Chanaka Amaratunga (19 April 1958 – 1 August 1996) was the founder of the
Liberal Party of Sri Lanka
After thirty five years in existence The Liberal Party was renamed as The Liberal Democratic Party in June 19th of 2022, The first congress was held in 26th if July 2022. Present leader of the Party is Kamal Nissanka and Secretary General is Amal ...
.
Early life
Schooled at
St Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia where he was a prominent member of the Debating, Drama and Parliamentary societies. Contemporaries included
Richard de Zoysa
Richard Manik de Zoysa (Tamil: இரிச்சர்ட் டி சோய்சா) ( Sinhala:රිචඩ් ද සොයිසා) (18 March 1958 – 18 February 1990) was a well-known Sri Lankan journalist, author, human rights acti ...
Rohan Edirisinghe,
Uthum Herat and
R. D. Gunaratne.
![Picture of Chanaka Amaratunga at S Thomas College Mt Lavinia Debating Team](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b9/Picture_of_Chanaka_Amaratunga_at_S_Thomas_College_Mt_Lavinia_Debating_Team.jpg)
Amaratunga went on to read Politics, Philosophy and Economics at
University College, Oxford
University College (in full The College of the Great Hall of the University of Oxford, colloquially referred to as "Univ") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It has a claim to being the oldest college of the univer ...
, and was secretary of the Oxford Union. He obtained a doctorate from 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 ...
for a thesis on Iranian relations with the West in the 1950s.
He was interested in politics from his schooldays, and a firm adherent 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), ...
(UNP), the more conservative of the two main Sri Lankan parties. He welcomed its overwhelming victory at the 1977 elections, and its reversal, under
Junius Richard Jayewardene
Junius Richard Jayewardene ( si, ජුනියස් රිචඩ් ජයවර්ධන, ta, ஜூனியஸ் ரிச்சட் ஜயவர்தனா; 17 September 1906 – 1 November 1996), commonly abbreviated in Sri Lanka as ...
, of the statist economic policies of the past.
Political career
During the early 1980s, Amaratunga believed that Jayewardene was moving towards
authoritarianism
Authoritarianism is a political system characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of strong central power to preserve the political '' status quo'', and reductions in the rule of law, separation of powers, and democratic vot ...
, and that the open economy he promoted was not sustained by any political philosophy. Amaratunga established
the Council for Liberal Democracy, which was intended to develop a conceptual framework for the reforms which he believed should be taken further.
Amaratunga broke conclusively with Jayewardene's UNP when it pushed through a
referendum in 1982 to postpone parliamentary elections for six years. Apart from the damage to democracy, the measure as Amaratunga predicted led to opposition going underground, and to severe terrorist activity throughout the country in the late eighties. Though Jayewardene's successor,
Ranasinghe Premadasa
Sri Lankabhimanya Ranasinghe Premadasa ( si, රණසිංහ ප්රේමදාස ''Raṇasiṃha Premadāsa'', ta, ரணசிங்க பிரேமதாசா ''Raṇaciṅka Pirēmatācā''; 23 June 1924 – 1 May 1993) was t ...
, managed to restore order in the south after elections were held, the resentment that had peaked in the north has contributed to continuing conflict with the
Tamil Tigers
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; ta, தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், translit=Tamiḻīḻa viṭutalaip pulikaḷ, si, දෙමළ ඊළාම් විමුක්ති කොටි, t ...
.
In 1987, Amaratunga established the
Liberal Party of Sri Lanka
After thirty five years in existence The Liberal Party was renamed as The Liberal Democratic Party in June 19th of 2022, The first congress was held in 26th if July 2022. Present leader of the Party is Kamal Nissanka and Secretary General is Amal ...
. The party supported the main opposition candidate for the presidency in 1988. Premadasa began a programme of reforms that brought the country closer to principles Amaratunga had enunciated, in particular a competitive open economy that did not depend on state patronage, an independent judiciary, and regular free elections. Premadasa for his part wooed Amaratunga and had signed a pact with the Liberal Party just before he was assassinated in 1993. Premadasa's successor kept Amaratunga at arm's length, but when he lost the next election
Gamini Dissanayake
Dissanayake Mudiyanse Ralahamilage Lionel Gamini Dissanayake, PC (known as Gamini Dissanayake; si, ලයනල් ගාමිණි දිසානායක, ta, காமினி திஸாநாயக்க; 20 March 1942 – 24 Octob ...
,
who took over the leadership of the UNP, in fact got Amaratunga to draft his manifesto for the
presidential election of 1994.
Dissanayake was also assassinated by the Tigers and though his widow contested the presidency on the manifesto drafted by Amaratunga, his successor as Leader of the Party, who was cast more in the Jayewardene mould, repudiated those principles. The government that had taken over did request Amaratunga's assistance for promotion of its own peace package in the period between 1995 and 1996, but this was not on any formal basis. Amaratunga died in a car crash on 1 August 1996.
Writings and interest in the arts
Amaratunga crystallised his theories in 'Ideas for Constitutional Reform', based on a seminar series the CLD conducted between 1987 and 1989. Typically, for one who believed in free speech, he included papers by politicians and social commentators representing the whole range of the political spectrum, from the old
Trotskyists
Trotskyism is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Ukrainian-Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky and some other members of the Left Opposition and Fourth International. Trotsky self-identified as an orthodox Marxist, a re ...
to modern libertarians.
Apart from his interest in politics, Amaratunga was keenly interested in the arts. In the ''Liberal Review'', which he edited along with
Rajiva Wijesinha
Rajiva Wijesinha, MA, DPhil ( Sinhala: රජීව විජේසිංහ) (born 16 May 1954) is a Sri Lankan writer in English, distinguished for his political analysis as well as creative and critical work. An academic by profession for m ...
for a decade, there were regular columns on the arts and several reviews that he wrote himself. He was also an accomplished actor, as well as being a debater, and had been Secretary and Treasurer of the
Oxford Union
The Oxford Union Society, commonly referred to simply as the Oxford Union, is a debating society in the city of Oxford England, whose membership is drawn primarily from the University of Oxford. Founded in 1823, it is one of Britain's oldest ...
.
References
Primary source
Rajiva Wijesinha, MA, DPhil (Oxon), Senior Professor of Languages,
Sabaragamuwa University & former President, Liberal Party of Sri Lanka
{{DEFAULTSORT:Amaratunga, Chanaka
Sinhalese politicians
Alumni of University College, Oxford
Alumni of the University of London
1958 births
1996 deaths
Alumni of S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia