KAMALIKA PIERIS

J.R.Jayewardene came from an elite family. He was the eldest of twelve children of Justice Eugene Wilfred Jayewardene KC, a prominent lawyer and Agnes Helen Don Philip Wijewardena daughter of Tudugalage Muhandiram Don Philip Wijewardena, a wealthy merchant. He was looked after by a Scottish nurse when a child. When he entered politics, he converted from Christianity (Anglican) to Buddhism and adopted the national dress as his formal attire.

JR started his political career by getting elected to the Colombo Municipal Council from the New Bazaar Ward in 1940. In 1943 he became a State Councilor.  State Council was replaced by Parliament and JR was a Member of Parliament, almost continuously from 1947- 1978. During this period he   represented the electorates of   Colombo West, Colombo South and Kelaniya.

JR was Minister of Finance in first Cabinet of 1947 and Minister of Agriculture and Food in the 1953 Cabinet. Philip Gunawardene, who took over from JR in 1956 as Minister of Agriculture was highly critical of JR’s role in agriculture.  Philip said that JR had in 1953 and 1954   got rid of very valuable state farms.  If JR had waited for a year or two, most of these farms would have shown a return, said Philip. Some of the farms were for research, not to make a profit.

The secret participation of both Dudley Senanayake and JR in the 1962 coup is no longer a secret, announced critics. JR had prior knowledge of the 1962 coup. For decades people had suspected this .It was confirmed in JR’s biography, written by K.M. de Siva and H Wriggins, (1988). It recorded advice that JR gave to a key conspirator, Sydney de Soyza. JR was in the Opposition at the time.  Mrs. Bandaranaike also decided to keep it a secret when she came to know about it.  (Island 4.3.09 p 9).

After sitting in Parliament for decades, JR hit the jackpot in the 1970s. JR led the UNP to a landslide victory in 1977 General Election. The UNP won a staggering five-sixths of the seats in one of the most lopsided victories ever recorded, said analysts.  JR became Prime Minister.

JR had a venerable bearing, standing straight with aristocratic dignity and sombre composure and looking the part as few of his predecessors had done said KM de Silva.  He was a good listener and would summarize an idea given to him, and put the argument even more persuasively. He was a warm and witty leader and a great person to work for, said KM de Silva.

He was well informed about the people he wanted to enlist for his work. He had files on all his MPs. If he had confidence in a minister he let them get on with the work as with Ronnie de Mel, Lalith Athulathmudali and Gamini Dissanayake, said KM de Silva. 

Despite the 1977 victory JR was never sure that he was all that popular, said KM de Silva.  JR had a public reputation as a hard man, a tough disciplinarian, no nonsense person. He had a long memory and did not appreciate being crossed.  Those who opposed him were promptly eased out. There were few dissenting views, there was acquiescence, concluded KM de Silva.

 His opponents considered him underhand and devious. JR despite pretensions to statesmanship, finally emerged as just another political schemer, less trustworthy, more cunning, said a critic.

JR did not stay Prime Minister for long. He amended the constitution and became Sri Lanka‘s first President. He was President of Sri Lanka from 1978-1989. Analysts observed that JR   became President without facing a Presidential Election. However, he contested the Presidential election of 1982. JR wanted the presidential election staggered  and done by Electoral College, and, Chandrananda de Silva, Elections Commissioner said No, it must be held on one day.

.JR won 52.91% of the vote, winning 137 of the 160 polling divisions.  His rival the SLFP candidate, Hector Kobbekaduwa won 39.07%, winning 15 electoral divisions. But it was not a total win. Kobbekaduwa got more votes than JR in too many electorates, observed analysts. 

As President, JR successfully  initiated and complete two projects, Accelerated Mahaweli project and the Parliament building at Diyawanna Oya, in Kotte. These are his only successes.

JR is still remembered for the Referendum he initiated in 1982. The next General Election was due in 1983. Instead, Jayewardene decided to extend the life of the existing Parliament by conducting a Referendum in December 1982. 

JR first obtained undated letters of resignation from his MPs and Ministers. Ranil Wickremasinghe had distributed   the letters, which the MPs signed and    returned. JR then forwarded to the Supreme Court a Bill that said that the existing Parliament shall continue until August 4, 1989. This would extend the life of Parliament for a further six years.

He said the Bill was urgent in the national interest” and required the Court’s decision within three days. The seven- Judge Bench returned a divided verdict of four to three. JR then submitted the Bill to Parliament to be debated and voted on in a single day. The day before it came to Parliament the leftist paper Atththa was sealed.

This Bill became The Fourth Amendment to the Constitution. This Amendment   was then submitted for approval   of the public at a Referendum. The public were asked to decide via this referendum to extend term of office of government without holding a general election in 1983.

The ballot paper had Lamp for ‘yes’ and Clay pot for ‘no’. The Lamp won, the government obtained 54.7% of votes polled which was just 38% of the registered vote. The General election was postponed and UNP government continued for another 6 years. 

This Referendum, was a novel experience, said Walter E. Fernando. A state of emergency was declared for the duration of the Referendum. The Referendum was not conducted correctly. UNP resorted to mass scale rigging and open violation of election laws, making it a farce, said Keerawella. There were rampant malpractices, said G.H.Peiries.

The 1982 referendum had the worst abuses in Sri Lanka’s electoral history, Nimal Punchihewa  said. This referendum is considered the first genuine mass rigging exercise in the country’s electoral history, said Nihal Jayawickrema. There was organized violence to cover organized mass impersonation, said Colvin R de Silva.

The violence, intimidation and fraud were such that in Attanagalla, where   Bandaranaike family members were always returned with overwhelming majorities, and where two months earlier the SLFP presidential candidate had won 55%, this time the government won 67% of the votes polled.

Wiswa Warnapala  called it a massive electoral fraud. The 1982 referendum  was one of the most fraudulent elections in Sri Lanka , said Wiswa .He wrote a book Recent politics in Sri Lanka (Navrang 1983) where  the fraudulent aspects were exposed.  This had angered JR who wanted to ban the book.

JR’s UNP, having been returned with a 5/6 majority in 1977, had established a regime of lawlessness, said Vinod Moonesinghe. Armed gangs of thugs roamed the country for weeks after the election, chasing left supporters from their homes, before turning on the minorities.

At the 1982 presidential election and the referendum, the UNP made a mockery of the electoral process. UNP thugs seized polling booths, stuffed ballots and intimidated and impersonated voters, including Hector Kobbekaduwa and Pieter Keuneman, concluded Vinod.

This lawlessness continued .On 8th June 1983 a three-judge bench comprising B.S.C. Ratwatte, Percy Colin-Thome and J.F.A. Soza delivered a judgment in a case where Mrs. Vivienne Goonewardene, and her husband Leslie had complained of wrongful arrest and degrading treatment by the Kollupitiya Police while they were protesting about the referendum.

Court found the police officer concerned guilty and fined him. Government paid the fine  and  gave a double promotion to the officer. That was not all. A large crowd arrived in vehicles with banners and staged noisy protests outside the residences of the three judges who delivered the judgment. These two events received much prominence in the newspapers.

 JR was unperturbed. He said that the country needed a ruler who feared neither judiciary, legislature nor the party and he had the power to do anything for six more years. ( Continued)