Charles Percival de Silva (16 April 1912 – 9 October 1972) was a leading Sri Lankan politician and civil servant. He had served as the

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

, Minister of Lands, Land Development and

Agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people t ...

; and Minister of Power and

Irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has been devel ...

,C. P. de Silva,advocate of a ‘free society’
/ref> and Chairperson of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, and later joined as a senior member of the

United National Party The United National Party, often abbreviated as UNP ( si, එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂය, translit=Eksath Jāthika Pakshaya, ta, ஐக்கிய தேசியக் கட்சி, translit=Aikkiya Tēciyak Kaṭci), ...

. Born in the southern town of

Balapitiya Balapitiya is a coastal town, in south west Sri Lanka. It is located in the Southern Province in Sri Lanka. Situated south of Colombo, about a two-hour drive from the capital. It is the nearest town to the Maduganga River. Populated pla ...

, he was educated at St Thomas' College, Mt. Lavinia and studied mathematics at the

Ceylon University College Ceylon University College was a public university college in Ceylon. Established in 1921, it was Ceylon's first attempt at university education. The college didn't award degrees under its own name but prepared students to sit the University of Lo ...

and the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

. Joining the prestigious Ceylon Civil Service, he served as an

Assistant Government Agent A Government Agent (GA) or a District Secretary is a Sri Lankan civil servant of the Sri Lanka Administrative Service appointed by the central government to govern a certain district of the country. The GA is the administrative head of public servic ...

in the North Central Province, assisting

D. S. Senanayake Don Stephen Senanayake ( si, දොන් ස්ටීවන් සේනානායක,; ta, டி. எஸ். சேனநாயக்கா; 21 October 1884 – 22 March 1952) was a Ceylonese statesman. He was the first Prime Mi ...

in his agricultural projects in the province and served as Director of Land Development, in the Ministry of Agriculture under Dudley Senanayake, who succeed his father as Minister of Agriculture when the latter became the first Prime Minister of Ceylon. Falling-out with the younger Senanayake, C. P. de Silva resigned from the civil service. Entering politics from the newly formed Sri Lanka Freedom Party, he played a major role in

S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike ( si, සොලොමන් වෙස්ට් රිජ්වේ ඩයස් බණ්ඩාරනායක; ta, சாலமன் வெஸ்ட் ரிட்ஜ்வே டயஸ் ப� ...

's landslide victory in the 1965 general elections and became the top cabinet minister. He missed the opportunity to succeed Bandaranaike as prime minister, when the latter was assassinated in 1959 as he himself was in London recovering from a suspect poisoning. Returning to Ceylon he took over the leadership of the Freedom Party, but failed to unit its different fractions and served as opposition leader for a brief period, before engineering the defeat of the United National Party government. But his bid to form a government failed as the Governor General called for fresh elections. He succeed in establishing Bandaranaike's widow,

Sirima Bandaranaike Sirima Nicole Wiratunga (14 February 1964 – 7 December 1989), known simply by her first name Sirima, was a singer who sang in English and French. She was primarily known for her duet " Là-bas", recorded in 1987 with Jean-Jacques Goldman, which w ...

as party leader and gaining the party a major victory in the 1960 July general elections. Having been sidelined by the Sirima Bandaranaike and her loyalists on cast lines, he led thirteen Freedom Party politicians to cross over to the opposition and defeating the government in parliament resulting in fresh elections which the United National Party won with the support his new party, the Sri Lanka Freedom Socialist Party and became a minister in the national government that followed. A strong advocate of agriculture and rural development, he played a major role in many of the large agricultural development projects in the North Central Province. He lost his seat in the 1970 general election, after having served in parliament for eighteen consecutive years.

Early life and education

Born Randombe in

to C. R. de Silva, a proctor with a civil practice in Balapitiya and Galle; and Obinamuni Adlin de Silva. He had three brothers and two sisters. His brother A. H. de Silva took over their father's practice and was elected to parliament along with his other brother Merril de Silva, his sister Gladys married R. T. de Silva and the other sister Stella became a pediatrician. His brother Dr L. B. de Silva was a researcher attached to the Medical Research Institute. He was a cousin of Colvin R. de Silva. He was educated at Dharmasoka College, Ambalangoda and St Thomas' College, Mt. Lavinia, where he won the Gregory Scholarship, the Miller Award and became

head boy Head boy and head girl are student leadership roles in schools, representing the school's entire student body. They are normally the most senior prefects in the school. The terms are commonly used in the British education system as well as in Aus ...

. Thereafter he attend the

where he gained a

BSc A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...

in Mathematics (first Class)in 1933. He thereafter attended

for postgraduate studies.

Civil service

Having sat for the Ceylon Civil Service (CCS) entrance exam in the United Kingdom, de Silva was admitted in 1935 and on his return to the island was appointed as a cadet in the

Jaffna Jaffna (, ) is the capital city of the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna District located on a peninsula of the same name. With a population of 88,138 in 2012, Jaffna is Sri Lanka's 12th mo ...

Kachcheri A kachcheri or district secretariat is the principal government department that administrates a district in Sri Lanka. Each of the 25 districts has a kachcheri. The main tasks of the District Secretariat involve coordinating communications and a ...

. At aged 23, he was one of the youngest to gain admission to the CCS. Following his completion of training as a cadet, he was appointed as the

(AGA) in

Puttalam Puttalam ( si, පුත්තලම, translit=Puttalama; ta, புத்தளம், translit=Puttaḷam) is the largest town in Puttalam District, North Western Province, Sri Lanka. Puttalam is the administrative capital of the Puttalam Di ...

. He was then selected by

, Minister of Agriculture to serve as AGA of the

Polonnaruwa District Polonnaruwa District ( si, පොළොන්නරුව දිස්ත්‍රික්කය; ta, பொலன்னறுவை மாவட்டம்) is one of the 25 districts of Sri Lanka, the second level administrative division of ...

in order to carry forward his agricultural projects in the district. In Polonnaruwa, de Silva served under Richard Aluvihare and played a major role in establishing the Minneriya Colonisation Scheme. Thereafter he was posted as Assistant Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture, assisting Senanayake in his agricultural programs. He was then posted as Assistant Government Agent of the Anuradhapura District. In 1945 he was an Assistant Land Commissioner and in 1949 he was promoted to the post of Director of Land Development, under the when Minister of Agriculture,

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 Min ...

, who was a contemporary at St Thomas' College, having been two years senior. However, after a falling out with Dudley Senanayake, he was appointed Assistant Government Agent of the Kalutara District. Resigned shortly thereafter from the Civil Service and retired to his farm in Tabbowa in the Puttalam District becoming a

gentleman farmer In the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada, a gentleman farmer is a landowner who has a farm (gentleman's farm) as part of his estate and who farms mainly for pleasure rather than for profit or sustenance. The Collins English Diction ...

Political career

Sri Lanka Freedom Party

Member of parliament

C. P. de Silva was brought into active politics by

Herbert Sri Nissanka Herbert Sri Nissanka, QC (also known as ''Nissanka Herbert Mendis'') (7 December 1898 – 26 February 1954) was a Ceylonese lawyer and legislator. Elected to the first post-independence parliament, he was one of the founding members of the Sri ...

, who was the secretary of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party. He contested in the general elections in 1952 and was elected to parliament from

Polonnaruwa Poḷonnaruwa, ( si, පොළොන්නරුව, translit=Poḷonnaruva; ta, பொலன்னறுவை, translit=Polaṉṉaṟuvai) also referred as Pulathisipura and Vijayarajapura in ancient times, is the main town of Polonnaruwa Dis ...

from the Sri Lanka Freedom Party defeating the incumbent P. L. Bauddhasara.

Cabinet Minister and Leader of the House

He was re-elected in the 1956 general elections and was appointed leader of the house in parliament by

who then appointed him to his cabinet as the Minister of Lands, Land Development and Agriculture. In the Bandaranaike cabinet, C. P. de Silva emerged as the most senior member after Bandaranaike and served as acting prime minister during the absence of the latter. In 1957, he personally drove a bulldozer to safely breach the Minneriya tank during the 1957 floods. He became severely ill at a cabinet meeting on 25 August 1959 after consuming a glass of milk and was flown to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

for medical treatment. During his absence Bandaranaike was assassinated on 26 September 1959 and

Wijeyananda Dahanayake Wijeyananda Dahanayake ( si, විජයානන්ද දහනායක ta, விஜயானந்த தகநாயக்கா; 22 October 1902 – 4 May 1997) was a Sri Lankan politician. He was the Prime Minister of Ceylon from Septe ...

, who was the acting leader of the house was appointed as Prime Minister by the Governor General. De Silva returned to the island soon after and was appointed as Minister of Agriculture and Lands in the caretaker cabinet. On 12 December the Freedom Party met and elected De Silva as the new President of the party succeeding Bandaranaike. Thereafter the party executive committee authorized him to request the Governor General to remove Dahanayake and replace him with De Silva as the prime minister of the caretaker government. The Governor General acknowledged receipt of the request but did not act on it. Soon after De Silva resigned from his cabinet ministry.

Leader of the Opposition

Although not fully recovered, he became the leader of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party and led the party in the 1960 March general elections. Weaken by inter-party rivalries, the Freedom Party was able to gain 46 seats while the United National Party led by Dudley Senanayake gained 50 seats and formed a minority government which lasted only three months. He became the Leader of the Opposition. The government lost the

throne speech A speech from the throne, or throne speech, is an event in certain monarchies in which the reigning sovereign, or a representative thereof, reads a prepared speech to members of the nation's legislature when a session is opened, outlining th ...

and Senanayake resigned advising the Governor General to dissolve parliament and call for fresh elections. C. P. de Silva, met the Governor General,

Sir Oliver Goonetilleke Sir Oliver Ernest Goonetilleke ( si, ශ්‍රිමත් ඔලිවර් ගුණතිලක) (20 October 1892 – 17 December 1978) was a Sri Lankan statesman. Having served as an important figure in the gradual independence of Ceyl ...

and stated that he could form a government. Sir Oliver Goonetilleke did not accept de Silva offer and dissolved parliament.

Minister of Power and Irrigation

Sri Lanka Freedom Party selected Bandaranaike's widow,

as party leader for the 1960 July general elections. The party won the election and formed a government, with Sirima Bandaranaike becoming the first women prime minister. C. P. de Silva, appointed Minister of Power and Irrigation, and leader of the house, once again serving as the senior member of the cabinet until, he was surpassed by the prime minister's nephew,

Felix Dias Bandaranaike Felix R. Dias Bandaranaike ( Sinhala:ෆීලික්ස් ඩයස් බණඩාරනායක) (5 November 1930 – 26 June 1985) was a Sri Lankan lawyer and politician, who served as Cabinet Minister of Finance, Parliamentary Secret ...

who soon became the prominent figure in the government. C. P. de Silva was soon sidelined by the Bandaranaike's based on caste issues. He briefly served as Minister of Finance in 1962. He established two schools in Minneriya Central College and the

Polonnaruwa Royal Central College Royal Central College - Polonnaruwa ( si, රාජකීය මධ්‍ය මහා විද්‍යාලයය; also known as Royal College - Polonnaruwa or Polonnaruwa Rajakeeya Madya Maha Vidyalaya) is a national school in Polonnaruwa, ...

Crossing over

He soon faced attacks from within his own party and was criticized in parliament by Jaya Pathirana. Citing the Press Take Over Bill which was aimed at taking over its main critic,

Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited (ANCL), also known as Lake House. It publishes three daily, three weekend, five weekly, two monthly and three annual publications in Sinhala, English and Tamil. Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited i ...

by the government, on 3 December 1964, C. P. de Silva led thirteen SLFP parliamentarians that included Mahanama Samaraweera, P. P. Wickremasuriya, Wijayabahu Wijayasinha, Edmund Wijesuriya, A. H. de Silva, Indrasena de Zoysa, Chandrasena Munaweera, W. G. M. Albert Silva, S. B. Lenawa, Lakshman de Silva, Dr. Edwin Tillekeratne, Sir Razik Fareed, and Robert Singleton-Salmon crossed over to the opposition. The government of Sirima Bandaranaike lost the

by one vote and a general election was called for in March 1965.

Sri Lanka Freedom Socialist Party

C. P. de Silva formed the Sri Lanka Freedom Socialist Party which in coalition with the

(UNP) contest and won the general elections in 1965. He was appointed Minister of Lands, Irrigation and Power; and the Leader of the House in the new national government of Prime Minister Senanayake. During his tenor, he established the River Valleys Development Board to develop the Udawalawe Project and the introduced the Mahaweli Development Authority Act in February 1970 initiating the

Mahaweli Development programme The Mahaweli Development program ( si, මහවැලි සංවර්ධන වැඩසටහන) is known as the largest multipurpose national development program in the history of Sri Lanka and is also considered as the keystone of the gover ...

. He had contested from the Minneriya district from March 1960, and was re-elected in July 1960 and 1965. He lost his seat in the 1970 general elections to Ratna Deshapriya Senanayake, having been a member of parliament for 18 years.

Death

C. P. de Silva died on 9 October 1972, he was a lifelong bachelor. As per his last wishes, his ashes were dispersed in Minneriya. His brother Merril de Silva contested and won from Minneriya in the general elections in 1977.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:de Silva, C. P. 1912 births 1972 deaths Finance ministers of Sri Lanka Agriculture ministers of Sri Lanka Members of the 2nd Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 3rd Parliament of Ceylon People from Southern Province, Sri Lanka Sinhalese civil servants Alumni of Dharmasoka College Alumni of S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia Alumni of the Ceylon University College Power ministers of Sri Lanka