Ratnapura Electoral District (1947–1989) Explained

Ratnapura electoral district was an electoral district of Sri Lanka between August 1947 and February 1989. The district was named after the city of Ratnapura in Ratnapura District, Sabaragamuwa 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] Ratnapura electoral district was replaced by the Ratnapura multi-member electoral district at the 1989 general elections, the first under the proportional representation system, Ratnapura continues to be a polling division of the multi-member electoral district.

Members of Parliament

Key

ElectionMemberPartyTerm
1947C. E. AttygalleUNP1947 - 1952
19521952 - 1956
1956Jayaweera KuruppuSLFP1956 - 1960
1960 (March)H. WeragamaUNP1960
1960 (July)Dhanapala WeerasekeraSLFP1960 - 1965
UNP1965 - 1970
1970Nanda EllawalaSLFP1970- 1977
1977G. V. PunchinilameUNP1977 - 1989

Elections

1947 Parliamentary General Election

Results of the 1st parliamentary election held between 23 August 1947 and 20 September 1947:[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"%
Cup 6,603 50.06
A. H. Wijetunge Cartwheel 4,804 36.42
J. W. Rodrigo Umbrella 587 4.45
K. A. Dalpatadu Scales 430 3.26
align=left colspan=3Valid Votes12,92497.99
align=left colspan=3Rejected Votes265 2.01
align=left colspan=3Total Polled13,189 100.00
align=left colspan=3Registered Electors25,961
align=left colspan=4Turnout50.80

1952 Parliamentary General Election

Results of the 2nd parliamentary election held between 24 May 1952 and 30 May 1952:[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"%
Elephant 11,191 53.82
Arthur Reginald Perera Star 9,380 45.11
align=left colspan=3Valid Votes20,57198.93
align=left colspan=3Rejected Votes222 1.07
align=left colspan=3Total Polled20,793 100.00
align=left colspan=3Registered Electors27,578
align=left colspan=4Turnout75.40

1956 Parliamentary General Election

Results of the 3rd parliamentary election held between 5 April 1956 and 10 April 1956:[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"%
Hand 16,644 70.75
Elephant 6,286 26.72
D. A. Karunaratne Glasses 405 1.72
align=left colspan=3Valid Votes23,33599.20
align=left colspan=3Rejected Votes189 0.08
align=left colspan=3Total Polled23,524 100.00
align=left colspan=3Registered Electors32,335
align=left colspan=4Turnout72.75

1960 (March) Parliamentary General Election

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

align=left width="180"Candidate!align=left width="180"Party!align=left width="120"Symbol!align=left width="60"Votes!align=left width="60"%
Elephant 7,434 34.78
Victor Abeyaratne Cartwheel 5,385 25.19
Star 4,117 19.26
Kamani Meedeniya Key 3,047 14.26
Dharmasiri Kuruppu Book 1,192 5.58
B. Jayasuriya Umbrella 107 0.50
align=left colspan=3Valid Votes21,28299.57
align=left colspan=3Rejected Votes92 0.43
align=left colspan=3Total Polled21,374 100.00
align=left colspan=3Registered Electors27,677
align=left colspan=4Turnout77.23

1960 (July) Parliamentary General Election

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

align=left width="180"Candidate!align=left width="180"Party!align=left width="120"Symbol!align=left width="60"Votes!align=left width="60"%
Hand 12,977 60.69
H. Weragama Elephant 8,013 37.47
Cartwheel 332 1.55
align=left colspan=3Valid Votes21,32299.71
align=left colspan=3Rejected Votes61 0.29
align=left colspan=3Total Polled21,383 100.00
align=left colspan=3Registered Electors27,677
align=left colspan=4Turnout77.26

1965 Parliamentary General Election

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

align=left width="180"Candidate!align=left width="180"Party!align=left width="120"Symbol!align=left width="60"Votes!align=left width="60"%
Elephant 11,463 39.22
Lamp 8,860 30.31
Dharmaprema Jayawardena Hand 8,580 29.35
Ananda Wijeratne Sun 180 0.62
Siripala Weerawardhana Scales 68 0.23
align=left colspan=3Valid Votes29,15199.73
align=left colspan=3Rejected Votes78 0.27
align=left colspan=3Total Polled29,229 100.00
align=left colspan=3Registered Electors36,027
align=left colspan=4Turnout81.13

1970 Parliamentary General Election

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

align=left width="180"Candidate!align=left width="180"Party!align=left width="120"Symbol!align=left width="60"Votes!align=left width="60"%
Hand 22,633 64.54
P. B. Wijesundara Elephant 12,002 34.23
K. V. Dharmadasa Chair 190 0.54
K.T. Manis Singho Bell 159 0.45
align=left colspan=3Valid Votes34,98499.76
align=left colspan=3Rejected Votes83 0.24
align=left colspan=3Total Polled35,067 100.00
align=left colspan=3Registered Electors42,004
align=left colspan=4Turnout83.49

1977 Parliamentary General Election

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

align=left width="180"Candidate!align=left width="180"Party!align=left width="120"Symbol!align=left width="60"Votes!align=left width="60"%
Elephant 23,525 52.50
Star 16,022 35.75
Piyadasa Pelendagama Hand 5,000 11.16
Mahinda Aabeysekera Scales 157 0.35
align=left colspan=3Valid Votes44,68399.72
align=left colspan=3Rejected Votes123 0.28
align=left colspan=3Total Polled44,807 100.00
align=left colspan=3Registered Electors51,679
align=left colspan=4Turnout86.70

Notes and References

  1. Web site: The Electoral System. Parliament of Sri Lanka.
  2. Web site: Result of Parliamentary General Election 1947 . Department of Elections, Sri Lanka . 10 October 2017 .
  3. Web site: Result of Parliamentary General Election 1952 . Department of Elections, Sri Lanka . 10 October 2017 .
  4. Web site: Result of Parliamentary General Election 1956 . Department of Elections, Sri Lanka . 10 October 2017.
  5. Web site: Result of Parliamentary General Election March 1960 . Department of Elections, Sri Lanka . 10 October 2017 .
  6. Web site: Result of Parliamentary General Election July 1960 . Department of Elections, Sri Lanka . 10 October 2017 .
  7. Web site: Result of Parliamentary General Election 1965 . Department of Elections, Sri Lanka . 10 October 2017 .
  8. Web site: Result of Parliamentary General Election 1970 . Department of Elections, Sri Lanka . 10 October 2017 .
  9. Web site: Result of Parliamentary General Election 1977 . Department of Elections, Sri Lanka . 10 October 2017.