Somaweera Chandrasiri

Somaweera Chandrasiri (11 February 1909 – 11 July 1971) was a Sinhalese poet and Ceylonese politician.[1][2]

Hon. Somaweera Chandrasiri
Portrait of Chandrasiri
Member of the Ceylon Parliament for Moratuwa
In office 1947–1952
Preceded by	seat created
Succeeded by	Meryl Fernando
Member of the Ceylon Parliament for Kesbewa
In office 1960–1971
Preceded by	seat created
Succeeded by	Dharmasena Attygalle
Personal details
Born	11 February 1909 Mampe, Ceylon
Died	11 July 1971 (aged 62)
Nationality	Sri Lankan
Political party	Sri Lanka Freedom Party
Alma mater	Prince of Wales College, Moratuwa
Profession	poet, politician

Somaweera Chandrasiri was born 11 February 1909 in Mampe. He attended Prince of Wales College, Moratuwa.[3] In 1937 he was elected to the Mampe-Kesbewa Urban Council. Although he was not a member of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP) Chandrasiri edited and published a pro-LSSP weekly newspaper Nidahasa.[4] He was arrested and jailed for contempt of court, whilst he was in jail he lodged his nomination papers for the country's first parliamentary elections.[4]

At the 1st parliamentary election, held between 23 August 1947 and 20 September 1947, Chandrasiri was elected as the LSSP candidate in the Moratuwa electorate, securing 48.15% of the total vote, 3,917 votes ahead of his nearest rival.[5] He retained the seat at the 2nd parliamentary election, held between 24 May 1952 and 30 May 1952, receiving 41.19% of the total vote.[6]

In October 1953 he split from the LSSP and was unsuccessful in his attempt to retain the seat of Moratuwa at the 3rd parliamentary election, held between 5 April 1956 and 10 April 1956, where he ran as an independent candidate. He polled 6,559 votes (16.26% of the total vote), 12,970 votes behind the successful LSSP candidate, Meryl Fernando.[7]

Candrasiri contested the newly created Kesbewa electorate at the 4th parliamentary elections in March 1960, where he received 11,115 votes (38.58% of the total vote) and was duly elected.[8] He subsequently joined the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), and ran as the party's candidate in the July 1960 parliamentary election, where he polled 45.37% of the total vote, retaining the seat.[9] At the 6th parliamentary election, held on 22 March 1965, he increased his winning margin to 57.87% of the total vote, over 7,000 votes clear of his nearest rival.[10]

At the 7th parliamentary election in May 1970 he polled 32,332 votes (64.37% of the total vote) and 14,606 votes in front of his United National Party rival, Dharmasena Attygalle.[11] In 1970 he was appointed the Deputy Minister of Cultural Affairs in the Second Sirimavo Bandaranaike cabinet.

In September 1970 a Tamil militant, Pon Sivakumaran, attempted to assassinate Chandrasiri by placing a time bomb under Chandrasiri's car when he was visiting Urumpirai Hindu College however the bomb exploded whilst nobody was in the car.[12][13][14]

References

1. "Hon. Chandrasiri, Somaweera, M.P." Parliament of Sri Lanka. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
2. Members of the Legislatures of Ceylon: 1931-1972. Library, National State Assembly. 1972. p. 44.
3. Abeynaike, H. B. W.; Ameratunga, H. P. (1970). Parliament of Ceylon, 1970. Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited. p. 59.
4. Wakkawita, Wijitha (4 October 2005). "Politicians of yesteryear". The Island. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
5. "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1947" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
6. "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1952" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
7. "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1956" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
8. "Result of Parliamentary General Election March 1960" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
9. "Result of Parliamentary General Election July 1960" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
10. "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1965" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
11. "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1970" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
12. Heynes, Stephen (2016). The Bleeding Island: Scars and Wounds. Partridge India. ISBN 978-1-4828-7479-2.
13. Imtiyaz, A. R. M. (2008). "Ethnic Conflict in Sri Lanka: The Dilemma of Building a Unitary State". In Chatterji, Manas; Jain, B. M. (eds.). Conflict and Peace in South Asia. Emerald Group Publishing. p. 140. ISBN 978-0-4445-3176-6.
14. Kingsbury, Damien (2012). Sri Lanka and the Responsibility to Protect: Politics, Ethnicity and Genocide. Routledge. p. 65. ISBN 978-0-415-58884-3.