Tea at Parliament...

In the meantime I had passed my ‘O’ Levels and, naturally, Government was one of the four subjects that I chose for the ‘A’ Levels. From time to time, Sam Mama would explain to me how the Cabinet Government System, the House of Lords in the UK and the US System of Government evolved in their own contexts. Sam Mama did not forget to invite me to visit Parliament and have tea with him on a few occasions; by then it was in the spacious and august room of the Clerk. It was exhilarating to sit at the dining table in his room and partake of cakes and sandwiches (as well as Sam Mama’s own addition of Welithalapa to the menu) while various familiar members came in to speak to him. Sam Mama would excuse himself from the table, go back to his desk to discuss the matters at hand and then return to the table. Sometimes he would invite the members to have tea with us...

The panoramic canvas of US, British, Sri Lankan legal and political histories painted by Sam Mama was often very useful to my understanding of specialized subjects as I progressed with my Law studies. Sam Mama liked history; even more, he liked relating historical anecdotes. He therefore broadened and deepened my understanding of the subjects that I studied in school under Ceylon history and at university under Legal Systems...

The General Election of May 1970 swept away the UNP lock, stock and barrel. With over 2/3 of the seats, Sirimavo Bandaranaike’s United Front Government announced its intention of summoning a Constituent Assembly to draft a Republican Constitution. All the Members of Parliament were summoned to the Navarangahala to form the Constituent Assembly. The Speaker, Stanley Tilakaratne, became the President of the Assembly while Sam Mama was appointed its Secretary, though not immediately - as some members of the Government had expressed doubts about his allegiance given his family relationships. However, Sam Mama’s allegiance was always to Parliament.

I learnt a lot about the Constituent Assembly because of Sam Mama’s intimate association with it. In fact he gave me a copy of a set of proposals bound together into two or three volumes that had been received by the Assembly. Incredibly, some of the proposals even wanted to restore the monarchy.

During this time, Sam Mama gave me many opportunities to visit the House where I witnessed a decimated Opposition, with J.R. Jayewardene and R Premadasa battling with the vast number of MPS on the Government benches. The lessons I learnt then helped me many times in my Parliamentary career.

On 22nd May 1972, Sri Lanka became a Republic and the old House of Representatives became the National State Assembly with Sam Mama as the Clerk to the Assembly. He was present when I took my oaths as an Advocate of the Supreme Court before H.N.G. Fernando, the Chief Justice. Thanks to Sam Mama’s exhaustive knowledge of genealogy, I realized that I had become the sixth generation of lawyers in my father’s family.

I used to be present in Parliament whenever there was an important debate. During this time, I learnt the difference between an Order Paper and an Order Book, the function of Supplementary Questions and Oral Questions, the Committee stage of the Budget and who Erskine May was. Erskine May’s book on Parliamentary procedure (which is regularly updated by a Board of Advisors long after his death) is even today the bible of Parliamentary proceedings. A copy of Erskine May, together with the Constitution, the Standing Orders and the Parliamentary Powers and Privileges Act, was always kept on one side of Sam Mama’s table. I was with him in the room on some of the occasions when he referred to these texts.

The General Elections of 1977 brought another lopsided Parliament. The United National Party had 140 members. I was returned as the Member of Parliament for Biyagama and a day later took oaths as the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. The oath to members of Parliament was administered by Sam Mama as Clerk to the National State Assembly. While in Parliament, I continued to seek Sam Mama’s assistance regularly. I was not the only one; Lalith Athulathmudali, Ranjith Atapattu, Nissanka Wijeratne, Harindra Corea were but a few who were in and out of his room.

Aside from Sam Mama’s historical references, I also enjoyed listening to his anecdotes about parliamentary proceedings in the Sri Lanka legislature and the British House of Commons. His textual and firsthand knowledge gave a clear idea of how Parliament really worked. There were also times when Sam Mama has called me to his room and advised me - generally on procedure, but a few times on my conduct.

In February 1978 the second amendment to the Constitution came into effect, thereby establishing the Executive Presidency. The second Republican Constitution came into effect on 7th September 1978 and I became a Cabinet Minister. We had to take our oaths as Members of the new Parliament; again, Sam Mama was there when we took our oaths. While Sam Mama was closely involved with these Constitutional changes, he did have apprehensions about certain aspects of this foremost legal text in the country. Nonetheless, it was under this Constitution that Parliament enacted a number of new laws in the country to facilitate fundamental economic changes and kick-start development with several large scale projects. By the end of 1981, the Parliament had completed its work and set Sri Lanka on a new course. On the 31st of July that year, Sam Mama retired from Parliament. Though he had been involved in the construction of the new Parliament building, which was nearing completion, he did not move into the new House. There are two memorable moments which remain with me from our days in the old Parliament House. One was the day J.R. Jayewardene as Prime Minister took leave from the House to become President. The other was the day we said farewell to Sam Mama.

This 18 year tenure in Sam Mama’s life in the House was also a significant period in my life: I became interested in Parliament, ascertained Parliamentary procedures and entered Parliament. But it was much more than that. Those 18 years constituted a momentous period in our history; a period of vast structural and systematic changes, political turbulence and democratic tensions, political alliances and private debates. Within a single decade, Sam Mama was involved in drafting two Republican Constitutions for Sri Lanka, a Thomian working alongside two Royalist classmates Dr Colvin R. de Silva and J.R. Jayewardene. It was a period when, after a decade of independence, Sri Lanka was attempting to determine its future political, economic and social vision. We traversed through a spectrum of political and economic hues; from the political and economic ideology of a socialist system with capital and monetary restrictions, land reforms, a closed economy, rationing and the regulation of democratic rights to a free market economy with liberal trade and investment, a free trade zone, the accelerated Mahaweli scheme, and the Gamudawa programme. When it came to the legislation that propped these changes, Sam Mama was a key figure who played a critical role in these transformations from behind the scenes.