Page Fourteen»

 

High Percentage Vote In Ceylon

Election; No For

by Al Fisher

One month has now ciapsed
since the polling oi Ceylon’s
iourth general electron. The first
oneday polling of the country
was the most peaceful since in.
dependence in lots. There .were
féw incidcnts throughout the is
land, unlike South Korea 'where-
violence had marked that elec—
tion- held a week prior to that
of‘Ceylon.

There was a polling station
about 100 yards down the
street on which i stay, There
I watched the voting proced-

ure trom outside the school
building in which the votes
were being cost. There were
separate entrances tor men
and women. it was obvious
that a very high percentage oi
the registered voters were
voting.

1 saw a number oi very old
people being assisted by friends
or relatives, some dear persons
and even an old blind man go
to cast their votes. it was also
apparent that many Demons
were exercising- their voting

rights tor the first time; they
had to ask the policemen what
thcy should do.

The percentage of registered
voters who voted on Saturday.
March 19, has been calculated
to be ’76 percent, a lnuch'i‘norc
impressivel’percentage than the
52 percent who voted in the
1955 presidential election in th
United States, 'But the choic

which the Ceylon voter had to‘

make last month was much
more crucial than an American
presidential elcction.

Let us now look at the re»
suits or this crucial fourth
general election, remembering

,Lhitt the live major parties
which contested a number of
seats greater than the number
needed tor a working majur-
ity (76) all predicted that Vic»

tory was definitely theirs: It ,

was impossible for them all to
be correct in their predictions
when the total oi the seats
they predicted to win totaled
twice as many as the number
of seats that could be won.

No single party emerged withl
a working majority. As the tirs .
results were broadcast over Rae!
dio Ceylon on the night of
March 19, a UN? (United Na»
tional Party) landslide Scemedy
to be iii the making. or the
first six scats‘announccd, five
were won by UNP candidates,
and two at these were upset 'vic.
torics.

As the night passed, this trend
gave way to rising strength oi
the SLFP (Sl‘l Lanlta Freedom
Party), and probably on: or the
closest battles between two par
ties developed. The UNP ncvcr‘
lost the lead to tho SLFP, but
often the number of seats each
had secured was equal.

All night Ceylon remained
awake. Along the dark streets
at Colombo gatherings oi.peo-
plo could ’be seen in from. or
boutiques, the small shacks
that served as party headquar-
ters, and other places which
had radios. All listened in-
tently as one by one the elec-
tor—ates reported the, decisions
of their voters. Despite the
serious nature of the results,
the close race between the
UN? and the SLFP became as
intensified its in any crucial
Spons event

After staying awake all night,
I decided to play some golf
early the next morning. While
out on the course we came
across a threesome and asked
them the score. Their reply was,
“43 to 42!" Then i realized they
were giving us the latest totals
in the UNPVSLFP battle.

' Finally at it) Sunday night the
last electorate reported. Itrwas
the triple seat electorate of Co-
lomboccntral. The UN? cap-
tured two seats, and the Com-
munist party leader won his.
The final count had the UN?
.with four more seats than the
SLFP,

The other big news wasthc

ly Has Majority ,

l ,
‘ defeat of Prime Minister Dnhs l

anayake’and most of his LPP
‘ candidates, Dahiiiiiiyakc had ‘
lost tn the UN? in 'his favorite
Gallo electorate.

He iniincdiatcly altered hi
resignation, packcd his two Suitrl
cases and, with tears in his cyes,l
returned to his home iii Galle.‘
Dahanayake's switt departure:
,cnded the tears of some who;
had speculated that the electionsl
would not be held or that bet
,would not give up his position}
of prrinc minister if the rosultsr

wcnt against hrni and his pal‘ty.i

The SLFP’S l'quvenation wasl
another surprise to many politic
cal observer-s. The SLFP had
:practically been destroyed withl

1

late Bandaranaikc, whose assesl
sinotion created the eventual
need tor another general clec.
tion.

The SLFP had ridden to pow}
er in 1956 on the MEP (People’s;
Front) coalition with Philip,
Gunawardcna’s VLSSP, The,
question of who should take:
lcadcrshrp caused the cventual
formation of the LP? by the last
prime minister. w. Dahanayakc..
This new party ,had iiisutlicicnt
time to catch hold of the voters;
who were also getting a little
tearful of the creation of a
ministry of internal Security'by
Dahanayake, The local press
played this inovc as the fi t
tcp toward a l'lglltswing dicta.
orship. t

Meanwhile, a few members oi
the SLFP were arrested and ac-
cused in connection with the
Bandaranaikc assassination case.
All these moves tended to disc
crcdrt the SLFP in the public
eye, but the new SLFP leaders,
under the patronage of the 354
ysassinated prime minister's wide]
ow, Mrs. sirrmavo Bundaranark '
claimed the party was not
purged of its undesirable elc
merits, which had really been
the cause of all the troubles“
during the SLFP gover-nmcnt,‘
and were rcady to inlplelnent‘
the policies of the late Bandai»1
anaikc.

Tho- SLFP campaigning oi

__SC.ARLET.AND BLACK

Eighi‘ Friars,
New Adviser
Tapped Today

Fight tumors were announced;

as Friars tor 1960761 in Chapcl‘, White House stops his candidacy

this morning i
l

The new members are Jci y
Shiplcy, president; Grant Fall‘s
banks, Keith Kcstcr, Duane
Kroiiiikc, Lowell Luttcr, Jack

‘Mcyer, Jack Swansen and Bob‘

Tl’epka.

l

ProfessorTNill l
Presen’r Paper

Charles F. Hanoi- (psychology)
will present a paper at the late
August mcctrng of the American,

cago The paper, “Empathic Cons
ditionrng and, its Relation to Aan
leLy,“ is coauthored by E
Whitney,

power. The prime minister. Dude
ley Scnanayakc, is having his
second chance as pr 16 nrrnister‘
of Ceylon, a position he held}
atter his father, D. S. Sez'lamlrr
yakc, died suddenly while in‘

oil'icc.

The inability of either My
tlrc “non-Icﬂ" parties, the ,
UN? and SLFI', to form at
government with a working
majority has caused :t slio’w- ,
down for many pol col par-
ties and politicians For the ,
UNP government to survive a ‘
noscnnﬁdence motion, such its
the address or thanks on the l
throne speech given April 6th,
it will require outside-the-
party assistance or the absten-
tion from voting- by over a
third at the members of par-
liameiit.

Since the chance or such
rcat number abstainriig is ver
light and eSpCCiaily srnco the
opposition parties still maintain
this antisUNP spirit, the UNP}
government may be defeated
April 22 on the/vote of accep—t
tancc oi the throne speech, m"
which the UNP outlined the

policies of their government

 

Johnson

Cont. Ii‘om hi 9

llousc light tor a two—ocean

lNavy, and in this same ycar, clauses from

with the encouragement oi the
PiCSldenL, he announced on the
tor the u. S. Senatei

When war came in 1942,
Johnson voted for and became

the first member oi Congress ‘

to enlist in the war, He won the
Silycr star tor gallantry in
action while in the South Yac'
lie and was decorated by Geri,
MacArthur.

with his return to Congress-in
1948 he bcgan his long and iine
por rnt role to place him today
as the most powcrlul man in the
us, Senatc. Johnson has held a

the death of its founder, the Psychological association’ in Clﬁ"pl't)lliinent posmon on, or hustln full

“Hairs committee in the Housc,r

Armed Services committees 0

v ‘botli House and Senate, the Jointi

Congrcs 'onal Committee on At
omic Encrgy and the Senate

Committee on Space and Aaron:

autices, the last two of which
he is currently chairman,

During the Korean war he was
chairman of the Senate Prepared—
ness comrnittcc. In1953P1'ESideni
Eisenhower requested that John

‘son present the U.S.,proposal to

the U.N. tor ioint control (ii-outer
space ior peaceful purposes by all

lnations Due to his influence, the‘

major development dams of the
Lower Colorado river

nation's largest REA. cooporas
hives.

Xi. is also iiiterestinz in note
that in 1058 the president-elect

‘ of Mexico, Adolfo Topaz Milo 1
, tees, risked for it private meet-

ing with .lo‘linson and in l959

’camc with Mexico’s lirst lady
as guests to tire LBJ. ranch in
Texas,

In 1952, '54 and '56 Johrisonrled
Democrats have Won control of
|he'SenatC to finally win every
Democratic seat in the Senate il
1953 — a grand total of 65. The

Johnson appeal of responsibility,

auillorltv,
in Texas were completed as the a

lwhrch vras made by the govern-

these policies, restored to, as ‘

one person stated it “A ghost
being brought into play by a
weeping widow, wailing and
wccping around the country."
The SLFP election meetings
were marked by the appear—
ance or Mrs. Baiidaranaikc,
often with her young son,‘who
invariably would break down
weeping while speaking about
her late husband.

Tire SLFP would also Showr
the film, “Theiast Journey",

l
i
l

mcnt attcr the luneral of the?
late prime minister. The film in
,a highly emotional manner sires.
sad the loss to Laura caused by
the assassins bullets.

At inst, tew thought this ap—
peal would win any votes, but
‘a month before the election the
resurgence of the SLFP could
not be denied. However, few
thought the SLFP would run so
close a second to the UNP. The
SLFP victory was not causcd
only by the qucstiouablc maths
eat of campaigning, tor never-
thclcss, the common man did
rcap many benefits irom the
Bandaranaike government. He
may not bc aware of the many
problems not sch-ed or ihc new.
problems created by govern.
mental actions of the past four
years, but he did tcel that the
last government repl‘ésented the
common man.

The UNP had been in power

iron. the granting of indcpcn.
dence in 1948 to the third
general elections in 1956. A
strong opposition was lacking
to keep the government under
careful watch. There were
many abuses committed,

But the UN? 01‘ 1960 is what
may be called a “reformed”
party. Sitting in the opposition
tor the past four years has
shown them the conscqrrcnces ot

 

 

VOTE ‘

KENNWY

AA IIME FOR
GREATNESS

‘ Friday, May 6; |%0

Rules
Cont. from p, 7.
ports are made. delegates m’
move the deletion ot spr- 'tic
plattorm planks,
of may move that specific
clauses in the minority report
bc substituted (or their counter-
parts in the nrayority report
,Motions other than those speci-
‘iied in this articlc may lie, at
,the discretion ot the chairman,
i ruled out ot ordcr.
Any delegate may demand a
‘roll call or his bloc, ii the de-
mand is made bctore the rc-
sults ot the poll oi the next
blues are announced.
1 The chairman of the con-
vention will have the right to
, abrog-ate or otherwise alter
, these rules insofar as consid—
, crations or time and special
circumstances ' indicate such
abrogations or alterations
necessary. ,
Duplicated copies of the rules
will be distributed to

lbeen chairman of the Naval Ai-.delégates and spectators before

or at tho \lariouS sessions,
the convention.

of

1STEVENSON
‘Cont. from p. 4

aid to education, raised teach-
; ers’ salaries, increased state
1' aid to the aged and thc~bl
and boldly tackled the prob»
‘ lem of deteriorating highways.

His performance as governor
‘ot lllinors did not go unnoticed,
It was dircctly responsible tor
the prcsrdcntial drait which de-
lvelopcd in 1952. ‘

Attcr his brilliant presidential

campaign, Stevenson traveled‘
extensively abroad and acted as
major spokesman tor the
‘Dcmocrailc party.
i He was the obvious choice to
,lcad his party again in 1056 and
"the choice of many in 1960,
noting that it is this man alone,
who truly possesses the great
qualities oi mind and spirit
upon which the future of this
nation depends.-

preparedness and leadership have
ienablcd him to win every Show»
Edown voting test since becoming

\ majority leader.

 

 

taking advantage of political

 

