Maskeliya Electoral District

Maskeliya electoral district was an electoral district of Sri Lanka between August 1947 and July 1977. The district was named after the town of Maskeliya in Nuwara Eliya District, Central 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] Maskeliya electoral district was replaced by the Nuwara Eliya multi-member electoral district at the 1989 general elections, the first under the proportional representation system.

Members of Parliament

Key

  Ceylon Indian Congress   UNP   SLFP

Election		Member	Party	Term
	1947	G. R. Motha	Ceylon Indian Congress	1947-1950
	1950 by-election	Abdul Aziz		1950-1952
	1952	P. H. C. Silva	United National Party	1952-1956
	1956	S. Jinadasa	Sri Lanka Freedom Party	1956-1960
	1960 (March)	Donald J. Ranaweera	United National Party	1960
	1960 (July)	Edmund Wijesuriya	Sri Lanka Freedom Party	1960-1970
	1965		United National Party
	1970	P. Gamini Ariyatilake	Sri Lanka Freedom Party	1970-1976

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	%
G. R. Motha	Ceylon Indian Congress	Spectacles	9,086	60.09
B. D. W. Gunapala	Independent	House	3,949	26.12
K. Natesa Aiyar	Independent	Umbrella	918	6.07
T. M. Soloman	Lanka Sama Samaja Party	Hand	598	3.96
Valid Votes			14,551	96.24
Rejected Votes			569	3.76
Total Polled			15,120	100.00
Registered Electors			24,427
Turnout				61.90

1950 Parliamentary By-Election

Results of the parliamentary by-election held on 11 March 1950:^[3]

Candidate	Party	Symbol	Votes	%
Abdul Aziz	Ceylon Indian Congress	Hand	11,343	87.65
G. R. Rajapreyar		Cartwheel	1,301	10.05
Valid Votes			12,664	97.85
Rejected Votes			278	2.15
Total Polled			12,942	100.00
Registered Electors			24,427
Turnout				52.98

1952 Parliamentary General Election

Results of the 2nd parliamentary election held between 24 May 1952 and 30 May 1952:^[4]

Candidate	Party	Symbol	Votes	%
P. H. C. Silva	United National Party	House	3,415	59.37
Chandrapala Gunasekera	Lanka Sama Samaja Party	Umbrella	956	16.62
B. D. W. Gunapala	Ceylon Labour Party	Elephant	837	14.55
R. Bandara Gannewa	Independent	Star	360	6.26
H. P. Caldera	Sri Lanka Freedom Party	Hand	112	1.95
Valid Votes			5,680	98.75
Rejected Votes			72	1.25
Total Polled			5,752	100.00
Registered Electors			8,703
Turnout				66.09

1956 Parliamentary General Election

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

Candidate	Party	Symbol	Votes	%
S. Jinadasa	Sri Lanka Freedom Party	Hand	3,228	45.91
P. H. C. Silva	United National Party	Elephant	3,014	42.87
Ananda Premasinghe		Key	738	10.50
Valid Votes			6,980	99.27
Rejected Votes			51	0.73
Total Polled			7,031	100.00
Registered Electors			9,461
Turnout				74.32

1960 (March) Parliamentary General Election

Results of the 4th parliamentary election held on 19 March 1960:^[6]

Candidate	Party	Symbol	Votes	%
Donald J. Ranaweera	United National Party	Elephant	4,192	34.74
S. Jinadasa	Mahajana Eksath Peramuna	Cartwheel	3,031	25.12
P. Gamini Ariyatilake	Lanka Sama Samaja Party	Key	2,256	18.69
V. K. Vellayan		Tree	1,349	11.18
R. B. Gannewa	Sri Lanka Freedom Party	Hand	631	5.23
Effie Jayatillake		Umbrella	194	1.61
Yakandawala L. Senanayake		Star	121	1.00
Piyadasa Welhena		Sun	116	0.96
P.P. Pillai		Scales	56	0.46
Valid Votes			11,969	99.18
Rejected Votes			99	0.82
Total Polled			12,068	100.00
Registered Electors			15,450
Turnout				78.11

1960 (July) Parliamentary General Election

Results of the 5th parliamentary election held on 20 July 1960:^[7]

Candidate	Party	Symbol	Votes	%
Edmund Wijesuriya	Sri Lanka Freedom Party	Hand	6,378	54.03
D. J. Ranaweera	United National Party	Elephant	5,263	44.59
N. P. Banda		Cartwheel	91	0.77
Valid Votes			11,732	99.39
Rejected Votes			72	0.61
Total Polled			11,804	100.00
Registered Electors			15,450
Turnout				76.40

1965 Parliamentary General Election

Results of the 6th parliamentary election held on 22 March 1965:^[8]

Candidate	Party	Symbol	Votes	%
Edmund Wijesuriya	United National Party	Elephant	11,024	56.85
P. Gamini Ariyatilake	Sri Lanka Freedom Party	Hand	7,851	40.49
D. B. Rajapaksa		Butterfly	233	1.20
Valid Votes			19,108	98.54
Rejected Votes			284	1.46
Total Polled			19,392	100.00
Registered Electors			22,808
Turnout				85.02

1970 Parliamentary General Election

Results of the 7th parliamentary election held on 27 May 1970:^[9]

Candidate	Party	Symbol	Votes	%
P. Gamini Ariyatilake	Sri Lanka Freedom Party	Hand	10,783	45.75
Edmund Wijesuriya	United National Party	Elephant	10,087	42.50
V. K. Vellaiyen		Umbrella	1,412	5.95
D. J. Ranaweera		Butterfly	1,289	5.43
Valid Votes			23,571	99.31
Rejected Votes			163	0.69
Total Polled			23,734	100.00
Registered Electors			27,945
Turnout				84.93

References

1. "The Electoral System". Parliament of Sri Lanka.
2. "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1947" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
3. "Results of the Parliamentary By Elections held between 1947 - 1988" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
4. "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1952" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
5. "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1956" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
6. "Result of Parliamentary General Election 19 March 1960" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
7. "Result of Parliamentary General Election 20 July 1960" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
8. "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1965" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
9. "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1970" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 10 July 2020.