Bernard Soysa | |
|---|---|
| Member of theCeylon Parliament forColombo South | |
| In office April 1956 – 1977 | |
| Preceded by | T. F. Jayewardene |
| Succeeded by | Constituency abolished |
| Member of Parliament forColombo | |
| In office August 1994 – December 1997 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1914-03-20)20 March 1914 |
| Died | 30 December 1997(1997-12-30) (aged 83) Colombo, Sri Lanka |
| Nationality | Ceylonese |
| Political party | Lanka Sama Samaja Party |
| Profession | politician |
Bernard Soysa (20 March 1914 - 30 December 1997) was a Sri Lankan politician.[1]
Bernard Soysa was born 20 March 1914 inColombo,Ceylon. He attended theHoly Family Convent, Bambalapitiya,S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia and thenAnanda College.[citation needed] Soysa joined theSamasamajist movement in 1937 whilst he was a student atCeylon University College. He dropped out of university, and after brief stints atSri Lanka Law College and in teaching, he joined theLanka Sama Samaja Party, aTrotskyistpolitical party.
In April 1942 he traveled to India to assist in establishing theBolshevik-Leninist Party of India, which was actively involved in the struggle against British rule in August 1942. Soysa was arrested in Bombay in July 1943, months after the struggle was crushed, where he was detained for 50 days before being returned to Ceylon, and released on parole.
Following the end of theSecond World War he contested the1st parliamentary election, held between 23 August 1947 and 20 September 1947, in theColombo South electorate, where he polled third.[2] Soysa didn't run in the subsequent 1948 by-election, following the dismissal of the sitting member for Colombo South,Reginald Abraham de Mel, which saw the election ofTheodore Frederick Jayewardene, representing theUnited National Party. He did however challenge Jayewardene at the2nd parliamentary election, held between 24 May 1952 and 30 May 1952, failing to secure the seat by 5,180 votes.[3] He was elected to theColombo Municipal Council from the Tibirigasyaya Ward, defeatingKusala Abhayavardhana. At the3rd parliamentary election, held between 5 April 1956 and 10 April 1956, Soysa ran again for the third time for the seat ofColombo South. This time he was successful, receiving 14,199 votes (50.93% of the total vote) and defeating the sitting member,T. F. Jayewardene, by 5,044 votes.[4]
In 1960, Colombo South became a multi-member constituency with two seats in Parliament, following its amalgamation with theWellawatte/Galkissa electorate. Soysa andEdmund Samarawickrema (UNP) were elected as representatives in March 1960. In July 1960, Soysa was re-elected andJ. R. Jayewardene was elected in the place of Samarawickrema. Soysa and Jayewardene were re-elected unopposed in 1965, the first time since 1947, whenHameed Hussain Sheikh Ismail was elected uncontested in thePuttalam electorate, that there had been no contest for a seat in the parliament.[5] The pair also retained their seats in parliament at the7th parliamentary election, held on 27 May 1970.
Soysa supported the coalition,United Front, government that was formed inMay 1970 between theSri Lanka Freedom Party, the Lanka Sama Samaja Party and theCommunist Party. He was appointed the Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament[6] during the first coalition of 1964; he continued in this post during the United National Party's government of 1965-70 and the coalition government of 1970–77, a tenure of 13 years. In the second coalition, he acted forN. M. Perera asMinister of Finance on several occasions when Perera was out of the country. He served as theMinister of Housing in theSecond Sirimavo Bandaranaike cabinet.
In 1977, Colombo South was split up into two electorates, Colombo East and Colombo West. Soysa contested theColombo East electorate, finishing third, losing toEdmund Samarawickrema. He again contest theColombo West electorate in a by-election held on 21 March 1978, finishing third, losing toAnura Bastian.
In August 1994 at the10th parliamentary election, Soysa was elected to parliament as an LSSP member of thePeople's Alliance in theColombo Electoral District.[7] He was subsequently appointed theMinister of Science and Technology[8] in theKumaratunga cabinet. Speaking as a minister at the fiftieth anniversary session of the Sri Lanka Association for the Advancement of Science in 1994.
Soysa died on 30 December 1997 at the National Hospital, Colombo, Sri Lanka.[9] His position as Minister of Science and Technology was filled byVasudeva Nanayakkara in January 1998.
On 20 March 2001Sri Lanka Post issued acommemorative stamp with his image. In May 2014 Kirula Road,Narahenpita was renamed Bernard Soysa Mawatha in his honour.[10]
He was the brother of Dr Ananda Soysa and brother-in-law of DrPriyani Soysa.[11]
.svg)
