Parliamentary elections were held in

Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

in 1970.

Background

SLFP The Sri Lanka Freedom Party ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂය, translit=Śrī Laṁkā Nidahas Pakṣaya; ta, இலங்கை சுதந்திரக் கட்சி, translit=Ilaṅkai Cutantirak Ka� ...

leader

Sirimavo Bandaranaike Sirima Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike ( si, සිරිමා රත්වත්තේ ඩයස් බණ්ඩාරනායක; ta, சிறிமா ரத்வத்தே டயஸ் பண்டாரநாயக்கே; 17 April 191 ...

had come to the conclusion that her party's best hope of power was forming a permanent alliance with Ceylon's

Marxist Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...

parties. She assembled the SLFP, the Trotskyist

LSSP The Lanka Sama Samaja Party, often abbreviated as LSSP ( literally: Lanka Socialist Party, Sinhala: ලංකා සම සමාජ පක්ෂය, Tamil: லங்கா சமசமாஜக் கட்சி), is a major Trotskyist politic ...

, and the

Communists Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a so ...

into the

United Front A united front is an alliance of groups against their common enemies, figuratively evoking unification of previously separate geographic fronts and/or unification of previously separate armies into a front. The name often refers to a political ...

coalition. The UF's platform was called the ''Common Programme''; it featured extensive

nationalization Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...

, a non-aligned foreign policy, expanded social programmes, and replacement of the British-imposed,

monarchical A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state for life or until abdication. The political legitimacy and authority of the monarch may vary from restricted and largely symbolic (constitutional monarchy), ...

Soulbury constitution The Soulbury Commission ( si, සෝල්බරි කොමිෂන් සභාව ''Solbari Komishan Sabhawa''; ta, சோல்பரி ஆணைக்குழு), announced in 1944 was, like its predecessor, the Donoughmore Commission, a ...

with a

republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

constitution. The UNP government of

Dudley Senanayake Dudley Shelton Senanayake ( Sinhala: ඩඩ්ලි ශෙල්ටන් සේනානායක: ta, டட்லி சேனநாயக்கா; 19 June 1911 – 13 April 1973), was a Sri Lankan statesman who served as Prime Mi ...

had not made much headway with Ceylon's twin problems of

inflation In economics, inflation is an increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy. When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services; consequently, inflation corresponds to a reductio ...

and

unemployment Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for Work (human activity), w ...

, nor had it attempted solving the linked problems of

feudal Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was the combination of the legal, economic, military, cultural and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a wa ...

property relations and adverse

terms of trade The terms of trade (TOT) is the relative price of exports in terms of imports and is defined as the ratio of export prices to import prices. It can be interpreted as the amount of import goods an economy can purchase per unit of export goods. An i ...

agrarian reform Agrarian reform can refer either, narrowly, to government-initiated or government-backed redistribution of agricultural land (see land reform) or, broadly, to an overall redirection of the agrarian system of the country, which often includes land re ...

and

industrialisation Industrialisation ( alternatively spelled industrialization) is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial society. This involves an extensive re-organisation of an econo ...

. 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 Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

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 Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

majority constituencies voted mainly for the two Tamil parties, one of which (the

All Ceylon Tamil Congress All Ceylon Tamil Congress ( ta, அகில இலங்கைத் தமிழ்க் காங்கிரஸ்), is the oldest Tamil political party in Sri Lanka. History The ACTC was founded in 1944 by G.G. Ponnambalam. Ponnambalam ask ...

), later joined the UF. The 1970 election was the last held under the

. The UF Government established the free,

sovereign ''Sovereign'' is a title which can be applied to the highest leader in various categories. The word is borrowed from Old French , which is ultimately derived from the Latin , meaning 'above'. The roles of a sovereign vary from monarch, ruler or ...

and

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

Republic A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th c ...

of Sri Lanka in 1972, breaking the last ties of

colonialism Colonialism is a practice or policy of control by one people or power over other people or areas, often by establishing colonies and generally with the aim of economic dominance. In the process of colonisation, colonisers may impose their relig ...

. The

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

-owned

plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...

s were

nationalise Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...

d and there was

land reform Land reform is a form of agrarian reform involving the changing of laws, regulations, or customs regarding land ownership. Land reform may consist of a government-initiated or government-backed property redistribution, generally of agricultural ...

- giving poor rural people land.

Industrial democracy Industrial democracy is an arrangement which involves workers making decisions, sharing responsibility and authority in the workplace. While in participative management organizational designs workers are listened to and take part in the decisi ...

was instituted in the

transport Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land (rail and road), water, cable, pipeline, an ...

and

manufacturing Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer to a r ...

sectors. A

National pharmaceuticals policy {{Use dmy dates, date=December 2019 An essential medicines policy is one that aims at ensuring that people get good quality drugs at the lowest possible price, and that doctors prescribe the minimum of required drugs in order to treat the patient' ...

was established, allowing for affordable drugs. A new

education policy Education policy consists of the principles and policy decisions that influence the field of education, as well as the collection of laws and rules that govern the operation of education systems. Education governance may be shared between the local ...

was followed, aimed at making education more relevant. Increased protection led to growth in the manufacturing sector, particularly in textiles and garments,

electronics The field of electronics is a branch of physics and electrical engineering that deals with the emission, behaviour and effects of electrons using electronic devices. Electronics uses active devices to control electron flow by amplification ...

and

industrial machinery The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to industrial machinery: Essence of industrial machinery * Heavy equipment * Hardware * Industrial process * Machine * Machine tool * Tool Industrial machines * Agricul ...

References

* * * * * {{Sri Lankan elections

Parliamentary elections in Sri Lanka Election and referendum articles with incomplete results