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Badulla Electoral District (1947–1989)
Badulla electoral district was an electoral district of Sri Lanka between August 1947 and February 1989. The district was named after the town of Badulla in Badulla District, Uva Province. The Badulla electoral district was one of five multi-member constituencies, with two members, the others were Ambalangoda-Balapitiya, Balangoda, Colombo Central and Kadugannawa. The 1978 Constitution of Sri Lanka introduced the proportional representation electoral system for electing members of Parliament. The existing 160 mainly single-member electoral districts were replaced with 22 multi-member electoral district An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...s. Badulla electoral district was replaced by the Badulla multi-member electoral district at the 1989 general elections, th ...
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Electoral District
An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provide the voters therein with representation in a legislature or other polity. That legislative body, the state's constitution, or a body established for that purpose determines each district's boundaries and whether each will be represented by a single member or multiple members. Generally, only voters (''constituents'') who reside within the district are permitted to vote in an election held there. The district representative or representatives may be elected by single-winner first-past-the-post system, a multi-winner proportional representative system, or another voting method. The district members may be selected by a direct election under wide adult enfranchisement, an indirect election, or direct election using another form ...
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Plurality Voting System
Plurality voting refers to electoral systems in which the candidates in an electoral district who poll more than any other (that is, receive a plurality) are elected. Under single-winner plurality voting, and in systems based on single-member districts, plurality voting is called single member istrictplurality (SMP), which is widely known as " first-past-the-post". In SMP/FPTP the leading candidate, whether or not they have a majority of votes, is elected. There are several versions of plurality voting for multi-member district. The system that elects multiple winners at once with the plurality rule and where each voter casts as many X votes as the number of seats in a multi-seat district is referred to as plurality block voting. A semi-proportional system that elects multiple winners elected at once with the plurality rule and where each voter casts more than one vote but fewer than the number of seats to fill in a multi-seat district is known as limited voting. A semi-prop ...
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1977 Sri Lankan Parliamentary Election
Parliamentary elections were held in Sri Lanka on 21 July 1977. The result was a landslide victory for the United National Party, which won 140 of the 168 seats in the National State Assembly. Background Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike had become extraordinarily unpopular. Her economic policies had led to industrial growth and self-reliance, but were insufficient to overcome unemployment. Constitutionally, she had taken advantage of the Sri Lankan Constitution of 1972, 1972 constitution to delay the election until 1977, instead of 1975 as would have been the case under the old Soulbury constitution. The government's strong Sinhalese people, Sinhala nationalist stance had led to unrest in the Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil north; in response, an island-wide state of emergency was imposed, causing hardship to many people. The United Front (Sri Lanka), UF coalition Bandaranaike had built for the 1970 elections had disintegrated. By contrast, the Unite ...
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1970 Ceylonese Parliamentary Election
Parliamentary elections were held in Ceylon in 1970. Background SLFP leader Sirimavo Bandaranaike had come to the conclusion that her party's best hope of power was forming a permanent alliance with Ceylon's Marxist parties. She assembled the SLFP, the Trotskyist LSSP, and the Communists into the United Front coalition. The UF's platform was called the ''Common Programme''; it featured extensive nationalization, a non-aligned foreign policy, expanded social programmes, and replacement of the British-imposed, monarchical Soulbury constitution with a republican constitution. The UNP government of Dudley Senanayake had not made much headway with Ceylon's twin problems of inflation and unemployment, nor had it attempted solving the linked problems of feudal property relations and adverse terms of trade by agrarian reform and industrialisation. The UNP had become widely perceived as a party of the rich, out of touch with the concerns of ordinary people. The UF's socialist p ...
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1965 Ceylonese Parliamentary Election
Parliamentary elections were held in Ceylon in March 1965. Background The SLFP government of Sirimavo Bandaranaike lost its majority in December 1964 when some MPs deserted it over the nationalization of Lakehouse Newspapers. Bandaranaike's program of extensive nationalization had alarmed many of the island's business interests, which rallied to the United National Party. The economy had been stagnant, and rationing had been imposed in the face of persistent food shortages. The UNP promised to form a "National Front" government to oppose the SLFP and its Marxist allies. UNP leader Dudley Senanayake promised cabinet posts both to smaller Sinhalese nationalist parties and the Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi. Results The UNP did not obtain a majority, but was able to govern as a National Front with the ITAK's support. Notes References * * * * * {{Sri Lankan elections Ceylon Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known h ...
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July 1960 Ceylonese Parliamentary Election
Snap parliamentary elections were held in Ceylon in July 1960. Background The March 1960 Sri Lankan parliamentary election, March 1960 election had left neither of Ceylon's two major parties with a majority, so another election was inevitable. The Sri Lanka Freedom Party, which had been in disarray since the murder of its leader Solomon Bandaranaike, S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike the previous year, settled on his widow, Sirimavo Bandaranaike, Sirimavo, as its new leader. She pledged to continue her husband's policies, notably the Sinhala Only Act, and to proceed with repatriation of the Sri Lanka Tamils (Indian origin), estate Tamils to India. However, she promised to reach a compromise with the Federal Party (Sri Lanka), Federal Party. The United National Party, led by Dudley Senanayake, refused to compromise with the Federal Party. It also differed with the SLFP over economic policy. The SLFP called for a socialist program of nationalization of both private enterprises and religiou ...
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Sri Lanka Freedom Party
The Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP; ; ) is a centre-left political party in Sri Lanka. Founded by S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike in 1951, the party was one of Sri Lanka's two main parties from the 1950s to the 2010s, serving as the main rival of the centre-right United National Party. Following a split in the late 2010s and subsequent electoral losses, the influence of the party has since diminished. The party is generally considered as having a democratic socialist or progressive economic agenda and is often associated with Sinhalese nationalist parties. The party follows a non-aligned foreign policy but has historically had close ties to socialist nations. History The Sri Lanka Freedom Party was founded in 1951, when long-standing United National Party stalwart S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike defected from the party and crossed over to the opposition with several of his other close associates. His party, the Sinhala Maha Sabha, was dissolved and the Sri Lanka Freedom Party was inaug ...
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March 1960 Ceylonese Parliamentary Election
Parliamentary elections were held in Ceylon on 19 March 1960. Background By 1960, Ceylon's governing Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (MEP) coalition was falling apart. The Marxist parties that were junior partners of the coalition had broken with the dominant Sri Lanka Freedom Party over the issue of paddy lands. The Marxist Viplavakari Lanka Sama Samaja Party formed a new party that took the name MEP. The SLFP itself had been torn by an internal power struggle since the death of its leader, S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike, the previous year. Both the United National Party and the SLFP campaigned on a strongly anti-Tamil line, promising to repatriate the estate Tamils to India, and implement the Sinhala Only Act. Results Dudley Senanayake and the UNP obtained a plurality of seats, but without a majority could not form a stable government. This led to the July 1960 elections.
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United National Party
The United National Party (UNP; , ) is a Centre-right politics, centre-right political party in Sri Lanka. Founded in 1946, the party was one of Sri Lanka's two main parties for several decades. The UNP has served as the country's ruling party, or as part of its governing coalition, during the periods 1947–1956, 1965–1970, 1977–1994, 2001–2004, 2015–2019, and 2022–2024. After suffering a major split in the lead-up to the 2020 Sri Lankan parliamentary election, 2020 parliamentary elections, the UNP suffered a major collapse, with the party only winning one Appointed and National List Member of Parliament, national list seat and losing all its votes to the new Samagi Jana Balawegaya alliance. Currently, the UNP is a notable Third party (politics), third party in Sri Lankan politics. The UNP has been led by former President Ranil Wickremesinghe since 1994. The party is a member of the International Democracy Union. History Formation (1946–1952) The UNP was founded b ...
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1956 Ceylonese Parliamentary Election
Parliamentary elections were held in Ceylon in 1956. They were a watershed in the country's political history, and were the first elections fought to realistically challenge the ruling United National Party. Former Leader of the House S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike crossed over to the opposition to form the Sri Lanka Freedom Party to launch his bid for Prime Minister. The party won the election with 51 seats, winning a majority in the house. Background The UNP government of John Kotelawala had been rapidly losing steam. It faced widespread criticism over Ceylon's poor economic performance. Meanwhile, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party now championed a popular socialist platform, calling for English to be replaced by Sinhala as the island's official language. The UNP resisted this out of deference to Ceylon's Tamil minority, but changed its position in early 1956. This only served to cost the UNP its Tamil support while gaining it little among the Sinhalese. The Lanka Sama Samaja P ...
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1952 Ceylonese Parliamentary Election
Parliamentary elections were held in Ceylon in 1952. It is notable for being the second and final election overseen and administered by the Department of Parliamentary Elections before its merger in 1955. Background Prime Minister D.S. Senanayake died in March 1952, and was succeeded by his son, Dudley. The national wave of mourning for Ceylon's first prime minister greatly boosted the UNP's fortunes. The 1952 election was the first contested by the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, which had broken away from the UNP on a platform of Sinhala nationalism, and the Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (Federal Party), which split from the All Ceylon Tamil Congress over joining the UNP government. Results Because the estate Tamils had been stripped of their citizenship by the Senanayake government, the Ceylon Indian Congress, which most of them had supported, was eliminated from Parliament and the Lanka Sama Samaja Party lost seats. The UNP won a majority, mainly at the cost of the CIC and t ...
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Lanka Sama Samaja Party
The Lanka Sama Samaja Party, often abbreviated as LSSP ( literally: Lanka Equal Society Party, Sinhala: ලංකා සම සමාජ පක්ෂය, Tamil: லங்கா சமசமாஜக் கட்சி), is a major Trotskyist political party in Sri Lanka. It was the first political party in Sri Lanka (then British Ceylon), having been founded in 1935 by Leslie Goonewardene, N. M. Perera, Colvin R. de Silva, Philip Gunawardena and Robert Gunawardena. The party is currently led by Tissa Vitharana. The party was founded with Leninist ideals, and is classified as a party with socialist aims. The LSSP emerged as a major political force in the Sri Lankan independence movement during the 1940s, during which time the party was forced to go underground due to its opposition to the British war effort. The party played an instrumental role in the Indian independence movement and later Quit India Movement through the Bolshevik–Leninist Party of India, Ceylon and B ...
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