Moratuwa Electoral District Explained

Moratuwa electoral district was an electoral district of Sri Lanka between August 1947 and February 1989. The district was named after the city of Moratuwa in Colombo District, Western Province. The 1978 Constitution of Sri Lanka introduced the proportional representation electoral system for electing members of Parliament. The existing 160 mainly single-member electoral districts were replaced with 22 multi-member electoral districts.^[1] Moratuwa electoral district was replaced by the Colombo multi-member electoral district at the 1989 general elections, the first under the PR system, though Moratuwa continues to be a polling division of the multi-member electoral district.

Members of Parliament

Key

	Member	Party	Term
1947	Somaweera Chandrasiri	LSSP	1947-1952
1952	Somaweera Chandrasiri		1952-1956
1956	T. W. Merril Fernando		1956-1960
1960	M. Ruskin Fernando	UNP	1960-1960
1960	T. W. Merril Fernando	LSSP	1960-1965
1965	M. Ruskin Fernando	UNP	1965-1970
1970	Wimalasiri de Mel	LSSP	1970-1977
1977	Tyronne Fernando	UNP	1977-1989

Elections

1947 Parliamentary General Election

Results of the 1st parliamentary election held between 23 August 1947 and 20 September 1947 for the district:^[2]

align=left width="180"	Candidate!	align=left width="180"	Party!	align=left width="120"	Symbol!	align=left width="60"	Votes!	align=left width="60"	%
Somaweera Chandrasiri		Hand	13,464	48.15%
T. Amarasuriya		Chair	9,547	33.58
Darrel Peiris		Lamp	3,523	12.39
Watson Fernando		Star	722	2.54
A. C. W. Peiris		Spoon	494	1.74
Gilbert Perera		Elephant	210	0.74
align=left colspan=3	Valid Votes	27,960	98.36
align=left colspan=3	Rejected Votes	467	1.64
align=left colspan=3	Total Polled	28,427	100.00
align=left colspan=3	Registered Electors	57,723
align=left colspan=4	Turnout	49.25

1952 Parliamentary General Election

Results of the 2nd parliamentary election held between 24 May 1952 and 30 May 1952 for the district:^[3]

align=left width="180"	Candidate!	align=left width="180"	Party!	align=left width="120"	Symbol!	align=left width="60"	Votes!	align=left width="60"	%
Somaweera Chandrasiri		Elephant	16,125	40.75
Jermyn G. Fernando		Hand	12,741	32.20
D. D. Abeysinghe		Star	10,283	25.99
align=left colspan=3	Valid Votes	39,149	98.65
align=left colspan=3	Rejected Votes	417	1.05
align=left colspan=3	Total Polled	39,566	100.00
align=left colspan=3	Registered Electors	55,090
align=left colspan=4	Turnout	71.82

1956 Parliamentary General Election

Results of the 3rd parliamentary election held between 5 April 1956 and 10 April 1956 for the district:^[4]

align=left width="180"	Candidate!	align=left width="180"	Party!	align=left width="120"	Symbol!	align=left width="60"	Votes!	align=left width="60"	%
Meryl Fernando		Key	19,529	48.20
H. E. P. de Mel	United National Party	Elephant	11,811	29.15
Somaweera Chandrasiri	Independent	Flower	6,559	16.19
M. Vincent Perera		Aeroplane	2,267	5.60
M. S. Oliver Stembo		Chair	166	0.41
align=left colspan=3	Valid Votes	40,332	99.51
align=left colspan=3	Rejected Votes	187	0.49
align=left colspan=3	Total Polled	40,519	100.00
align=left colspan=3	Registered Electors	60,395
align=left colspan=4	Turnout	67.09

1960 (March) Parliamentary General Election

Results of the 4th parliamentary election held on 19 March 1960 for the district:^[5]

align=left width="190"	Candidate!	align=left width="180"	Party!	align=left width="120"	Symbol!	align=left width="60"	Votes!	align=left width="60"	%
M. Ruskin Fernando		Elephant	10,262	42.14
Meryl Fernando		Key	9,427	38.71
Nina Wijesuriya		Lamp	2,137	8.78
Watson Fernando		Star	1,091	4.48
Leonard de Mel		Ship	648	2.66
P. J. D. Rodrigo		Umbrella	355	1.46
S. O. Stembo		Saw	197	0.81
Samuel P. C. Fernando		Sun	90	0.37
Vinnie de Silva		Pair of Scales	65	0.27
align=left colspan=3	Valid Votes	24,272	99.66
align=left colspan=3	Rejected Votes	82	0.34
align=left colspan=3	Total Polled	24,354	100.00
align=left colspan=3	Registered Electors	32,413
align=left colspan=4	Turnout	75.14

1960 (July) Parliamentary General Election

Results of the 5th parliamentary election held on 20 July 1960 for the district:^[6]

align=left width="190"	Candidate!	align=left width="180"	Party!	align=left width="120"	Symbol!	align=left width="60"	Votes!	align=left width="60"	%
Meryl Fernando		Key	12,943	51.59
M. Ruskin Fernando		Elephant	11,593	46.21
Mohandas de Mel		Cart Wheel	485	1.93
align=left colspan=3	Valid Votes	25,021	99.74
align=left colspan=3	Rejected Votes	66	0.26
align=left colspan=3	Total Polled	25,087	100.00
align=left colspan=3	Registered Electors	32,413
align=left colspan=4	Turnout	77.40

1965 Parliamentary General Election

Results of the 6th parliamentary election held on 22 March 1965 for the district:^[7]

align=left width="190"	Candidate!	align=left width="180"	Party!	align=left width="120"	Symbol!	align=left width="60"	Votes!	align=left width="60"	%
M. Ruskin Fernando		Elephant	18,059	51.26
Kusala Abhayawardhana		Key	16,020	45.47
Meryl Fernando		Lamp	1,048	2.98
align=left colspan=3	Valid Votes	35,127	99.71
align=left colspan=3	Rejected Votes	102	0.29
align=left colspan=3	Total Polled	35,229	100.00
align=left colspan=3	Registered Electors	44,955
align=left colspan=4	Turnout	78.37

1970 Parliamentary General Election

Results of the 7th parliamentary election held on 27 May 1970 for the district:^[8]

align=left width="190"	Candidate!	align=left width="180"	Party!	align=left width="120"	Symbol!	align=left width="60"	Votes!	align=left width="60"	%
Wimalasiri De Mel		Key	24,672	54.52
M. Ruskin Fernando		Elephant	20,258	44.77
G. K. Nina Wijesuriya		Bell	252	0.56
align=left colspan=3	Valid Votes	45,182	99.85
align=left colspan=3	Rejected Votes	68	0.15
align=left colspan=3	Total Polled	45,250	100.00
align=left colspan=3	Registered Electors	54,188
align=left colspan=4	Turnout	83.51

1977 Parliamentary General Election

Results of the 8th parliamentary election held on 21 July 1977 for the district:^[9]

align=left width="190"	Candidate!	align=left width="180"	Party!	align=left width="120"	Symbol!	align=left width="60"	Votes!	align=left width="60"	%
Tyronne Fernando		Elephant	28,488	54.21
Douglas Fernano		Hand	13,614	25.91
Wimalasiri De Mel		Key	7,000	13.32
Meryl Fernando		Lamp	2,891	5.50
P. F. Calistus Perera		Chair	112	0.21
A. Francis Fernando		Umbrella	111	0.21
Nina Wijesuriya		Bell	86	0.16
align=left colspan=3	Valid Votes	52,302	99.52
align=left colspan=3	Rejected Votes	250	0.48
align=left colspan=3	Total Polled	52,552	100.00
align=left colspan=3	Registered Electors	64,190
align=left colspan=4	Turnout	81.87

Notes and References

Web site: The Electoral System. Parliament of Sri Lanka. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20101127041829/http://parliament.lk/about_us/electoral_system.jsp. 2010-11-27.
Web site: Result of Parliamentary General Election 1947. Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20150924115557/http://www.slelections.gov.lk/pdf/Results_1947%20GENERAL%20ELECTION.PDF. 2015-09-24.
Web site: Result of Parliamentary General Election 1952. Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20150924115603/http://www.slelections.gov.lk/pdf/Results_1952%20GENERAL%20ELECTION.PDF. 2015-09-24.
Web site: Result of Parliamentary General Election 1956. Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20150924115606/http://www.slelections.gov.lk/pdf/Results_1956%20GENERAL%20ELECTION.PDF. 2015-09-24.
Web site: Result of Parliamentary General Election 1960-03-19. Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20150712194326/http://www.slelections.gov.lk/pdf/Results_1960_03_19%20GENERAL%20ELECTION.PDF. 2015-07-12.
Web site: Result of Parliamentary General Election 1960-07-20. Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20150924115611/http://www.slelections.gov.lk/pdf/Results_1960_07_20%20GENERAL%20ELECTION.PDF. 2015-09-24.
Web site: Result of Parliamentary General Election 1965. Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20150713003440/http://www.slelections.gov.lk/pdf/Results_1965%20GENERAL%20ELECTION.PDF. 2015-07-13.
Web site: Result of Parliamentary General Election 1970. Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20091209231958/http://www.slelections.gov.lk/pdf/Results_1970%20GENERAL%20ELECTION.PDF. 2009-12-09.
Web site: Result of Parliamentary General Election 1977. https://web.archive.org/web/20110717002624/http://www.slelections.gov.lk/pdf/General%20Election%201977.PDF. dead. 2011-07-17. Department of Elections, Sri Lanka.