1965 Ceylonese parliamentary election

Parliamentary elections were held in Ceylon in March 1965.

1965 Ceylonese parliamentary election
22 March 1965
151 seats in the House of Representatives of Ceylon
76 seats were needed for a majority
  First party Second party
 
Leader Dudley Senanayake Sirimavo Bandaranaike
Party UNP SLFP
Leader since 1957 1960
Leader's seat Dedigama Attanagalla
Last election 37.19%, 30 seats 33.22%, 75 seats
Seats won 66 41
Seat change Increase36 Decrease34
Popular vote 1,590,929 1,221,437
Percentage 39.31% 30.18%
Prime Minister before election

Sirimavo Bandaranaike
SLFP

 Prime Minister-designate

Dudley Senanayake
UNP

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.

PartyVotes%Seats
United National Party1,590,92939.3166
Sri Lanka Freedom Party1,221,43730.1841
Lanka Sama Samaja Party302,0957.4710
Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi217,9145.3814
Sri Lanka Freedom Socialist Party130,4293.225
Communist Party of Ceylon109,7542.714
All Ceylon Tamil Congress98,7462.443
Mahajana Eksath Peramuna96,6652.391
National Liberation Front18,7910.461
Others259,9606.426
Total4,046,720100.00151
Total votes3,821,918–
Registered voters/turnout4,710,88781.13
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. Archived from the original on 9 October 2011. Retrieved 3 October 2010.
      • 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.{{cite web}}: 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.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
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