Sri Lanka: The bandaranaikes in the Island's politics and public life

Abstract

The 100th anniversary of the birth of S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike, Sri Lanka's fourth Prime Minister after independence, fell on 8 January 1999. The centenary of his birth occurred 40 years after his death, in 1959, at the hands of an assassin. During the 40 years between his assassination and the celebration of the centenary of his birth the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, which he founded in 1951, has been in power for 15 years, generally as the core of a centre-left coalition. Uniquely, the SLFP remains essentially a family party, the party of the Bandaranaikes, and a political instrument for the perpetuation of the power and influence of that political dynasty in Sri Lankan politics. From March 1952 to date, every general election has been a contest between the United National Party and the SLFP. Since 1956 the SLFP has fought elections as part of a centre-left coalition, with an electoral arrangement with parties of the Marxist left. On every occasion, save the presidential election of 1982, a Bandaranaike has led the SLFP. The author traces the connection between the family and the party, and examines the prospects for the future.