July 1960 Ceylonese parliamentary election

General elections were held in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) in July 1960.

5th Ceylonese parliamentary election

20 July 1960
151 seats to the House of Representatives of Ceylon 76 seats were needed for a majority
Leader Sirimavo Bandaranaike Dudley Senanayake Party Sri Lanka Freedom Party United National Party Leader since 1960 1957 Leader's seat n/a Dedigama Last election 46 Seats, 21.28% 50 Seats, 29.89% Seats won 75 30 Seat change 29 20 Popular vote 1,022,171 1,144,166 Percentage 33.22% 37.19%
Prime Minister before election Dudley Senanayake United National Party Prime Minister-designate Sirimavo Bandaranaike Sri Lanka Freedom Party

Background

The 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 S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike the previous year, settled on his widow, 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 estate Tamils to India. However, she promised to reach a compromise with the 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 religious schools; the UNP preferred to leave both in private hands.

Results

The SLFP obtained a bare majority, despite getting a lower share of the popular vote than the UNP, and Mrs. Bandaranaike became prime minister.

Summary of the July 1960 Ceylonese parliamentary election[1]

Party		Candidates	Votes	%	Seats
	Sri Lanka Freedom Party	98	1,022,171	33.22%	75
	United National Party	128	1,144,166	37.19%	30
	Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi	21	213,733	6.95%	16
	Lanka Sama Samaja Party	21	224,995	7.31%	12
	Communist Party of Ceylon	7	90,219	2.93%	4
	Mahajana Eksath Peramuna	55	106,816	3.47%	3
	Lanka Democratic Party	6	30,207	0.98%	2
	National Liberation Front	2	14,030	0.46%	2
	All Ceylon Tamil Congress	10	46,804	1.52%	1
	Others	45	183,728	5.97	6
Valid Votes		393	3,076,869	100.00%	151
Rejected Votes
Total Votes Polled
Total Electors Polled[lower-alpha 1]
Registered Electors			3,724,507
Turnout

Notes

1. Total electors polled is less than total votes polled due to multiple-member seats where electors can cast more than one vote.

References

1. "Table 35 Parliament Election (1960 July)". Sri Lanka Statistics. 10 February 2009.

• "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1960-07-20" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-09-24.
• "1960 July General Election Results". LankaNewspapers.com. Archived from the original on 2012-03-10.
• "Table 35 Parliament Election (1960 July)". Sri Lanka Statistics. 10 February 2009.
• Rajasingham, K. T. (1 December 2001). "Chapter 17: Assassination of Bandaranaike". Sri Lanka: The Untold Story. Asia Times.
• Rajasingham, K. T. (8 December 2001). "Chapter 18: Srimavo - weeping arrogance". Sri Lanka: The Untold Story. Asia Times.
• DeVotta, Neil (2004). Blowback: Linguistic Nationalism, Institutional Decay, and Ethnic Conflict in Sri Lanka. Stanford University Press. p. 123. ISBN 9780804749244.