Arthur Edmund Samarawickrema (born 11 September 1921) was a Sri Lankan auctioneer, broker and politician.
Samarawickrema was educated at Christ Church College, Galkissa, where he was the president of the school's debating society.
He ran for a position on the
Colombo Municipal Council
The Colombo Municipal Council is the municipal governing body of Colombo, the largest city and financial centre in Sri Lanka. It consists of a directly elected executive Mayor of Colombo, current elect is Rosy Senanayake, and 119 elected 119 muni ...
and was successful representing the
Bambalapitiya
Bambalapitiya is a southern coastal neighbourhood of Colombo, Sri Lanka.
The area also known as Colombo 4, spans about along Galle Road. The western boundary of the suburb is the Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the ...
Ward.
In 1957 he was appointed the Deputy Mayor of Colombo and was re-appointed in the position in January 1960.
[
In 1960 the Colombo South electorate became a multi-member constituency with two seats in Parliament, as a result of Wellawatte-Galkissa being incorporated into the electorate. Samarawickrema, representing 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), ...
and Bernard Soysa, the Lanka Sama Samaja Party were elected as representatives at the 4th parliamentary election held on 19 March 1960. Samarawickrema polled 25,312 votes (42.35% of the total vote) and Soysa polled 16,206 votes (27.11% of the total vote).[ The results of the March 1960 election however left neither of Ceylon's two major parties with a majority, so another election was held. At the 5th parliamentary election, held on 20 July 1960, 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), ...
ran two candidates, Samarawickrema and 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 ...
. Samarawickrema received 5,765 votes and was defeated by Jayewardene, who polled 25,814 votes (42.2% of the total vote) and Soysa, who polled 23,914 votes.
In 1977 Colombo South was split up into two electorates, Colombo East and Colombo West. At the 8th parliamentary election, held on 21 July 1977, Samarawickrema was elected as the member for Colombo East, receiving 19,721 votes (58.52% of the total vote), defeating the Sri Lanka Freedom Party candidate, Vivian S. Kodikara, by 12,043 votes and the sitting member, Bernard Soysa, by 13,770 votes. He was subsequently appointed the Deputy Chairman of Committees on 7 September 1977, a position he retained until 20 December 1988.
At the next general election held in 1989, when the preference vote system was also incorporated, members of parliament were elected on a district rather than on an electorate-wise basis, with the 160 mainly single-member
A single-member district is an electoral district represented by a single officeholder. It contrasts with a multi-member district, which is represented by multiple officeholders. Single-member districts are also sometimes called single-winner vo ...
electoral districts replaced by 22 multi-member
An electoral system or voting system is a set of rules that determine how elections and referendums are conducted and how their results are determined. Electoral systems are used in politics to elect governments, while non-political elections ma ...
electoral districts. Samarawickrema contested for a seat in the newly created Colombo Electoral District
Colombo Electoral District is one of the 22 multi-member electoral districts of Sri Lanka created by the 1978 Constitution of Sri Lanka. The district is conterminous with the administrative district of Colombo in the Western province. The di ...
but failed, receiving only 3,510 preference votes.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Samarawickrema, Edmund
1921 births
Colombo municipal councillors
Date of death unknown
Deputy chairmen of committees of the Parliament of Sri Lanka
Members of the 4th Parliament of Ceylon
Members of the 8th Parliament of Sri Lanka
Sinhalese politicians
United National Party politicians