The Nationalist Revolution in Ceylon

Abstract

T HIE EMERGENCE of Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike as Ceylon's first and the world's only woman Prime Minister confirms the fact that this little island nation is in the full tide of a nationalist revolution with a socialist leaning. The resurgent forces which were aroused by the late Mr. S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike, the most dynamic and socially conscious political leader in Ceylon's history, and which swept him into power in i956, asserted themselves again in the general elections in July i960. With a heavy rural vote the democratic socialist Sri Lanka Freedom Party (S.L.F.P.), under the leadership of Mr. Bandaranaike's wife, captured 75 out of the i5i elected seats in Parliament. With six nominated MPs and six new recruits from the ranks of the uncomnnitted, Mrs. Bandaranaike has an absolute majority in Parliament and faces the country with even greater confidence than her late husband did in i956. Thus she now has an opportunity to provide Ceylon with a reasonably stable government which it has lacked for so long and to give a new constructive meaning to independence and nationalism. The outcome of Mrs. Bandaranaike's experiment cannot yet be foreseen; predictions range from the most gloomy to the most optimistic but it seems certain that the efforts of the new Government will be watched with great interest at home and abroad. If Ceylon under the new regime fails to find some means of dealing with its great political and human problems in a genuinely democratic way, it will mean yet another setback for parliamentary processes and freedom in Asia. In the past few years has suffered severe blows in the very heartland of Asian nationalism in Southeast Asia and various forms of authoritarianism have superseded democratic regimes in most of the newly independent countries. It is not surprising, therefore, that the establishment of a mild military dictatorship in Pakistan, a caretaker military government in Burma and of a guided democracy in Indonesia has made freedomloving people turn anxious eyes on Ceylon and India. While India has steadfastly held to the path of democratic development and achieved notable progress, in Ceylon there have been some dangerous signs of political instability and racial tensions, labour unrest and economic stagnation. The imposition of emergency rule twice in the last two years (1958-ig9g) was perhaps symptomatic of these trends. Yet the recent unrest and upheavals are only outward manifestations of Ceylon's resurgent nationalism. In few other countries in Asia are conditions more favourable to a flourishing democratic system than in Ceylon. Ceylon