Weligama Electoral District

Weligama electoral district was an electoral district of Sri Lanka between August 1947 and February 1989. The district was named after the town of Weligama in Matara District, Southern Province. The 1978 Constitution of Sri Lanka introduced the proportional representation electoral system for electing members of Parliament. The existing 160 mainly single-member electoral districts were replaced with 22 multi-member electoral districts.[1] Weligama electoral district was replaced by the Matara multi-member electoral district at the 1989 general elections, the first under the proportional representation system.

Members of Parliament

Key

  Independent     Sri Lanka Freedom Party     United National Party  

Election		Member	Party	Term
	1947	Montague Jayawickrama	United National Party	1947 - 1956
	1952
	1956	Panini Ilangakoon	Sri Lanka Freedom Party	1956 -1960
	1960 (March)	Montague Jayawickrama	United National Party	1960 - 1970
	1960 (July)
	1965
	1970	Panini Ilangakoon	Sri Lanka Freedom Party	1970 1977
	1977	Montague Jayawickrama	United National Party	1977 -1989

Elections

1947 Parliamentary General Election

Results of the 1st parliamentary election held between 23 August 1947 and 20 September 1947:[2]

Candidate	Party	Symbol	Votes	%
Montague Jayawickrama	United National Party	Umbrella	11,255	42.95
Edward Senaratne		Star	7,468	28.50
A. B. Seneviratne		Elephant	5,212	19.89
E. Y. D. Abeygunawardena		Key	1,422	5.43
D. L. Senaratne		Hand	413	1.58
Valid Votes			25,770	98.35
Rejected Votes			433	1.65
Total Polled			26,203	100.00
Registered Electors			51,174
Turnout				51.20

1952 Parliamentary General Election

Results of the 2nd parliamentary election held between 24 May 1952 and 30 May 1952:[3]

Candidate	Party	Symbol	Votes	%
Montague Jayawickrama	United National Party	Umbrella	16,397	53.78
Panini Ilangakoon	Sri Lanka Freedom Party	Star	13,806	45.28
Valid Votes			30,203	99.06
Rejected Votes			286	0.94
Total Polled			30,489	100.00
Registered Electors			40,727
Turnout				74.86

1956 Parliamentary General Election

Results of the 3rd parliamentary election held between 5 April 1956 and 10 April 1956:[4]

Candidate	Party	Symbol	Votes	%
Panini Ilangakoon	Sri Lanka Freedom Party	Hand	18,648	57.27
Montague Jayawickrama	United National Party	Elephant	13,659	41.95
Valid Votes			32,307	99.23
Rejected Votes			252	0.77
Total Polled			32,559	100.00
Registered Electors			44,610
Turnout				72.99

1960 (March) Parliamentary General Election

Results of the 4th parliamentary election held on 19 March 1960:[5]

Candidate	Party	Symbol	Votes	%
Montague Jayawickrema	United National Party	Elephant	14,270	52.44
Panini Ilangakoon	Sri Lanka Freedom Party	Hand	10,240	37.63
D. Wickremaratna		Star	1,709	6.28
D. B. de S. Jayawardena		Umbrella	447	1.64
G. P. J. Nanayakkara		Eye	271	0.99
A. G. Piyasinghe		Pair of Scales	128	0.47
Valid Votes			27,065	99.46
Rejected Votes			147	0.54
Total Polled			27,212	100.00
Registered Electors			37,119
Turnout				73.31

1960 (July) Parliamentary General Election

Results of the 5th parliamentary election held on 20 July 1960:[6]

Candidate	Party	Symbol	Votes	%
Montague Jayawickrema	United National Party	Elephant	15,281	54.29
Panini Ilangakoon	Sri Lanka Freedom Party	Hand	12,741	45.26
Valid Votes			28,022	99.55
Rejected Votes			126	0.45
Total Polled			28,148	100.00
Registered Electors			37,119
Turnout				75.83

1965 Parliamentary General Election

Results of the 6th parliamentary election held on 22 March 1965:[7]

Candidate	Party	Symbol	Votes	%
Montague Jayawickrema	United National Party	Elephant	18,316	52.66
Panini Ilangakoon	Sri Lanka Freedom Party	Hand	16,271	46.78
Valid Votes			34,587	99.43
Rejected Votes			197	0.57
Total Polled			34,784	100.00
Registered Electors			44,912
Turnout				78.71

1970 Parliamentary General Election

Results of the 7th parliamentary election held on 27 May 1970:[8]

Candidate	Party	Symbol	Votes	%
Panini Ilangakoon	Sri Lanka Freedom Party	Hand	22,635	58.09
S. S. Perera	United National Party	Elephant	16,224	41.64
Valid Votes			38,859	99.73
Rejected Votes			107	0.27
Total Polled			38,966	100.00
Registered Electors			47,309
Turnout				82.36

1977 Parliamentary General Election

Results of the 8th parliamentary election held on 21 July 1977:[9]

Candidate	Party	Symbol	Votes	%
Montague Jayawickrema	United National Party	Elephant	25,440	55.95
Chulpadmendra Dahanayake	Sri Lanka Freedom Party	Hand	16,343	35.94
H. G. S. Ratnaweera	Communist Party of Sri Lanka	Star	3,560	7.83
Valid Votes			45,343	99.72
Rejected Votes			128	0.28
Total Polled			45,471	100.00
Registered Electors			54,430
Turnout				83.54

References

1. "The Electoral System". Parliament of Sri Lanka.
2. "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1947" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 8 May 2017.
3. "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1952" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 8 May 2017.
4. "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1956" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 8 May 2017.
5. "Result of Parliamentary General Election 19 March 1960" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 8 May 2017.
6. "Result of Parliamentary General Election 20 July 1960" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 8 May 2017.
7. "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1965" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 8 May 2017.
8. "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1970" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 8 May 2017.
9. "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1977" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 8 May 2017.