i r a t i o n is given by the fact that
the p a r t y d i d not r u n on its ideology
in the recent c a m p a i g n .
It r a n largely against the T a m i l s , a n d to
a
lesser degree, against the M a r x i s t s .
T h e S L F P , it charged, h a d m a d e a
secret pact w i t h the Federal P a r t y
a n d was prepared to accede to
T a m i l demands as a p r i c e f o r the
role p l a y e d by the
Federalists in
defeating the U N P Government i n
April.
As a secondary theme, the U N P
attacked the S L F P ' s alliance w i t h the
L e f t and a r g u e d , perhaps pertinentl y , that it could not r e m a i n stable
after the elections.
It w a r n e d that
the M a r x i s t s were a threat to B u d d h i s m ; and U N P posters, s h o w i n g
the Chinese p i l l a g i n g T i b e t a n temples, appeared w i d e l y .
( T h i s mayhave been p a r t l y due to the Time
magazine's
post-election
story
in
March,
which hilariously lumped
b o t h the U N P and S L F P votes as
'conservative' and w h i m s i c a l l y a t t r i buted the defeat of the M a r x i s t s to
Chinese atrocities against Buddhists
in Tibet).
AFFIRMATION
OF
BUDDHISM
H o w e v e r successful the U N P camp a i g n was, it seems clear that S i n 1189
halese n a t i o n a l i s m , w i t h its i m p o r t ant
and deeply-felt c o r o l l a r y of
fear of being overwhelmed by the
T a m i l s a n d its concern f o r protect i o n of B u d d h i s m , are losing their
p u l l on p o l i t i c a l allegiances i i i Ceyl o n . M u c h of their energy was spent
i n Bandaranaike's t r i u m p h i n 1956
a n d two years later in the SinhaleseT a m i l riots.
W h e n the L S S P retreated to a position i n d i s t i n g u i s h a b l e
f r o m 'Sinhalese o n l y ' i n the M a r c h
elections, all the
M a r x i s t parties
were i n line w i t h the S L F P a n d the
U N P o n the language issue.
With
the exception of the Communists,
who look shyly away and keep s t i l l
when B u d d h i s m is m e n t i o n e d , and
the L S S P , w h i c h seems a l i t t l e embarassed t h o u g h n a m i n g a B u d d h ist priest to head its Y o u t h Leagues,
all the Sinhalese parties are emphatic in their affirmation of Buddhism.
L o o k i n g to the next election, the
U N P must consider whether a prog r a m m e that gives c r e d i t to virtues
of a large p r i v a t e sector of the economy and tolerates the nationalised
services developed somewhat rand o m l y by
Bandaranaike, will
be
enough.
A n d w h i l e there is some
t r u t h in (he o p i n i o n of m a n y that
the U N P and the S L F P are d i v i d e d
f a r more by personal, and in some
cases f a m i l y , animosities than by
ideology, the S L F P , whatever its
concrete aims, uses a language of
progress and p r o m i s e w h i l e the U N P
does not.
AN
ALIENATED
MARXIST
The f a i l u r e o f the M F P i n its
embittered w a r against
all
most
p r o b a b l y m a r k s the removal o f S h r i
P h i l l i p G u n a w a r d e n e as a m a j o r
figure in Sinhalese politics.
Now
a p p r o a c h i n g his mid-sixties, Gunawardene was the first and f o r many
years the moat potent M a r x i s t leader
in Ceylon.
A long series of secta r i a n f i g h t s has alienated h i m f r o m
the. other M a r x i s t s , m a n y of w h o m
h a d once been h i s f o l l o w e r s ; a n d
his r e j e c t i o n of e v e r y t h i n g to his
right remains
total.
H i s was the
angriest voice in Ceylon p o l i t i c s ; and
in the two election campaigns since
J a n u a r y , it was let loose against
T a m i l s , Catholics, betrayers o f M a r x
and reactionaries w i t h equal v i o l ence.
However t r a g i c it m a y be f o r
Gunawardene p e r s o n a l l y — a n d m a n y
who opposed h i m never doubted his
i n t e g r i t y — i t is perhaps
well for
Ceylon that his anger left o n l y a
gritting.
THE ECONOMIC WEEKLY
July 30, 1960
DL. 45 X54
A HINDUSTAN LEVER PRODUCT