1970 Ceylonese parliamentary election

Sri Lankan government elections April 2023 1970 Ceylonese parliamentary election Ceylon parliamentary 1951 no 1965 Ceylonese parliamentary election 1965 1977 Sri Lankan parliamentary election 1977 151 seats in the House of Representatives of Ceylon 76 seats were needed for a majority 27 May 1970 Sirimavo Bandaranaike 1960 Sri Lanka Freedom Party United Front Attanagalla 30.18%, 41 seats 91 50 1,839,979 36.86% 6.68pp N. M. Perera 1945 Lanka Sama Samaja Party United Front Yatiyantota 7.47%, 10 seats 19 9 433,224 8.68% 1.21pp Dudley Senanayake 1957 United National Party – Dedigama 39.31%, 66 seats 17 49 1,892,525 37.91% 1.40pp Prime Minister Prime Minister-designate Dudley Senanayake Sirimavo Bandaranaike United National Party Sri Lanka Freedom Party Parliamentary elections were held in Ceylon in 1970. Background SLFP leader Sirimavo Bandaranaike had come to the conclusion that her party's best hope of power was forming a permanent alliance with Ceylon's Marxist parties. She assembled the SLFP, the Trotskyist LSSP, and the Communists into the United Front coalition. The UF's platform was called the Common Programme; it featured extensive nationalization, a non-aligned foreign policy, expanded social programmes, and replacement of the British-imposed, monarchical Soulbury constitution with a republican constitution. The UNP government of Dudley Senanayake had not made much headway with Ceylon's twin problems of inflation and unemployment, nor had it attempted solving the linked problems of feudal property relations and adverse terms of trade by agrarian reform and industrialisation. The UNP had become widely perceived as a party of the rich, out of touch with the concerns of ordinary people. The UF's socialist platform had much greater appeal. Results The UF (with 49% of the vote) won an overwhelming majority, despite the UNP's plurality of the popular vote, due to the member parties running in different constituencies. The Tamil majority constituencies voted mainly for the two Tamil parties, one of which (the All Ceylon Tamil Congress), later joined the UF.December 2010 The 1970 election was the last held under the Soulbury constitution. The UF Government established the free, sovereign and independent Republic of Sri Lanka in 1972, breaking the last ties of colonialism. The British-owned plantations were nationalised and there was land reform – giving poor rural people land. Industrial democracy was instituted in the transport and manufacturing sectors. A National pharmaceuticals policy was established, allowing for affordable drugs. A new education policy was followed, aimed at making education more relevant. Increased protection led to growth in the manufacturing sector, particularly in textiles and garments, electronics and industrial machinery. United National Party 1892525 17 Sri Lanka Freedom Party 1839979 91 Lanka Sama Samaja Party 433224 19 Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi 245727 13 Communist Party of Ceylon 169199 6 All Ceylon Tamil Congress 115567 3 Mahajana Eksath Peramuna 46571 0 Independents 249006 2 5505028 Kusaka Research Institute References http://www.slelections.gov.lk/pdf/Results_1970%20GENERAL%20ELECTION.PDF https://web.archive.org/web/20091209231958/http://www.slelections.gov.lk/pdf/Results_1970%20GENERAL%20ELECTION.PDF dead 2009-12-09 Result of Parliamentary General Election 1970 Department of Elections, Sri Lanka http://www.lankanewspapers.com/news/election/general_election1970.jsp 1970 General Election Results LankaNewspapers.com dead https://web.archive.org/web/20120310000814/http://www.lankanewspapers.com/news/election/general_election1970.jsp 10 March 2012 http://www.jpp.co.jp/lanka/gov/govd/govde/gov37e.htm Table 37 Parliament Election (1970) 10 February 2009 Sri Lanka Statistics 3 October 2010 9 October 2011 https://web.archive.org/web/20111009145515/http://www.jpp.co.jp/lanka/gov/govd/govde/gov37e.htm dead http://www.ipu.org/parline-e/reports/arc/CEYLON_1970_E.PDF Sri Lanka Parliamentary Chamber: Parliament Elections Held in 1970 Inter-Parliamentary Union http://www.atimes.com/ind-pak/DA05Df05.html https://web.archive.org/web/20020127131454/http://www.atimes.com/ind-pak/DA05Df05.html unfit 27 January 2002 Chapter 21: A further lack of perspicuity K. T. Rajasingham 5 January 2002 Sri Lanka: The Untold Story Asia Times Ceylon Ceylon Category:Parliamentary elections in Sri Lanka Category:Election and referendum articles with incomplete results