Matara electoral district was an electoral district of Sri Lanka between August 1947 and February 1989. The district was named after the city of Matara 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. Matara electoral district was replaced by the Matara multi-member electoral district at the 1989 general elections, the first under the proportional representation system, Matara continues to be a polling division of the multi-member electoral district.
Members of Parliament Key
ElectionMemberPartyTerm 1947 H. D. Abeygoonewardane CCP 1947–1952 1952 Mahanama Samaraweera 1952–1956 1956 SLFP 1956–1960 1960 (March) Justin C. Wijayawardhene UNP 1960 1960 (July) Mahanama Samaraweera SLFP 1960–1965 1965 B. Y. Tudawe CCP 1965–1970 1970 1970–1977 1977 S. K. Piyadasa UNP 1970–1989
Elections
1947 Parliamentary General Election Results of the 1st parliamentary election held between 23 August 1947 and 20 September 1947:
CandidatePartySymbolVotes% H. D. Abeygoonewardane Communist Party of CeylonPineapple 11,970 57.31 W. Gunasekera Umbrella 5,279 25.27 G. Weeratunga Scales 2,261 10.83 K. K. D. Silva Cartwheel 442 2.12Valid Votes20,35297.44Rejected Votes535 2.56Total Polled20,887 100.00Registered Electors39,930 Turnout52.31
1952 Parliamentary General Election Results of the 2nd parliamentary election held between 24 May 1952 and 30 May 1952:
CandidatePartySymbolVotes% Mahanama SamaraweeraCommunist Party of CeylonStar 11,861 42.41 Edward Benjamin Senaratne Umbrella 10,785 38.56 Suriya Patabendige Albert de Silva Elephant 2,565 9.17 Yapa Sirisena Rajapaksa Hand 2,265 8.10Valid Votes27,47698.23Rejected Votes494 1.77Total Polled27,970 100.00Registered Electors41,166 Turnout67.94
1956 Parliamentary General Election Results of the 3rd parliamentary election held between 5 April 1956 and 10 April 1956:
CandidatePartySymbolVotes% Mahanama Samaraweera Sri Lanka Freedom Party Hand 18,571 59.83 D. H. Pandita Gunawardene United National Party Elephant 7,342 23.65 E. H. P. Gawrapala Star 4,894 15.77Valid Votes30,80799.25Rejected Votes232 0.75Total Polled31,039 100.00Registered Electors47,068 Turnout65.95
1960 (March) Parliamentary General Election Results of the 4th parliamentary election held on 19 March 1960:
CandidatePartySymbolVotes% Justin C. Wijayawardhene United National Party Elephant 8,409 36.56 Mahanama Samaraweera Sri Lanka Freedom Party Hand 6,533 28.41 B. Y. Tudawe Communist Party of Ceylon Star 5,702 24.79 K. K. de Silva Umbrella 2,151 9.35 Dayananda Kumarapperuma Eye 204 0.89Valid Votes22,99999.35Rejected Votes151 0.65Total Polled23,150100.00Registered Electors30,640 Turnout75.55
1960 (July) Parliamentary General Election Results of the 5th parliamentary election held on 20 July 1960:
CandidatePartySymbolVotes% Mahanama Samaraweera Sri Lanka Freedom Party Hand 13,105 56.0 Justin C. Wijayawardhena United National Party Elephant 10,200 43.59Valid Votes23,30599.59Rejected Votes96 0.41Total Polled23,401100.00Registered Electors30,640 Turnout76.37
1965 Parliamentary General Election Results of the 6th parliamentary election held on 22 March 1965:
CandidatePartySymbolVotes% B. Y. Tudawe Communist Party of Ceylon Star 15,207 51.27 Mahanama Samaraweera Sun 14,287 48.17Valid Votes29,49499.44Rejected Votes167 0.56Total Polled29,661 100.00Registered Electors37,399 Turnout79.31
1970 Parliamentary General Election Results of the 7th parliamentary election held on 27 May 1970:
CandidatePartySymbolVotes% B. Y. Tudawe Communist Party of Ceylon Star 20,764 58.37 S. K. Piyadasa United National Party Elephant 14,580 40.98 E. P. Wijethunga Bell 160 0.45Valid Votes35,50499.80Rejected Votes70 0.20Total Polled35,574 100.00Registered Electors41,751 Turnout85.21
1977 Parliamentary General Election Results of the 8th parliamentary election held on 21 July 1977:
CandidatePartySymbolVotes% S. K. Piyadasa United National Party Elephant 23,222 55.96 B. Y. Tudawe Communist Party of Ceylon Star 12,585 30.33 Bandula Abeysuriya Sri Lanka Freedom Party Hand 4,781 11.52 V. P. S. Abeysinghe Eye 623 1.50 Nandasiri Hettiarachchi Flower 201 0.48Valid Votes41,41299.80Rejected Votes84 0.20Total Polled41,496 100.00Registered Electors48,354 Turnout85.82
References