The General Election of 1970 saw Mrs Bandaranaike sweep to power at the helm of the United Front consisting of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, the Lanka Sama Samaja Party and the Communist Party, which collectively secured a two third majority in Parliament. The SLFP won 91 seats, while the LSSP secured 19 and the
Mrs Bandaranaike in consolidating and building support while in opposition, signed a Common Agreement bringing together the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, the Lanka Sama Samaja Party and the Communist Party under one umbrella. Aimed at carrying out the progressive policies introduced by Prime Minister S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike in 1956, this troika worked together
Mrs Bandaranaikeled protest campaigns against the Dudley-Chelvanayagam Pact, a portion of which entailed the implementation of the Reasonable Use of Tamil Act, which had been introduced by Prime Minister S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike in 1958 but hadn’t been implemented since. The main protest campaign started at the Vihara Maha Devi Park in Colombo at
Following the defeat of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party at the General Elections of 1965, Mrs Bandaranaike, who won the Attanagalla seat by a majority of 16, 500 votes, was to sit in the opposition. She accomplished another first by becoming the first woman Leader of the Opposition and was to hold that position for
The Sri Lanka Freedom Party secured 41 seats in Parliament while the Coalition that Mrs Bandaranaike headed held a total of 55 seats, which was insufficient to form a Government, resulting in the United National Party (UNP) with 61 seats, forming the next Government under Mr Dudley Senanayake.
Mrs Bandaranaike’s government lost a vote in Parliament in December 1964 which warranted the dissolution of Parliament and the calling for General Elections. Months earlier at the beginning of 1964 she had brought into the government left-wing parties in a bid to curb political instability created by trade unions and bearing in mind the attempted
Mrs Bandaranaike reached agreement with Indian Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri on the settlement of the citizenship status of almost a million person of Indian origin who had been brought to work on the tea and rubber plantations in British colonial times. During her visit to India in October 1964, the Sirima-Shastri Pact was signed,
A project aimed at surveying the Mahaweli River and the dry zones of the Northern and Central provinces had been commissioned by Mrs Bandaranaike’s Government in 1961. The plan of operation signed on 12 October 1964 between Ceylon, the United Nations Special Fund and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) saw the commencement of work
Yugoslav leader Marshall Josep Broz Tito relinquished leadership of the Non Aligned Movement to Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser in Cairo at the second summit. Addressing the plenary session, Mrs Bandaranaike stressed the need for the evolution of a new definition and function of non-alignment in keeping with the rapidly changing global situation. She noted
Mrs Bandaranaike led the Ceylonese delegation to the 13th Commonwealth Prime Ministers’ Conference convened by British Prime Minister Sir Alec Douglas-Home in London. Reaffirming its opposition to apartheid, the Conference which brought together Prime Ministers Menzies of Australia, Pearson of Canada and President Nkrumah of Ghana among others, expressed concern over the situation in Cyprus
The passing away of Jawaharlal Nehru, following a heart attack, came as a shock to India and to the entire non-aligned world which had come to rely on his wise counsel and guidance. Mrs Bandaranaike, having associated with him during her own tenure with wide ranging relations built through bilateral ties, the NAM and the
Chinese Premier Chou En-lai visited Ceylon on a four-day tour which marked his second visit to the country. The first visit had been at the invitation of Prime Minister S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike in 1957 when the two countries established diplomatic relations and Premier Chou En-lai had been a Special Guest at the Independence
Vehemently opposed to apartheid in South Africa, Mrs Bandaranaike, speaking in the Senate, noted that “we have subscribed to the imposition of economic sanctions against South Africa, although we have said that for such sanctions to be effective all nations of the world must unite in the applying of these sanctions and it would be
Given the strides thatMrs Bandaranaike had taken in the sphere of international relations, she saw it appropriate to strengthen ties with Pakistan and hosted the President of Pakistan Field Marshal Muhammad Ayub Khan. During his state visit, President Khan addressed Parliament.
In November 1963, the news of the assassination of US President John F. Kennedy reached Mrs Bandaranaike. The two leaders had communicated extensively since assuming office within months of each other. Writing to Mrs Jacqueline Kennedy, Mrs Bandaranaike noted that “As a wife and a mother who herself lost her husband in such tragic circumstances,
In implementing an effective policy of dealing with both super powers in the Cold War, Mrs Bandaranaike undertook a State Visit to Moscow, with the aim of strengthening relations between the two countries and continuing the international efforts she had undertaken in the short span of three years since her election. As the first Sri
Mrs Bandaranaike’s tour took her to Poland, a country with which Prime Minister S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike had established diplomatic relations in 1957. In Warsaw, at the invitation of Prime Minister Josef Cyrankiewcz, she was feted, especially by the Polish Women’s League which drew inspiration from her achievements. During her brief visit she also
Arriving in Prague, Mrs Bandaranaike conferred with her Czech counterpart Jozef Lenart and with President Antonin Novotny, focusing their attention on issues concerning solidarity, especially with nations that were still struggling under colonial domination. Trade and commerce featured in their discussions with Ceylonese exports being promoted in the Czech market.
With Ceylon being held in high esteem by the Egyptian people owing to the stand of the country during the tripartite aggression against Egypt in 1956, which was before the establishment of diplomatic relations, Mrs Bandaranaike was accorded a warm welcome by President Gamel Abdel Nasser and Prime Minister Ali Sabry. Disarmament and tension in
Given her determination to harness support against nuclear testing, Mrs Bandaranaike welcomed the initialling of the Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty by Britain, the United States of America and the Soviet Union. Issuing a message on this occasion she stated “This is indeed an important first step on the road to world peace. If the present Treaty,
