20 July 1960 1965 → n/a Dedigama 75 30 | 1960 1957 46 Seats, 21.28% 50 Seats, 29.89% 29 20 | |
General elections were held in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) in July 1960.
Contents
Background
The March 1960 election had left neither of Ceylon's two major parties with a majority, so another election was inevitable.
The Sri Lanka Freedom Party, which had been in disarray since the murder of its leader S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike the previous year, settled on his widow, Sirimavo, as its new leader. She pledged to continue her husband's policies, notably the Sinhala Only Act, and to proceed with repatriation of the estate Tamils to India.
The United National Party, led by Dudley Senanayake, had a similar position towards the island's minorities. Its differences with the SLFP were over economic policy. The SLFP called for a socialist program of nationalization of both private enterprises and religious schools; the UNP preferred to leave both in private hands.
Results
The SLFP obtained a bare majority, despite getting a lower share of the popular vote than the UNP, and Mrs. Bandaranaike became prime minister.