Mallika Eslin Ratwatte (née Ellawala) (13 April 1932 – 18 May 2017) was a

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 ...

ese politician. She was a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

from the Balangoda electorate.

Early life and family

Born Mallika Eslin Ellawala, to the

Radala Radala refers to a small minority group in Sri Lanka in the former provinces of the Kingdom of Kandy, who are either descendants of chiefs and courtiers of the King of Kandy of Nayaks of Kandy or descendants of native headmen appointed by the ...

Ellawala family in

Ratnapura Ratnapura (; ) ("City of Gems" in Sinhala and Tamil) is a major city in Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of Sabaragamuwa Province, as well as the Ratnapura District, and is a traditional centre for the Sri Lankan gem trade. It is located ...

. She married

Clifford Ratwatte Clifford Senaka Ratwatte (19 March 1927 – 10 February 2009) was a Sri Lankan politician. He was a former Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture, Food, Co-operatives and Fisheries in 1964 Member of Parliament for Balangoda, ...

, a planter who was the son of

Barnes Ratwatte Barnes Ratwatte (''known as Barnes Ratwatte Dissawa '') (1883 – 20 September 1957) was a Ceylonese colonial-era legislator and a headman. He was a member of the State Council and the Senate of Ceylon. He was appointed to the posts of Rate Mahat ...

Dissawa The Mahâ Dissâvas was a Great Officer in the Amātya Mandalaya, or Sinhalese Council of State, in the Sinhalese Kingdoms of monarchical Sri Lanka. Like many of the existing high offices at the time it had combined legislative and judicial ...

, a member of the

State Council of Ceylon The State Council of Ceylon was the unicameral legislature for Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), established in 1931 by the Donoughmore Constitution. The State Council gave universal adult franchise to the people of the colony for the first time. It r ...

and sister of

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

who would become

Prime Minister of Ceylon The Prime Minister of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is the head and most senior member of parliament in the cabinet of ministers. It is the second-most powerful position in Sri Lanka's executive branch behind the president, wh ...

Political career

Clifford Ratwatte entered politics in 1954 as member of

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

which was formed by his brother-in-law

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

; he was elected to parliament from the Balangoda electorate in March 1960 and was re-elected in July 1960 and

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndo ...

, but was unseated in 1966 in an election petition. Mallika Ratwatte, then contested in her husband's seat of Balangoda in the by-election in 1966 from the Sri Lanka Freedom Party and won, entering parliament. She again contested in the Balangoda electorate and won in the 1970 parliamentary elections, defeating a distant cousin Seetha Seneviratne, 18,808 votes to 11,616 votes. She was defeated in the 1977 parliamentary elections by 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), ...

candidate M.L.M. Aboosally by 19,502 votes to 15,829 votes.

References

Sri Lankan Buddhists Members of the 6th Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 7th Parliament of Ceylon Sri Lanka Freedom Party politicians Women legislators in Sri Lanka Mallike 1932 births 2017 deaths {{SriLanka-bio-stub

Early life and family

Political career

See also

References