Ranasinghe Premadasa – the People’s President

97th birth anniversary on June 23, 2021

The 97th birth anniversary of former President Ranasinghe Premadasa, which falls on June 23, 2021, evoke fond memories of a great leader who stood steadfastly by his party and the common masses through thick and thin.

My father, the late E. P. De Silva (EP), former Editor of the then Daily Mirror and Times, was a longstanding friend of Premadasa. In fact, he was a close family friend like Dr. N. M. Perera, Peter Keuneman and others who were engaged in trade unions and political activities at the time.

My father, a well-informed political reporter before he became the Editor, also had a close rapport with leftist leaders and trade unionists such as Alavi Moulana and Bala Thampo. As a result of these societal connections, President Premadasa consulted my father frequently as he knew the power of journalists and made good use of them to the advantage of the country.

In the good old days, the phone in our home at Rawathawatte, Moratuwa, started ringing from 5.00 am. The first regular caller was always President Premadasa. This was the pattern since he served as an opposition MP, deputy minister, minister and later Prime Minister.

My father kept an ear to the ground and was well tuned to the political affairs. He had a network of “contacts”, which kept him well briefed of the ‘behind the scene’ developments in the political firmament.

Ranasinghe Premadasa ventured into politics in 1950. He was first elected a Labor Party member of the Colombo Municipal Council and later ascended to the position of Deputy Mayor. In 1956, he joined the United National Party (UNP) under the leadership of the late Prime Minister Dudley Senanayake. Four years on, he was elected a Member of Parliament from Colombo Central.

In the late 1960, he was appointed Minister of Local Government, Housing and Construction. Thereafter, in 1977 when J. R. Jayewardene became the first President of Sri Lanka, Premadasa was appointed the Prime Minister.

Premadasa worked tirelessly to eradicate poverty in Sri Lanka. Among his major endeavors were the Janasaviya poverty alleviation program and the 200 Garment Factories initiative in addition to building model villages with infrastructure facilities and amenities. His mission in life was to give a better tomorrow to the common man.

When my eldest sister passed away on January 2, 1973, we informed our father, who was on a call with Premadasa. Though he was not told anything about the death by my father, he called over to console us. Later in the evening also, he visited again with Mrs. Premadasa, a simple and gracious lady.

In the same way, the both of them also paid their last respects to my father. Premadasa was such a grateful person that he never forgot us. Whenever he visited Badulla district, he made it a point to visit me. He came over when I was the Assistant Superintendent at Downside Estate, Welimada and when I served as the Superintendent at Shawlands Estate, Lunugala.

With Premadasa’s untimely death, the country lost a dynamic leader who had the vision to spearhead the development of the economy by taking small-scale industries to the villages and providing employment to rustic youth. This resulted in alleviating poverty in the rural sector to some extent.

President Premadasa made it a point to monitor and evaluate by sending his staff to visit sites and submit a report to him. When the inspection reports were received, he proceeded with comparing the statistics maintained by the Ministries. This enabled him to track officials who worked hard to achieve results and those who tried to bluff him.

If we could have continued with the era of President Premadasa, we would have been a nation like Singapore today.

– Lalin I. De Silva,

Senior Planter/Agricultural Advisor & Consultant/Freelance Writer