Шри-Ланка саяхатшысы Виджейянанда Даханаяке өмірі мен саяси жолы

Sri Lankan politician

Wijeyananda Dahanayake ( ; 22 October 1902 – 4 May 1997) was a Sri Lankan politician. He was the Prime Minister of Ceylon from September 1959 to March 1960. Born to as twin to a conservative family in Galle as Don Wijeyananda Dahanayake, he was educated at Richmond College, Galle and S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia. He became a teacher at St. Aloysius' College, Galle before entering active politics having been elected to the Galle Municipal Council in 1939 as a leftist and served as Mayor of Galle. In 1944, he was elected to the State Council of Ceylon and was thereafter elected to the House of Representatives. He served as the member of parliament from Galle from 1947 to 1977, with a brief interval in 1960. In 1956, he was appointed to the Cabinet of Ministers as the Minister of Education. He unexpectedly succeeded S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike as Prime Minister when the latter was assassinated on 26 September 1959. His tenure as the caretaker Prime Minister was short as he was unable to keep together the alliance formed by Bandaranaike. He dismissed the Cabinet of Ministers and called for fresh elections, for which he formed his own party. Although he lost his parliamentary seat in the 1960 March elections, he regained it in the general election that followed two months later. Sitting in the opposition from 1960 to 1965, he served as Minister of Home Affairs from 1960 to 1965 and again sat in opposition from 1970 to 1977. He then served as Minister of Co operatives from 1986 to 1988. He is noted for having contested from almost every major party of his time and has the record for the longest speech in parliament, lasting thirteen and half hours.

He was born as a twin in Dangedera, Richmond Hill, Galle and was named Don Wijeyananda Dahanayake after the Wijayananda Pirivena. His father was Don Dionesius Panditha Sepala Dahanayake, was a Muhandiram, who later served as the Kackckeri Mudliyar of Galle and was a scholar in oriental languages. His twin brother was Kalyanapriya Dahanayake. Dahanayake received his education first at Rippon Girls' School, Galle and then at the Government English Training School on Thurstan Road, Colombo; before moving to Richmond College, Galle and S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia for his secondary education.

He joined the teaching staff of St. Aloysius' College, Galle, where he taught English, mathematics, history and geography and received training at the teaching college in Maharagama. In addition he coached the college athletics and the junior cricket teams and organized the English Literary Union and the Debating Society. He also organized student protests against the British colonial administration.

Dahanayake became active in pre independence politics while serving as a teacher and switched to full time politics. As a member of the Trotskyite Lanka Sama Samaja Party, he was elected to the Galle Municipal Council from the Kumbalwella Ward, which he held until 1944. He was elected the first Mayor of Galle in 1939 and served till 1941. When World War II started in the far east, the Lanka Sama Samaja Party refused to support the British war effort. Dahanayake was prosecuted by the police for organising a strike during the height of war, which angered the British colonial administration. He represented himself in court without a lawyer and won against the crown prosecution. In parliament, he gave a thirteen and half hour speech during the first budget speech, which is the record for the longest speech. He later re joined the Lanka Sama Samaja Party under Dr N. M. Perera and successfully contested the 1952 general elections from the Lanka Sama Samaja Party and retaining his seat. He was expelled from the party for hosting a reception for the Prime Minister Dudley Senanayake's visit to Galle.

He successfully contested the July 1960 general elections from the Lanka Prajathanthravadi Pakshaya in Galle and elected to parliament defeating W. D. S. Abeygoonawardena. He seat in the opposition and was called before the commission of inquiry into the Bandaranaike assassination to give evidence in 1963. That year he was awarded an honorary doctorate from the Vidyodaya University and adopted the style "Dr Wijeyananda Dahanayake". In 1964, Dahanayake gained fame when he attempted and was prevented from entering parliament chambers in a span cloth (known locally as an Amude) in protest of government of Prime Minister Sirima Bandaranaike's rationing of clothing to two yards of textiles per month per person due to foreign exchange shortage. The following day dailies carried photos of Dahanayake in an Amude.

Dahanayake was a simple man. When appointed Prime Minister, he moved into Temple Trees carrying his own things in two old suitcases from his room in the Srawasthi Mandiraya. He found the prime minister's bed room too large and had it partitioned. When he resigned from the post of prime minister following his electoral defeat, he packed his personal belongings to the same suitcase left Temple Trees to Galle. He remained a bachelor throughout his life.