102

5 Constitutional Reforms and the National

Independence Movement of Sri Lanka

Introduction
The monarchical rule that had existed in this country came to an end with
the conquest of the Kandyan kingdom by the British in 1815. Thereafter, the British
ruled this country for a period of 133 years until Sri Lanka gained independence in
1948.

Because of the protest campaigns constantly launched by Lankans, British

rulers had to introduce constitutional reforms from time to time. Lankans, who
were not satisfied with the powers that were granted to them through such reforms,
continued to carry out protest campaigns. It was as a result of such protests that
Sri Lanka was able to gain independence in 1948. This chapter discusses the
political protests that were made during the rule of the British and the nature of
the constitutional reforms that were introduced by the British rulers.
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5.1 Colebrooke – Cameron Reforms of 1833

After the conquest of the Kandyan kingdom by the British in 1815, the entire country
of Lanka became a colony of the British Empire. Thereafter, by about year 1828, the
government expenditure of this country had rapidly exceeded government revenue
due to several reasons such as carrying out the administration of the country by
dividing it into two parts as the upcountry and the low country and having to incur
a huge expenditure on paying salaries to the officials who came from Britain and
on providing the necessary facilities to them. Therefore, under such circumstances,
the mother government of Britain had to spend out of its own funds to cover up the
expenses of the government of this country. Up to that time it had not been the policy
of the Government of Britain to spend out of the funds of the mother government
on the expenses of its colonies. Therefore, the Colonial Secretary appointed a
special commission to come to Sri Lanka and to examine the revenue situation
and the expenditure of the government, to study the existing shortcomings of the
administration system and to make necessary recommendations. The commission
that was appointed was headed by W.M.G. Colebrooke and therefore was called the
Colebrooke Commission. Colebrooke was assigned the responsibility to examine
the nature of economic and administration affairs. Later, Charles Hay Cameron was
appointed to look into the judicial affairs of this country and to make necessary
recommendations.

Areas that were studied by Colebrooke Commission

Sources of government revenue and government expenditure and the Governor’s

administration system of this country – W.M.G. Colebrooke
The judiciary sector – Charles Hay Cameron
The duo Colebrooke and Cameron arrived in this country and studied facts related to
the administration system and the judicial system of the country. They also consulted
some Sri Lankans and submitted a set of proposals including their recommendations.
It was called Colebrooke – Cameron reforms and was implemented from year 1833.
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Significant Features of Colebrooke – Cameron Reforms

² establishment of the Legislative Council and the executive council
² introducing a system of government in which the upcountry and the low
country are merged
² dividing the country into five provinces for administration affairs
² abolishing of compulsory personal service
² expanding the English education
Let us now briefly study each of the above features:
² Establishment of the Legislative Council and the Executive Council
By the time the Colebrooke Commission arrived in Lanka, the legislative powers,
executive powers and the judicial powers had been centralized with the Governor
of Lanka. Such an arrangement amazed Colebrooke and he therefore proposed the
establishment of the Legislative Council and the executive council with a view to
limiting the powers of the Governor.

The Legislative Council

The Legislative Council, which was established as per Colebrooke proposals for
the purpose of creating laws, consisted of 15 members. They were divided into two
categories as official members and unofficial members. Accordingly, there were 9
official members who were high ranking government officials and were appointed
ex-officio. There were 6 unofficial members who were nominated by the Governor
on communal basis. These unofficial members included 3 representatives from
the Europeans and one representative each from Sinhala, Tamil and Burgher
communities. The Legislative Council was presided over by the Governor. It is
accepted that the system of representing ethnic communities at the Legislative
Council introduced under Colebrooke reforms paved the way for controversies
between different ethnic groups in this country at a later stage.
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Legislative Council of 1833

15

official unofficial
09 06

Europeans Sinhalese Tamils Burghers

03 01 01 01

The Legislative Council that was established in 1833 was subjected to reform from
time to time and the powers vested in Lankans gradually increased. This laid the
foundation for the parliamentary system that was introduced later. Therefore,
introduction of the Legislative Council under the Colebrooke system of government
was a landmark event in the political history of this country.

The Executive Council

The executive council that was established under Colebrooke proposals consisted of
high ranking government officials such as the Governor and the Surveyor General
of the government. The Governor presided over the executive council. It was
required that the Governor consults this council with regard to all administration
and financial affairs of the country.

² Introduction of a system of government in which the upcountry and

the low country were merged
After the British had captured the Kandyan kingdom in 1815, they adopted a
policy of governing the upcountry and low country separately. Colebrooke pointed
out that this system had resulted in the increase of government expenditure and
106

proposed that the two parts should be merged and a unitary government should be
established in the country.

² Dividing the Country into Five Provinces for Administration

Until 1833, Lanka had been divided into 16 provinces for administration purposes.
Colebrooke pointed out that the government expenditure had increased because
there were too many provinces and a lot of money had to be spent on employing
officials and on providing facilities necessary for those officials. Therefore, in order
to cut down government expenditure, Colebrooke proposed dividing the country
into five administrative areas and to establish five administration centres for those
five provinces. It was decided to appoint a Government Agent for each of those
provinces.
The provinces proposed by Colebrooke and the administration centres of those
provinces

Province Administration Centre

Northern Province Jaffna

Southern Province Galle
Eastern Province Trincomalee
Western Province Colombo
Central Province Jaffna

² Abolishing of Compulsory Personal Service System

Providing service to the government free of charge by all adult males in the country
for a specific number of days per year was called the compulsory personal service
system. This system was used in the past to obtain the services of people for public
works of the country. In villages, public activities such as restoration of tanks,
canals, anicuts and roads were done according to this system. Colebrooke pointed
out that this system, in which services of the people were obtained without making
any payment to them, was a hindrance for people in enjoying their freedom as well
as in working for their development. Therefore Colebrook recommended that this
system should be abolished.
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² Expanding English Education

One of the main reasons for the increase of the government expenditure at the time
when Colebrooke came to Lanka was that the officers required for the administration
affairs of this country had to be brought from Europe. Hence the government had to
spend a lot of money on paying salaries to them and on providing accommodation
and other facilities to them. Therefore Colebrooke proposed that, in order to cut
down expenses, local official should be employed instead of bringing officers from
Europe. In order to be able to do so, there arose the need for expanding English
language education. Colebrooke believed that officers needed for administration
affairs of the government could be provided by way of giving a good education in
the English medium to local people who could afford to pay for their education.

5.2 Protests launched by Lankans

After the Colebrooke reforms of 1833 had been implemented, it was the Europeans
who lived in this country that launched protests first demanding that certain reforms
should be made to the Colebrooke constitution. These Europeans were the rich
people who had come to Lanka for cultivating crops and had engaged in plantation
activities in upcountry areas. By that time there had arisen the need for them to get
the required funds allocated by the Legislative for developing the road system, postal
and communication services and other facilities in the areas where their cultivations
were located. As stated above, three unofficial members had been appointed to the
Legislative Council to represent these Europeans. However, they launched such
protests because the number of official members in the Legislative Council was
greater than that of the unofficial members and because the Legislative Council had
not been given sufficient powers. In order to carry out those protests, they formed
an organization called Planters’ Association of Ceylon in 1865. Europeans such as
William Digby and George Wall were the prominent leaders of those protests.

Consequent to the development of the plantation sector resulting in the creation

of an export-import economy after Colebrooke reforms had been implemented,
even Lankans got the opportunity to engage in certain businesses and to generate
income. During the rule of the British, some Lankans took to businesses such as
plantation activities, wholesale and retail trade and the graphite industry, and they
earned profits through such businesses. The Lankans who became rich in this
manner provided their children with higher education in this country and also by
sending them to foreign countries thereby giving rise to an educated middle class.
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At the beginning of the 20th century, this middle class launched protests demanding
constitutional reforms. That is considered to be the beginning of political protests
of Lankans.

Out of the educated middle classes who led the political protests at the early stage,
leaders such as Ponnambalam Ramanathan, Ponnambalam Arunachalam, Sir
James Peiris, and H.G.C. Perera were prominent. Out of the organizations that
were formed to handle the protests that were launched at the early stage under the
leadership of the educated Lankans, Low Country Products Association of Ceylon,
Chillaw Association, and Jaffna Association were some of the leading ones.

Out of the Educated Lankans, it was Sir James Peiris who first submitted a formal
memorandum to the Colonial Secretary in 1909 explaining in detail the need for
constitutional reforms. After that, several other petitions were submitted by various
organizations and persons. Some of the reforms that the Lankans proposed through
such petitions were as follows:
² increasing the number of unofficial members in the Legislative Council
² electing representatives to the legislative
² abolishing the communal representation system

Crewe – McCallum Constitutional Reforms of 1910

Based on the recommendations made by Governor Henry McCallum, who had been
the Governor of Ceylon by 1910, Lord Crewe, the Colonial Secretary, introduced new
constitutional reforms to this country in November 1910. It was called the Crewe
– McCallum constitution. Under this constitution, the number of members in the
constitutional council was increased up to 21. The number of official members was
11 and that of the unofficial members was 10. Out of these 10 unofficial members,
6 were appointed by the Governor on communal representation basis and the
remaining 4 were elected (2 Europeans, 1 Burgher and 1 educated Lankan).
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Crewe - McCallum constitutional reforms of 1910

official unofficial
11 10

elected nominated
01 (communal basis) 06

Europeans Burghers Educated Lankans

02 01 01

As far as Crewe - McCallum reforms are taken into consideration, it can be noted that
providing space for electing representatives to the Legislative Council and giving
opportunity to select one member to represent the educated Lankans are significant
features of these reforms.

The provision for selecting one representative from the educated Lankans provided
the opportunity for the middle classes of this country to represent the Legislative
Council. It was Ponnambalam Ramanathan who was first appointed to this office.
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5.4 Ceylon National Association

As mentioned above, when submitting requests

to the Colonial Secretary before the time when
Crewe McCallum reforms were implemented,
various organizations and persons had submitted
their requests separately. The educated people of
the middle classes understood that, submitting
petitions separately as small organizations
would have no impact on the colonial rulers and
therefore, all those groups had to get together
and form one common organization with the
cooperation of all groups in order to raise a
strong voice. How the Indians formed the Indian
National Association and worked in unity was
an example to the Lankans at this point. It was as
a result of such initiatives that Ceylon National
Congress was formed in 1919. Ponnambalam
Arunachalam, who was an outstanding leader Figure 5.1 Sir Ponnambalam
of the constitutional reform protest campaign of Arunachalam
that time, was the founding president of Ceylon
National Congress.

Some of the smaller organizations that joined together to form Ceylon National
Congress were as follows:

Chillaw
Association

Ceylon
Jaffna Ceylon Reform
National
Association League
Congress

Ceylon National
Association
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A number of organizations that represented the different ethnic communities in

this country such as the Sinhalese, the Tamils and the Muslims joined together for a
common purpose with a common objective and formed Ceylon National Congress
(Lanka Jathika Sangamaya) which is a Landmark event in the political history of
this country.

The main objective of Ceylon National Congress was to launch a very forceful
protest campaign with the view of gaining political power into the hands of the
Lankans. The key expectations of the Lankans in doing so were to get the number of
Lankan members in the Legislative Council increased through future reforms, get
the powers vested in the Legislative Council increased, get the opportunity to elect
more members, and to get more opportunities for local leaders to get involved in
administration affairs.

The measures adopted by Ceylon National Congress to achieve the above mentioned
objectives were not at all aggressive and was of a very peaceful nature. Those
measures included petitioning to the British government, petitioning to the Colonial
Secretary, holding meetings to raise awareness among people, presenting various
arguments in the legislature, making efforts to gain the favour of the Governor, and
writing to newspapers explaining the need for reforms.

5.5 Manning Constitutional Reform of 1920

The Lankans who were not satisfied with the constitutional reforms of 1910
continued to protest and as a result of such protests constitutional reforms were
introduced again in 1920. This constitution was drawn up on the recommendations
of the Governor of Ceylon, William Manning, and therefore was called Manning
constitution.

Legislative Council under Manning Reforms

Under the Manning constitution the number of members in the Legislative Council
was increased up to 37. Out of them 14 were official members while 23 were unofficial
members. Out of the 23 unofficial members, 7 were nominated by the Governor.
The other 16 were elected, which was a very significant feature of this constitution.
The composition of the 1920 Legislative Council was as shown in the chart below:
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Constitutional Reforms of 1920

Legislative Council
37

official unofficial
14 23

elected nominated
16 07

According to this chart, it seems at a glance that the number of unofficial members
in the Legislative Council was greater than that of the official members, but when
there was a division, the seven members who were nominated by the Governor
joined the official members and therefore the Governor had more votes as against
the 16 elected members.

Manning – Devonshire Constitutional Reforms of 1924

The expectations of the Lankans were not fulfilled through the constitutional reforms
of 1920. Therefore, Ceylon National Congress was against these reforms. The
Congress was also making arrangements to boycott the election that was to be held
under the 1920 reforms. During this period, severe public agitations were growing
in India against the rule of the English. The English feared that a similar situation
would occur in Sri Lanka, too. Therefore, Governor Manning gave the promise to
the Ceylon National Congress that another reform would be introduced very soon
if the National Congress agreed to the 1920 reforms and acted accordingly. It was
as a result of this promise that constitutional reforms were introduced once again
in 1924. These reforms were drawn up by the Colonial Secretary Devonshire on
the recommendation of the Governor William Manning and therefore were called
Manning – Devonshire reforms.
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Under Manning – Devonshire reforms, the membership of the Legislative Council

was increased up to 49 members. Out of them, 12 were official members and 37
were unofficial members. Out of the 37 unofficial members, 29 were elected and 8
were nominated by the Governor. Out of the 29 members who were elected, 23 were
elected on a territorial basis and 6 were appointed on communal representation
basis.

Manning – Devonshire Constitutional Reforms of 1924

Legislative Council
49

Official Unofficial
12 37

through voting by nomination

29 08

provincial voting communal basis

23 06

According to these reforms, the total of the 12 official members and the 8 nominated
members formed a minority as against the 23 elected members. Therefore, within
the Legislative Council there was no majority vote for the governor. When this
constitution was put into operation, this situation put the Governor in a very
difficult situation.
Lankans were dissatisfied about the requirements that a person had to fulfill in
order to become eligible to cast vote at elections to elect members to the Legislative
Council under the 1924 reforms as well as under the 1920 reforms. In order to
become a voter, one should have got the ability to read or write in some language
and should also have possessed property or some means of income. This had greatly
limited the number of eligible voters.
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5.7 Donoughmore Constitutional Reforms 1931

As Lankans got the majority of seats in the Legislative Council under Manning –
Devonshire constitution, the Governor had to act very strategically. The Governor of
Lanka complained about this situation to the Colonial Secretary and consequently
the Donoughmore commission was appointed in 1927 to study the situation in
Lanka and to submit necessary recommendations. This commission which was
headed by Lord Donoughmore arrived in Lanka, collected evidence from Lankans
and submitted its recommendations after carrying out extensive investigations. The
constitutional reforms that were made based on those recommendations are called
the Donoughmore Constitution.
Let us now study some of the Donoughmore reforms separately.

Establishment of a State Council

The Legislative Council that was established under the Donoughmore constitution
was called the State Council. The number of members in the State Council was 61.
Out of them, 50 members were elected by the public on territorial basis and 8 were
nominated by the Governor to represent the minority communities that were not
represented through vote. The remaining 3 members were state officers, namely the
State Secretary, the Finance Secretary and the Legal Secretary.

State Council under the Donoughmore constitution

61

from territorial state officers nominated by the

constituencies 03 Governor
50 __ state secretary 08

__ finance secretary

__legal secretary
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The Chair of the State Council went to the Speaker who was elected by the members
of the Council. Accordingly, A.F. Molamure was elected as the first Speaker of the
State Council. The term of office of the State Council was 5 years.

Granting of Universal Franchise

Although people had been enfranchised for electing members to the Legislative
Council since Crewe – McCallum reforms of 1910, it was limited to a very small
portion of the population. One needed to have received education up to a certain
level and should also have possessed wealth in order to get qualified to vote at
elections. Therefore, ordinary people did not have the right to vote at elections;
thus the number of those who were eligible to vote was as small as 4% of the total
population. The Donoughmore commission pointed out that, when ordinary people
were kept out of the political platform in this manner, the attention of the politicians
would not be directed towards the needs of the ordinary people. Therefore, the
commission recommended that universal franchise should be granted in order to
politically empower ordinary people and to make politicians draw their attention
towards the wellbeing of ordinary people. Accordingly, both males and females
over 21 years were given the right to vote at elections. This can be considered as a
great victory achieved by the ordinary people. In this way, out of all colonies of the
British Empire, Sri Lanka became the first Asian country to gain universal franchise
without any difference.

Establishment of Executive Committees

The State Council functioned as a board that carried out legislative and executive
functions. Legislative functions that had been assigned to this Council were
implemented by the Council by meeting as a whole House. For carrying out executive
functions, the State Council were divided into seven committees. Accordingly, out
of the 61 members who were appointed to the State Council after a general election,
except for the Speaker and the 3 state officers, the remaining 57 members were
divided into 7 committees. The 7 committees were as follows:

² Committee on Home Affairs

² Committee on Agriculture and Lands
² Committee on Local Government
² Committee on Health
² Committee on Education
² Committee on Labour, Industry and Commerce
² Committee on Transport and Public Works
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Each committee had to meet separately and select a chairperson for the committee.
Each of these chairpersons were appointed as the Minister in charge of the relevant
subject of the committee.
These seven chairpersons and the three state officers were considered as
ministers.
Because of the executive committees that functioned under the
Donoughmore constitution, Lankan politicians got the opportunity to get some
training on government affairs. It was a distinctive landmark in the journey towards
parliamentary government.

The Governor and the Three State Officers

In comparison with the constitutions that had been in effect up to this time, the powers
that had been vested in the Governor were largely reduced through Donoughmore
reforms. Donoughmore commissioners did not expect to assign the Governor with
all responsibilities of the government and wished to assign with Lankans a part
of the responsibility of government. Accordingly, the Governor was assigned with
responsibilities such as of granting the final approval for the acts passed by the State
Council, appointing officers to the public service, and making decisions regarding
affairs that relate to the British Empire.
Under the Donoughmore constitution, important aspects of government such as
security, finance, and law were assigned to the three state officers, namely the Chief
Secretary, the Finance Secretary and the Legal Secretary.

Abolishing of Communal Representation System

When selecting members to the Legislative Council, the British had implemented
the communal representation system. This was a system which led to various
controversies between different ethnic communities in the country. Therefore,
Lankans had been raising their voice until 1931 demanding that communal
representation system be abolished. It is praiseworthy that the communal
representation system was abolished and territorial representation system was
strengthened under the Donoughmore constitution.
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5.8 Soulbury Constitutional Reforms of 1947

Appointment of the Soulbury Commission

Although Lankans were granted powers with regard to seven of the ten
ministries that were established under the Donoughmore constitution, they were
not happy about assigning of three important ministries to the three state officers
and about the powers that had been vested in the Governor. Therefore, soon after
the Donoughmore constitution had been implemented, protests were launched
demanding that this constitution be reformed and a new constitution be introduced.
Some of the key objectives of such protests were as follows:

² vesting in Lankans the powers of the ministries that had been assigned to the
state officers
² increasing the powers that had been granted to the Lankan ministers
² getting a system of cabinet established instead of the executive council system

The board of ministers and representatives of the people in the State Council played
a leading role in carrying out these protests. Organizations such as Ceylon National
Congress supported the board of ministers.

Figure 5.2 – Lord Soulbury

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As World War II broke out in 1939, the British needed the support of the Lankans
for fighting in the war. Britain played a prominent role among the countries that
fought against Germany in this war. In this difficult situation, the board of ministers
extended the cooperation of this country to the British. The objective of the Lankans
in extending their cooperation to the British was to get implemented constitutional
reforms through which Lankans got more powers. While the war was being fought,
the Ministers of this country got the opportunity to work in close collaboration with
the Governor and other British officers. Consequently, the British officers seemed to
have developed a more flexible attitude towards the political requests of the people.
In May 1943, the Governor of Ceylon issued a statement explaining the policy of
the Government of Britain on the constitutional reforms of Sri Lanka. According to
that statement, the British were making arrangements to introduce reforms through
which Lankans would be given the responsibility of handling the internal affairs of
the country. Accordingly, the board of ministers was given the powers to prepare
a suitable draft constitution. When preparing the draft constitution, the board of
ministers took steps to get the assistance of Sir Ivor Jennings, who was an expert in
the field of constitutional law.
Preparing of the draft constitution of the board of ministers was completed in
February 1944. In July 1944, the Government of Britain appointed a special
commission to study the draft constitution prepared by the board of ministers, to
discuss that constitution with the minority communities and other parties, and to
submit a report to the Government of Britain. This commission was headed by Lord
Soulbury and therefore was called Soulbury Commission.

In December 1944, Soulbury Commission arrived in this country and, having

studied the necessary areas, issued its report in 1945. The constitution that was
prepared based on the recommendations of that report was implemented in this
country from 1947. It was called the Soulbury constitution.

Key Features of the Soulbury Constitution

² abolishing the office of Governor and establishing the office of Governor General
² establishing a bicameral parliament (House of Commons and the Senate)
² establishing a Cabinet of Ministers headed by the Prime Minister
² establishing the Public Service Commission and the Judicial Service Commission
 119

Governor General
The office of the Governor that had existed up to that time was abolished under the
Soulbury constitution. Even under this constitution, the Queen of Britain was ac-
cepted as the head of state of Ceylon, and therefore, the office of Governor General
was created to represent the Queen. The Governor General was appointed by the
Queen. Although the Governor General was granted a lot of legislative, executive
and judicial powers, he had to act on the advice of the Prime Minister and therefore
this became merely a nominal executive position. The then Governor Sir Henry
Monck Mason Moore was appointed as the first Governor General of Lanka.

Figure 5.3 – Sir Henry Monck Mason Moore

Parliament
Under the Soulbury constitution, the legislative or the institution that is
responsible for making laws was called ‘parliament’. As the parliament consisted of
both the House of Commons and the Senate, it was called a bicameral parliament.
House of Commons, which was the first House of the parliament, consisted of 101
members. Out of them 95 were elected by the people on a constituency basis and
the remaining 6 were appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the Prime
Minister to represent the minority communities that were not represented through
the election. The term of office of Parliament was 5 years.
The second House of the parliament was the Senate or the Upper House. This House
consisted of 30 members. Out of them, 15 members were appointed by the Governor
General on the advice of the Prime Minister. The remaining 15 were elected by the
House of Commons. The term of office of the Senate was 6 years.
120

Figure 5.4 – Old parliament building

The Cabinet of Ministers headed by the Prime Minister

Figure 5.5 – The first Cabinet of Ministers

 121

Under the Soulbury Constitution, the Cabinet

of Ministers headed by the Prime Minister was
vested with executive powers or the powers of
implementing laws. The Prime Minister was the
Head of the Cabinet of Ministers. The member
who won the confidence of the majority of
members was appointed to the office of Prime
Minister by the Governor General. Further,
the Governor General appointed the cabinet of
ministers on the recommendation of the Prime
Minister. The Cabinet of Ministers was selected
from among the members who represented the
government in the House of Representatives
and from among the members of the
Senate. In terms of the Soulbury constitution,
two members of the senate had to be appointed
to the cabinet of ministers and one of these two Figure 5.6 – D.S. Senanayake
should be the Minister of Justice. Maintaining
the independence of the judiciary was the objective of setting out such provisions.
Collective responsibility to Parliament was a significant feature of the Cabinet of
Ministers.

Public Service Commission

Under the Soulbury Commission, appointment of public officials of the highest ranks
such as the Attorney General, the Auditor General and the Permanent Secretary was
done by the Governor General on the advice of the Prime Minister. In addition
to that, a Public Service Commission was appointed to make appointments to the
lower positions in the public service and to remove and take disciplinary action
regarding the officers in such positions. The Public Service Commission consisted
of three members.

Judicial Service Commission

Under the Soulbury Commission, appointment of the Chief Justice and the Judges of
the Supreme Court, which was the highest court, was done by the Governor General
on the advice of the Prime Minister. A judicial Service Commission was appointed
for the purpose of appointing judges to the lower courts and for removing and
taking disciplinary action regarding such judges. The Judicial Service Commission
consisted of the Chief Justice and two other judges.