Hon. (Dr.) Harsha de Silva

¶ 01 Hon. Deputy Speaker, today we move Votes of Condolence on Hon. Rukman Senanayake, Hon. A. A. Reginald Perera, Hon. Sirinal de Mel, and Hon. (Dr.) I. M. Ilyas. I express my deep condolences to all their families and, according to their respective faiths, pray for their eternal peace.

¶ 02 I wish to say a few words on Hon. Sirinal de Mel. As a youth leader of the JSS within the UNP, he rendered a tremendous service to building the party’s trade union movement. I met him in 2015, when he was a National List MP. He used to sit at the back on that side of the Chamber and, whenever we met, he would speak and joke with me; we discussed many things. His son, Gayan de Mel, now serves as the SJB’s chief organizer for Kesbewa, following his father’s path with humility and dedication. I pray he is able to render service to the country and this Parliament as his father did.

¶ 03 Many have already conveyed their parties’ condolences. I thought to look into how Hon. Rukman Senanayake stood up during his political career to present the truth to society. I went to the Parliamentary Library and searched newspapers because there was no WhatsApp, social media or even widespread TV then. I have here the Lanka Deepa front page of Sunday, 25 April 1976, carrying the bold headline “Rukman expelled,” reporting that Dedigama MP Rukman Senanayake was expelled from the UNP. This was due to disagreements with J. R. Jayewardene and an unanimous Working Committee decision.

¶ 04 Another Lanka Deepa headline on 26 April 1976 read, “Dedigama UNP Bala Mandalaya resigns … Expulsion of Rukman along with the election is a conspiracy.” On 29 April 1976, it reported, “If anyone can prove I worked against J. R., I am ready to resign from politics.”

¶ 05 I then found the Ceylon Daily News of 3 May 1976 with “Rukman’s statement on his expulsion.” He explained, first, he was accused of sabotaging the Ja-Ela by-election campaign by a press statement on the Ward Place incident. He said his statement did not blame any individual or the party; it condemned the brutal assault on his Dedigama supporters when they went to meet Mr. Jayewardene.

¶ 06 Second, regarding Colombo South, the inquiry committee found he did not work against Mr. Jayewardene. He and then-UNP General Secretary Ananda Tissa de Alwis had refrained from open campaigning to avoid a legal challenge to Mr. Jayewardene’s election; they tried to prevent Mr. Suriyapperuma from contesting J. R.

¶ 07 Third, he was accused of handing an affidavit and a letter to the Finance Minister; he had written to Mr. Jayewardene on 2 and 6 March 1976 denying the charge and explaining matters.

¶ 08 He then stated the real issue was not Colombo South but the Kalawewa by-election: J. R. proposed that if Anura Bandaranaike got the SLFP nomination, the UNP should send him uncontested. Rukman opposed, insisting the UNP must contest regardless. He, along with Gamini Jayasuriya, Niyathapala, Suriyapperuma and Karunasena Kodituwakku, opposed the proposal. Of them, Rukman, Niyathapala and Suriyapperuma were expelled; Jayasuriya and Kodituwakku later lost their posts. He described this as a crafty, slow elimination process.

¶ 09 He concluded that he had no intention of joining the Government or any other party, but would place facts before the people and build a force to halt the dictatorial trend in the UNP—leaving it to the people to decide.

¶ 10 Subsequently, the 1977 General Election gave J. R. Jayewardene a five-sixths majority. Hon. Rukman did not contest then, but later returned to Parliament in 1994. The point is how he stood up for what he thought was right and fought against dictatorial leadership. The lesson for all of us is that politics is difficult; it is tough to stand for your beliefs. People admired him for always standing his ground, whether he would win, lose, or even not contest.

¶ 11 Once again, I offer condolences to his family—my friends Hon. Vasantha Senanayake and Hon. Ruwan Wijewardene among them. Thank you.