Weerahennedige Theodore Wilfred Meryl Fernando (18 April 1923 – 27 May 2007) 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 teacher, trade unionist, politician and Member of Parliament.
Early life and family
Fernando was born on 18 April 1923. He was educated at
Prince of Wales' College, Moratuwa
Prince of Wales' College ( Sinhala: වේල්ස් කුමර විද්යාලය ''Wels Kumara Vidyalaya'', Tamil: பிரின்ஸ் ஆஃப் வேல்ஸ் கல்லூரி) is a selective entry boys' school s ...
.
After school he joined
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 ...
in 1941, passing the London intermediate examination in 1944.
Later he studied at the Teacher Training College in
Maharagama
Maharagama is an outer suburb of Colombo, Sri Lanka on the High-Level (A4) Road about from the centre of the commercial capital. It developed rapidly in the 1980s as a dormitory suburb. Governed by the Maharagama Urban Council, the town possesse ...
and qualified as a teacher.
Fernando was married twice - to Christobel and Wimala.
He had two children - Sharmalie Nimalka Nagle and Arosha.
Career
Fernando became involved in politics whilst at university and in 1944 dropped out of university to work full-time for the Ceylonese branch of the
Bolshevik–Leninist Party of India, Ceylon and Burma
Bolshevik–Leninist Party of India, Ceylon and Burma (BLPI) was a revolutionary Trotskyist party which campaigned for independence and socialism in South Asia. The party was formed in 1942 as a unification of two Indian groups (the Bolshevik Le ...
(BLPI).
He met
Edmund Samarakkody
Edmund Peter Samarakkody (19 April 1912 – 4 January 1992) was a Ceylonese lawyer, trade unionist, politician and Member of Parliament.
Early life and family
Samarakkody was born on 19 April 1912, the fifth of seven children to Charles Peter ...
, with whom he would be politically associated with for most of his life, whilst working for the BLPI.
After
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
Fernando
organised labour
The labour movement or labor movement consists of two main wings: the trade union movement (British English) or labor union movement (American English) on the one hand, and the political labour movement on the other.
* The trade union movement ...
at the Elephant match-factory in
Moratuwa
Moratuwa ( si, මොරටුව, ta, மொறட்டுவை) is a large suburb of Colombo, on the southwestern coast of Sri Lanka, near Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia. It is situated on the Galle–Colombo (Galle road) main highway, south o ...
.
He worked for the Moratuwa branch of the Kelaniya Match Workers Union for two decades and served as the branch's secretary for several years.
In 1948 he got the carpentry workers at Willorawatta, Moratuwa, to join the Industrial and General Workers Union, an affiliate of the
Lanka Sama Samaja Party
The Lanka Sama Samaja Party, often abbreviated as LSSP (Literal translation, literally: Lanka Socialist Party, Sinhalese language, Sinhala: ලංකා සම සමාජ පක්ෂය, Tamil language, Tamil: லங்கா சமசமா ...
(LSSP)).
Fernando and
Doric de Souza Anthony Theodoric Armand "Doric" de Souza (1914–1987) was a Sri Lankan Trotskyist politician, Senator, Professor of English and a brilliant Marxist theoretician.
Born to Goan journalist Armand de Souza, who was the editor of the '' Ceylon ...
successfully negotiated better employment conditions for the carpentry workers.
Fernando also organised workers at the Velona Garment Factory and the Lanka Light Match Factory in Moratuwa.
Fernando was arrested and imprisoned during the
1953 hartal.
In 1948 the BLPI merged with the
Congress Socialist Party
The Congress Socialist Party (CSP) was a socialist caucus within the Indian National Congress. It was founded in 1934 by Congress members who rejected what they saw as the anti-rational mysticism of Gandhi as well as the sectarian attitude of th ...
to create the
Socialist Party
Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...
.
The BLPI's Ceylon branch became a separate party, the
Bolshevik Samasamaja Party
The Bolshevik Samasamaja Party was the Ceylon section Bolshevik-Leninist Party of India, Ceylon and Burma (BLPI) after 1945 and of the Fourth International in 1948-1950, after the dissolution of the BLPI.
After the war there was a split in the Lan ...
(BSP).
The BSP and LSSP merged in 1950.
Fernando was elected to Moratuwa Urban Council in 1950 as the LSSP member for Koralawella Ward.
He was a member of Moratuwa Urban Council until 1967 and served as its chairman.
He stood as the LSSP candidate in
Moratuwa
Moratuwa ( si, මොරටුව, ta, மொறட்டுவை) is a large suburb of Colombo, on the southwestern coast of Sri Lanka, near Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia. It is situated on the Galle–Colombo (Galle road) main highway, south o ...
at the
1956 parliamentary election. He won the election and entered
Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
.
He did not have a car and traveled to Parliament by bus.
He lost his seat at the
March 1960 parliamentary election but re-gained it at the
July 1960 parliamentary election.
Whilst Ceylon's main political parties, 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) and
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 ...
(SLFP), supported the
Sinhala Only Act
The Official Language Act (No. 33 of 1956), commonly referred to as the Sinhala Only Act, was an act passed in the Parliament of Ceylon in 1956. The act replaced English with Sinhala as the sole official language of Ceylon, with the exclusion ...
, the leftists, led by the LSSP, opposed the act.
In May 1960 LSSP leader
N. M. Perera
Nanayakkarapathirage Martin Perera, commonly known as Dr. N. M. Perera ( Sinhala එන්.එම්.පෙරේරා ; 6 June 1904 – 14 August 1979), was one of the leaders of the Sri Lankan Trotskyist Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP). He w ...
proposed that the party form a coalition government with SLFP.
The LSSP joined the SLFP
government
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...
in June 1964.
LSSP members who opposed the move (Fernando,
V. Karalasingham
Vaithianathan Karalasingham ( ta, வைத்தியநாதன் காராளசிங்கம்; July 1921 – 8 September 1983) was a Ceylon Tamil lawyer, writer, politician and one of the leading members of the Lanka Sama Sama ...
, Samarakkody,
Bala Tampoe
Bala Tampoe (23 May 1922 – 1 September 2014) was a Sri Lankan lawyer and a trade unionist. He was the General Secretary of the Ceylon Mercantile, Industrial and General Workers Union (CMU) in Sri Lanka.
Early life and education
Born on 23 May 1 ...
etc.) left the LSSP and formed the
Lanka Sama Samaja Party (Revolutionary)
Lanka Sama Samaja Party (Revolutionary) was a Trotskyist political party in Sri Lanka, formed in 1964 when the Lanka Sama Samaja Party was expelled from the Fourth International. LSSP(R) was constituted by the ideological hardliners who opposed ...
(LSSP(R)) with Samarakkody as its secretary.
In December 1964 the LSSP(R)'s two MPs, Fernando and Samarakkody, together with several rebel SLFP MPs, voted for an opposition amendment to the government's
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 ...
, defeating the government and precipitating the
dissolution
Dissolution may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Books
* ''Dissolution'' (''Forgotten Realms'' novel), a 2002 fantasy novel by Richard Lee Byers
* ''Dissolution'' (Sansom novel), a 2003 historical novel by C. J. Sansom Music
* Dissolution, in mu ...
of Parliament.
Fernando and Samarakkody's action proved controversial within the LSSP(R) as they had in effect supported the capitalist UNP which would go on to win the
1965 parliamentary election.
The LSSP(R) supported Fernando and Samarakkody's action but some members who opposed it (Karalasingham and the Sakthi group) left the LSSP(R) and rejoined the LSSP in 1966.
Fernando stood as the LSSP(R) candidate in Moratuwa at the 1965 parliamentary election but failed to get re-elected.
Samarakkody fell out with LSSP(R) leader Tampoe and in 1968 left the party, together with Fernando, and founded the
Revolutionary Sama Samaja Party (renamed Revolutionary Workers Party in 1973).
Fernando supported the
Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna
Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP; ) is a Marxist–Leninist communist party and a former militant organization in Sri Lanka. The movement was involved in two armed uprisings against the government of Sri Lanka: once in 1971 (SLFP), and anot ...
's
1971 insurrection.
Fernando stood as a candidate in Moratuwa at the
1977 parliamentary election but again failed to get re-elected.
He took an active role in the 1980
general strike
A general strike refers to a strike action in which participants cease all economic activity, such as working, to strengthen the bargaining position of a trade union or achieve a common social or political goal. They are organised by large co ...
.
Fernando died on 27 May 2007 at his home in Koralawella, Moratuwa.
Electoral history
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fernando, Meryl
1923 births
2007 deaths
Alumni of Prince of Wales' College, Moratuwa
Lanka Sama Samaja Party politicians
Local authority councillors of Sri Lanka
Members of the 3rd Parliament of Ceylon
Members of the 5th Parliament of Ceylon
People of British Ceylon
Sinhalese politicians
Sinhalese teachers
Sinhalese trade unionists