Reginald Abraham de Mel (8 November 1894 – 1961) was a

Ceylonese Sri Lankan or Ceylonese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Sri Lanka * A person from Sri Lanka, see Demographics of Sri Lanka ** Sinhalese people, the ethnic majority ** Sri Lankan Tamils, an ethnic minority ** Sri L ...

politician. Having served as the

Mayor of Colombo The Mayor of Colombo is the Mayor (and head) of the Colombo Municipal Council. The post was created in 1866 when the Colombo Municipal Council was established by the Legislative Council of Ceylon. The Mayor is assisted by the Deputy Mayor and a ...

, he served as the Deputy Speaker and Chairman of Committees in the first parliament of Ceylon, until he was unseated by an

election petition An election petition refers to the procedure for challenging the result of a Parliamentary election. Outcomes When a petition is lodged against an election return, there are 4 possible outcomes: # The election is declared void. The result is q ...

Early life and education

De Mel received his education at Richmond College in

Galle Galle ( si, ගාල්ල, translit=Gālla; ta, காலி, translit=Kāli) (formerly Point de Galle) is a major city in Sri Lanka, situated on the southwestern tip, from Colombo. Galle is the provincial capital and largest city of Southern ...

, where he represented the college cricket team. He qualified as a proctor.

Political career

Having been elected to 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 ...

, he served as the

from 1944 to 1946. De Mel was elected to

parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

at the 1st parliamentary election, 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), ...

(UNP), in the Colombo South electorate. He secured 6,452 votes (35.4% of the total vote), 640 votes ahead of

Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu ( ta, பாக்கியசோதி சரவணமுத்து, si, පාකියසොති සර්වනමූත්තු; 26 October 1892 – 28 May 1950; also known as P. Sara) was a Ceylonese civi ...

, an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

candidate, who received 32% of the total vote. He was subsequently appointed the Deputy Speaker and Chairman of Committees in the first parliament of Ceylon. De Mel subsequently lost his seat in August 1948 after being found guilty of corrupt practices by aiding, abetting, counselling and procuring the offences of impersonation in an election petition filled by Saravanamuttu. Saravanamuttu contested the ensuing

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

held in Colombo South in November 1948 but again lost, this time to

T. F. Jayewardene Major Theodore Frederick "Freddy" Jayewardene (25 March 1911 – ?) was a Ceylonese planter and politician. He was the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Labour and Member of Parliament for Colombo South from 1948 to 1956. Earl ...

. The Duplication Road in Colombo was renamed R.A. De Mel Mawatha in his memory.

Family

He married Evelyn Fernando, daughter of Hethakandage Bastian Fernando. They had two children Laleeni and Irangani. C. H. Z. Fernando was his brother-in-law. He was a cousin of R. S. F. de Mel, former Mayor of Colombo.

References

External links

* 1894 births 1961 deaths United National Party politicians Deputy speakers and chairmen of committees of the Parliament of Sri Lanka Members of the 1st Parliament of Ceylon Mayors of Colombo Ceylonese proctors Alumni of Richmond College, Galle People from Galle People from British Ceylon RA {{WesternLK-politician-stub