1965 Ceylonese parliamentary election
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151 seats in the House of Representatives of Ceylon 76 seats were needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Parliamentary elections were held in Ceylon in March 1965.
Background[]
The SLFP government of Sirimavo Bandaranaike lost its majority in December 1964 when some MPs deserted it over the nationalization of Lakehouse Newspapers.
Bandaranaike's program of extensive nationalization had alarmed many of the island's business interests, which rallied to the United National Party. The economy had been stagnant, and rationing had been imposed in the face of persistent food shortages.
The UNP promised to form a National Front government to oppose the SLFP and its Marxist allies. UNP leader Dudley Senanayake promised cabinet posts both to the small Sinhala nationalist parties and the Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (Federal Party).
Results[]
The UNP did not obtain a majority, but was able to govern as a National Front with the ITAK's support.
Party | Votes | % | Seats | |
---|---|---|---|---|
United National Party | 1,590,929 | 39.31 | 66 | |
Sri Lanka Freedom Party | 1,221,437 | 30.18 | 41 | |
Lanka Sama Samaja Party | 302,095 | 7.47 | 10 | |
Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi | 217,914 | 5.38 | 14 | |
Sri Lanka Freedom Socialist Party | 130,429 | 3.22 | 5 | |
Communist Party of Ceylon | 109,754 | 2.71 | 4 | |
All Ceylon Tamil Congress | 98,746 | 2.44 | 3 | |
Mahajana Eksath Peramuna | 96,665 | 2.39 | 1 | |
National Liberation Front | 18,791 | 0.46 | 1 | |
Others | 259,960 | 6.42 | 6 | |
Total | 4,046,720 | 100.00 | 151 | |
Total votes | 3,821,918 | – | ||
Registered voters/turnout | 4,710,887 | 81.13 | ||
Source: Kusaka Research Institute |
Notes[]
References[]
- "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1965" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-07-13.
- "1965 General Election Results". LankaNewspapers.com. Archived from the original on 2012-03-10.
- "Table 36 Parliament Election (1965)". Sri Lanka Statistics. 10 February 2009.
- Rajasingham, K. T. (15 December 2001). "Chapter 19: Anguish and pain". Sri Lanka: The Untold Story. Asia Times. Archived from the original on 18 December 2001.CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
- Rajasingham, K. T. (22 December 2001). "Chapter 20: Tamil leadership lacks perspicuity". Sri Lanka: The Untold Story. Asia Times. Archived from the original on 16 April 2002.CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
- 1965 Ceylonese parliamentary election
- 1965 elections in Asia
- 1965 in Ceylon
- Parliamentary elections in Sri Lanka
- March 1965 events in Asia