Sri Lankan national referendum, 1982
Encyclopedia
The 1982 Sri Lankan national referendum took place on December 22, 1982, giving the people of Sri Lanka
the option to extend the life of parliament
by 6 years. It was the first and so far only national referendum
to be held in Sri Lanka. The referendum was called for by President J. R. Jayawardene, who had been elected
to a fresh six year term as President
in October 1982. With the life of the current parliament due to expire in August 1983, Jayawardene faced the possibility of his ruling United National Party
losing its supermajority
in parliament if regular general election
s were held. He therefore proposed a referendum to extend the life of parliament, with its constituents unchanged, thereby permitting the United National Party to maintain its two-thirds parliamentary majority.
President Jayawardene claimed that he needed the existing parliament to complete work on the programs he had begun, hence the referendum to extend its term. Opposition parties saw the referendum as a dictatorial
move by Jayawardene, strongly opposed the referendum and campaigned to defeat the proposed extension of parliament via referendum.
At the polls, voters were presented the proposal to extend the life of parliament, and asked to vote either “yes” or “no”. Over 54 percent of votes cast were in favor on extending the life of parliament. The existing parliament was therefore extended for six further years beginning in August 1983, and served out its mandate until the 1989 general elections
.
, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party
, or coalitions headed by one of the two parties. The Sri Lanka Freedom Party, led by Sirimavo Bandaranaike
, won a 5 year term in the 1970 General Elections
, obtaining over the two-thirds supermajority in Parliament required pass constitutional amendments. Bandaranaike proceeded to change the Constitution of Sri Lanka
in 1972, and in the process unilaterally extended the life of parliament by 2 years, to 1977.
By 1977 the SLFP government was deeply unpopular, and the United National Party headed by J. R. Jayawardene won the 1977 general election by a large majority, obtaining 140 of the 168 seats in parliament. The SLFP won just 8 seats, to become only the third largest party in parliament, behind the Tamil United Liberation Front
, who won 18 seats based entirely on votes from the Tamil majority regions in the north and east of Sri Lanka. Following the victory, the UNP used their two-thirds majority in Parliament to create a new constitution, which added the position of Executive President
, introduced proportional representation
to elect members to Parliament, which was to be expanded to 225 members, and extended of the terms of elected Presidents and Parliament to 6 years from the date of the election. In 1978 Jayewardene named himself President of Sri Lanka, and promised a pro-Western foreign policy and economic development through the introduction of a system of free enterprise
.
Subsequently, the first direct vote to elect a President of Sri Lanka was held in 1982, with President Jayewardene obtaining 52% of votes cast. Former Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike was stripped of her civic rights in 1980 on charges of abuse of power during her term as Prime Minister, and was unable to contest in the election. Hence the little known Hector Kobbekaduwa was put forward as the candidate of the SLFP, and he obtained 35% of the popular vote. This marked the 1st time in 30 years that an incumbent party had won a national election in Sri Lanka. The last time this happened was when the United National Party, led by D. S. Senanayake, won the 1952 general election
.
As executive President, Jayawadene possessed vast power in determining government
policy. However he needed the approval of parliament to pass budgets and major economic decisions. Therefore his margin of victory posed a problem to the UNP. With general election upcoming under the new constitution, they knew that a similar result to the presidential election will see the party lose the supermajority
it held in parliament. By 1982, as a result of a number of by elections, the UNP held 142 of the parliament’s 168 seats, well above the two-thirds majority required to pass constitutional changes. Jayawardene admitted to the media that the Sri Lanka Freedom Party could win at least 60 seats in elections to the expanded parliament, a possibility he termed disastrous to the country.
, in a 4-3 majority ruling. The ruling stated "the majority of this court is of the view that the period of the first Parliament may be extended as proposed (if) passed with the special majority (in parliament) required by Article 83 and submitted to the people at a referendum."
The bill was subsequently presented to parliament on November 5, 1982. All members of the UNP who were present in the house voted in favor of the bill. As did two members of the SLFP, Maithripala Senanayake
and Halim Ishak. Senanayake told the house that he had no moral right to oppose the amendment as he had previously supported the extension of parliament by two years in 1975. Appapillai Amirthalingam
, leader of the main opposition Tamil United Liberation Front
told parliament that his party would oppose the bill, but all members of the TULF abstained from voting. The only votes against the bill were cast by Lakshman Jayakody
, Anura Bandaranaike
and Ananda Dassanayake of the SLFP and Sarath Muttetuwegama, a member of the Communist Party
. The bill was passed by well over the required two-thirds majority, with 142 votes in favor and four votes against.
notification on November 14, 1982 requesting Chandrananada de Silva, the Commissioner of Elections, to hold a nationwide referendum on December 22, 1982. At the polling booths, voters were to be presented with a ballot paper containing the following question,
Voters were then asked to vote either “yes” or “no”. A “yes” vote was signified by lamp, and a “no” vote by a pot. According to the Referendum Act No 7 of 1981, which was certified by Jayawardene on February 27, 1981, in order of the referendum to pass it had to meet one of two conditions.
Claiming that sections of the SLFP conspired to assassinate him, leaders of the SLFP and others soon after the Presidential election and take power in a coup, Jayawardene had imposed a state of emergency over the country after the presidential election in October. Even though there were no signed of trouble, Jayawardene did not lift the state of emergency. Therefore the December referendum became the first vote in Sri Lanka to take place while the country was under the state of emergency.
The opposition parties campaigned strongly to defeat the referendum. Although former Prime Minister Srimavo Bandaranaike had been stripped of her civic rights, she was allowed to lead the opposition campaign. She addressed five or six meetings a day, drawing large crowds. She was joined by a variety of opposition parties, including Tamil parties and communist parties. Although they differed in opinion in most other issues, they joined together in the lead up to the referendum.
Jayawardene too campaigned vigorously in support of the referendum, arguing that it was sometimes necessary to engage in what may seem to be undemocratic measures in the larger interests of the nation. He also warned that holding parliamentary election would give increased power to people he termed "Naxalites", a band of Communist extremists who preach violent revolution. He also attempted to pass the referendum as a vote of confidence on the right wing economic policies of his government.
The referendum was held on December 22, 1982. Turnout at the election was 70.82 percent, out of a total of 8,145,015 Sri Lankans eligible to vote. Over 54 percent voted in favor of extending the life of parliament, an increase from the 52 percent Jayawardene obtained at the presidential election 3 months before. This was in spite of a large majority of voters in Tamil majority areas of the country voting against the referendum. In total, majorities in the 120 of the 168 electorates voted in favor of the referendum.
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
the option to extend the life of parliament
Parliament of Sri Lanka
The Parliament of Sri Lanka is the 225-member unicameral legislature of Sri Lanka. The members of Parliament are elected by proportional representation for six-year terms, with universal suffrage. Parliament reserves the power to make all laws...
by 6 years. It was the first and so far only national referendum
Referendum
A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This may result in the adoption of a new constitution, a constitutional amendment, a law, the recall of an elected official or simply a specific government policy. It is a form of...
to be held in Sri Lanka. The referendum was called for by President J. R. Jayawardene, who had been elected
Sri Lankan presidential election, 1982
The Sri Lankan presidential election of 1982 was the first presidential election of Sri Lanka. Nominations were accepted on 17 September 1982, and the election was held on 20 October 1982. Electoral participation was 81.06%. Incumbent president J. R. Jayewardene of the governing United National...
to a fresh six year term as President
President of Sri Lanka
The President of Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is the elected head of state and the head of government. The President is a dominant political figure in Sri Lanka. The office was created in 1978 but has grown so powerful there have been calls to restrict or even eliminate its power...
in October 1982. With the life of the current parliament due to expire in August 1983, Jayawardene faced the possibility of his ruling United National Party
United National Party
The United National Party, often referred to as the UNP ), , is a political party in Sri Lanka. It currently is the main opposition party in Sri Lanka and is headed by Ranil Wickremesinghe...
losing its supermajority
Supermajority
A supermajority or a qualified majority is a requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level or type of support which exceeds a simple majority . In some jurisdictions, for example, parliamentary procedure requires that any action that may alter the rights of the minority has a supermajority...
in parliament if regular general election
General election
In a parliamentary political system, a general election is an election in which all or most members of a given political body are chosen. The term is usually used to refer to elections held for a nation's primary legislative body, as distinguished from by-elections and local elections.The term...
s were held. He therefore proposed a referendum to extend the life of parliament, with its constituents unchanged, thereby permitting the United National Party to maintain its two-thirds parliamentary majority.
President Jayawardene claimed that he needed the existing parliament to complete work on the programs he had begun, hence the referendum to extend its term. Opposition parties saw the referendum as a dictatorial
Dictator
A dictator is a ruler who assumes sole and absolute power but without hereditary ascension such as an absolute monarch. When other states call the head of state of a particular state a dictator, that state is called a dictatorship...
move by Jayawardene, strongly opposed the referendum and campaigned to defeat the proposed extension of parliament via referendum.
At the polls, voters were presented the proposal to extend the life of parliament, and asked to vote either “yes” or “no”. Over 54 percent of votes cast were in favor on extending the life of parliament. The existing parliament was therefore extended for six further years beginning in August 1983, and served out its mandate until the 1989 general elections
Sri Lankan parliamentary election, 1989
Sri Lanka had not had a parliamentary election since 1977. The elections that should normally have been held by 1983 had been cancelled by the 1982 referendum.President Ranasinghe Premadasa called the election for February 15.-Electoral District:...
.
Background
Since independence, Sri Lanka has been continuously led by either the United National PartyUnited National Party
The United National Party, often referred to as the UNP ), , is a political party in Sri Lanka. It currently is the main opposition party in Sri Lanka and is headed by Ranil Wickremesinghe...
, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party
Sri Lanka Freedom Party
The Sri Lanka Freedom Party is one of the major political parties in Sri Lanka. It was founded by S.W.R.D Bandaranaike in 1951 and, since then, has been one of the two largest parties in the Sri Lankan political arena. It first came to power in 1956 and since then has been the predominant party in...
, or coalitions headed by one of the two parties. The Sri Lanka Freedom Party, led by Sirimavo Bandaranaike
Sirimavo Bandaranaike
Sirimavo Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike was a Sri Lankan politician and the world's first female head of government...
, won a 5 year term in the 1970 General Elections
Sri Lankan parliamentary election, 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...
, obtaining over the two-thirds supermajority in Parliament required pass constitutional amendments. Bandaranaike proceeded to change the Constitution of Sri Lanka
Constitution of Sri Lanka
The Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka has been the constitution of the island nation of Sri Lanka since its original promulgation by the National State Assembly on 7 September 1978. It is Sri Lanka's second republican constitution, and its third constitution since the...
in 1972, and in the process unilaterally extended the life of parliament by 2 years, to 1977.
By 1977 the SLFP government was deeply unpopular, and the United National Party headed by J. R. Jayawardene won the 1977 general election by a large majority, obtaining 140 of the 168 seats in parliament. The SLFP won just 8 seats, to become only the third largest party in parliament, behind the Tamil United Liberation Front
Tamil United Liberation Front
The Tamil United Liberation Front is a political party in Sri Lanka which seeks independence for the Tamil-populated areas of Sri Lanka.-Formation:...
, who won 18 seats based entirely on votes from the Tamil majority regions in the north and east of Sri Lanka. Following the victory, the UNP used their two-thirds majority in Parliament to create a new constitution, which added the position of Executive President
President of Sri Lanka
The President of Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is the elected head of state and the head of government. The President is a dominant political figure in Sri Lanka. The office was created in 1978 but has grown so powerful there have been calls to restrict or even eliminate its power...
, introduced proportional representation
Proportional representation
Proportional representation is a concept in voting systems used to elect an assembly or council. PR means that the number of seats won by a party or group of candidates is proportionate to the number of votes received. For example, under a PR voting system if 30% of voters support a particular...
to elect members to Parliament, which was to be expanded to 225 members, and extended of the terms of elected Presidents and Parliament to 6 years from the date of the election. In 1978 Jayewardene named himself President of Sri Lanka, and promised a pro-Western foreign policy and economic development through the introduction of a system of free enterprise
Free enterprise
-Transport:* Free Enterprise I, a ferry in service with European Ferries between 1962 and 1980.* Free Enterprise II, a ferry in service with European Ferries between 1965 and 1982....
.
Subsequently, the first direct vote to elect a President of Sri Lanka was held in 1982, with President Jayewardene obtaining 52% of votes cast. Former Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike was stripped of her civic rights in 1980 on charges of abuse of power during her term as Prime Minister, and was unable to contest in the election. Hence the little known Hector Kobbekaduwa was put forward as the candidate of the SLFP, and he obtained 35% of the popular vote. This marked the 1st time in 30 years that an incumbent party had won a national election in Sri Lanka. The last time this happened was when the United National Party, led by D. S. Senanayake, won the 1952 general election
Sri Lankan parliamentary election, 1952
-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....
.
As executive President, Jayawadene possessed vast power in determining government
Politics of Sri Lanka
Politics of Sri Lanka takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Sri Lanka is both head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both...
policy. However he needed the approval of parliament to pass budgets and major economic decisions. Therefore his margin of victory posed a problem to the UNP. With general election upcoming under the new constitution, they knew that a similar result to the presidential election will see the party lose the supermajority
Supermajority
A supermajority or a qualified majority is a requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level or type of support which exceeds a simple majority . In some jurisdictions, for example, parliamentary procedure requires that any action that may alter the rights of the minority has a supermajority...
it held in parliament. By 1982, as a result of a number of by elections, the UNP held 142 of the parliament’s 168 seats, well above the two-thirds majority required to pass constitutional changes. Jayawardene admitted to the media that the Sri Lanka Freedom Party could win at least 60 seats in elections to the expanded parliament, a possibility he termed disastrous to the country.
Initial steps
In order to maintain the parliamentary supermajority of the UNP, Jayawardene decided to extend the life of parliament without holding direct elections. In order to do this, the government was required to obtain support from over two-thirds of parliament, and Jaywardene also decided to have the extension approved by the people in a national referendum. As the first step, the government presented the 4th amendment to the constitution, which proposed to extend the life of the parliament by six years, to August 4, 1989. The bill was found to be constitutional by the Supreme CourtSupreme Court of Sri Lanka
The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka is the highest court of the nation of Sri Lanka. The Supreme Court is the highest and final judicial instance of record and is empowered to exercise its powers, subject to the provisions of the Constitution. The Court has ultimate appellate jurisdiction in...
, in a 4-3 majority ruling. The ruling stated "the majority of this court is of the view that the period of the first Parliament may be extended as proposed (if) passed with the special majority (in parliament) required by Article 83 and submitted to the people at a referendum."
The bill was subsequently presented to parliament on November 5, 1982. All members of the UNP who were present in the house voted in favor of the bill. As did two members of the SLFP, Maithripala Senanayake
Maithripala Senanayake
Maithripala Senanayake was a Sri Lankan politician and Governor of the North-Central province. He first studied at St. Joseph's College, Anuradhapura then at St...
and Halim Ishak. Senanayake told the house that he had no moral right to oppose the amendment as he had previously supported the extension of parliament by two years in 1975. Appapillai Amirthalingam
Appapillai Amirthalingam
Appapillai Amirthalingam was a leading Sri Lankan Tamil politician, Member of Parliament and Leader of the Opposition. Amirthalingam was assassinated by the Tamil Tigers. -Early life:...
, leader of the main opposition Tamil United Liberation Front
Tamil United Liberation Front
The Tamil United Liberation Front is a political party in Sri Lanka which seeks independence for the Tamil-populated areas of Sri Lanka.-Formation:...
told parliament that his party would oppose the bill, but all members of the TULF abstained from voting. The only votes against the bill were cast by Lakshman Jayakody
Lakshman Jayakody
Lakshman Jayakody a onetime MP was a SLFP stalwart and the Minister of Cultural and Religious Affairs in the Sri Lankan Cabinet from 1994 to 2000. He was educated at Trinity College Kandy with a brief spell at Ananda College, Colombo...
, Anura Bandaranaike
Anura Bandaranaike
Anura Priyadarshi Solomon Dias Bandaranaike was a Sri Lankan politician, served as Speaker , and in several cabinet ministries as Foreign Minister briefly in 2005, Minister of Higher Education , Minister of Tourism , Minister of National Heritage and Leader of the Opposition...
and Ananda Dassanayake of the SLFP and Sarath Muttetuwegama, a member of the Communist Party
Communist Party of Sri Lanka
The Communist Party of Sri Lanka is a communist political party in Sri Lanka. At the last legislative elections, on 2 April 2004, the party was part of the United People's Freedom Alliance that won 45.6% of the popular vote and 105 out of 225 seats....
. The bill was passed by well over the required two-thirds majority, with 142 votes in favor and four votes against.
Referendum
Following the approval of the bill by parliament, President Jayawardene issued a gazetteGazette
A gazette is a public journal, a newspaper of record, or simply a newspaper.In English- and French-speaking countries, newspaper publishers have applied the name Gazette since the 17th century; today, numerous weekly and daily newspapers bear the name The Gazette.Gazette is a loanword from the...
notification on November 14, 1982 requesting Chandrananada de Silva, the Commissioner of Elections, to hold a nationwide referendum on December 22, 1982. At the polling booths, voters were to be presented with a ballot paper containing the following question,
Voters were then asked to vote either “yes” or “no”. A “yes” vote was signified by lamp, and a “no” vote by a pot. According to the Referendum Act No 7 of 1981, which was certified by Jayawardene on February 27, 1981, in order of the referendum to pass it had to meet one of two conditions.
- If more than two-thirds of registered voters cast their vote at the referendum, a simple majority had to vote “yes”
- If less than two-thirds of registered voters cast their vote at the referendum, in addition to a simple majority voting “yes”, at least one-third of all registered voters had to vote “yes”.
Claiming that sections of the SLFP conspired to assassinate him, leaders of the SLFP and others soon after the Presidential election and take power in a coup, Jayawardene had imposed a state of emergency over the country after the presidential election in October. Even though there were no signed of trouble, Jayawardene did not lift the state of emergency. Therefore the December referendum became the first vote in Sri Lanka to take place while the country was under the state of emergency.
The opposition parties campaigned strongly to defeat the referendum. Although former Prime Minister Srimavo Bandaranaike had been stripped of her civic rights, she was allowed to lead the opposition campaign. She addressed five or six meetings a day, drawing large crowds. She was joined by a variety of opposition parties, including Tamil parties and communist parties. Although they differed in opinion in most other issues, they joined together in the lead up to the referendum.
Jayawardene too campaigned vigorously in support of the referendum, arguing that it was sometimes necessary to engage in what may seem to be undemocratic measures in the larger interests of the nation. He also warned that holding parliamentary election would give increased power to people he termed "Naxalites", a band of Communist extremists who preach violent revolution. He also attempted to pass the referendum as a vote of confidence on the right wing economic policies of his government.
The referendum was held on December 22, 1982. Turnout at the election was 70.82 percent, out of a total of 8,145,015 Sri Lankans eligible to vote. Over 54 percent voted in favor of extending the life of parliament, an increase from the 52 percent Jayawardene obtained at the presidential election 3 months before. This was in spite of a large majority of voters in Tamil majority areas of the country voting against the referendum. In total, majorities in the 120 of the 168 electorates voted in favor of the referendum.