Special sitting for 70th Anniversary of 1st democratically elected Parliament

Tuesday, Oct.3 will be a special day for the country’s Legislature, as it holds a session to commemorate the 70th Anniversary of the First democratically elected Parliament of the country.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and Leader of the Opposition R. Sampanthan will move the Vote Commemorating the 70th Anniversary of Parliamentary Democracy in Sri Lanka, when the House meets at 2.30 pm for the twohour special sittings ending 4.30 pm.

The Motion to be presented to the House will read, "Parliament, at its meeting today, commemorates with pride, the 70th anniversary of its first meeting as an independent Parliament and notes that, the Parliament of Sri Lanka is the oldest Parliament elected by universal adult franchise in the Asian region, with an unbroken record of democratic governance, and wishes for itself and the people of Sri Lanka prosperity, development and further strengthening of democratic traditions, principles and rule of law.”

Special security arrangements have been put in place for the day, with the public galleries restricted for invitees, while special traffic arrangements too will be in place on the day.

The election to the country’s First Parliament (House of Representatives) lasted 19 working days, between Aug. 23 and Sept. 20, 1947, while the First Meeting of the House was held on Oct.14, 1947.

There were 3,048,145 registered voters of which 61.91% polled.

The United National Party ( UNP) secured the majority of the elected to 95 seats, winning 42, while the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP) secured 10, Bolshevik Leninist Party 5, the Communist Party 3, Labour Party 1, All Ceylon Tamil Congress 7, Ceylon Indian Congress 7 and Independents 20.

The UNP formed the Govt in coalition with the ‘ All Ceylon Tamil Congress’ and D. S. Senanayake became the country’s first Prime Minister.