Colombo Central electoral district was an electoral district of Sri Lanka between August 1947 and February 1989. The district was named after the city of Colombo in Colombo District, Western Province. The district was one of three multi-member constituencies, with three members, the others were Balangoda and Kadugannawa. was a three-member constituency. 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. Colombo Central electoral district was replaced by the Colombo multi-member electoral district at the 1989 general elections, the first under the PR system, though Colombo Central continues to be a polling division of the multi-member electoral district.
Members of Parliament Key
Ceylon Labour Party
ElectionMember 1PartyTermMember 2PartyTermMember 3PartyTerm 1947 A. E. Goonesinha LP 1947–1952 T.B. Jayah UNP 1947–1952Pieter KeunemanCPC1947-1977 1952 M. C. M. Kaleel UNP 1952–1960 Razik Fareed UNP 1952–1960 1956 M. S. Themis MEP–SLFP 1960 (March) M. C. M. Kaleel UNP 1960–1965 Ranasinghe Premadasa UNP 1960 1960 (July) Razik Fareed UNP 1960–1965 1965 Falil Caffoor UNP 1965–1977 Ranasinghe Premadasa UNP 1965–1989 1970 1977 M. Jabir A. Cader UNP 1977–1989 Haleem Ishak SLFP 1977–1989
Elections 1947 Parliamentary General Election Results of the 1st parliamentary election held between 23 August 1947 and 20 September 1947 for the district:
CandidatePartySymbolVotes% A. E. Goonesinha Labour Party Bicycle23,47022.84 T. B. Jayah United National Party Cartwheel18,43917.94 Pieter KeunemanCommunist PartyUmbrella15,43515.02 M. H. M. Munas House8,6008.37 Ayisha RauffIndependentTree8,4868.26 V. J. Perera Elephant5,9505.79 V. A. SugathadasaUnited National Party Lamp4,8984.77 G.W. Harry de Silva Scales4,1414.03 V. A. Kandiah Clock3,3913.30 S. Sarawanamuttu Chair2,9512.87 P. Givendrasingha Hand1,5691.53 K. Dahanayake Cup9970.97 K. Weeraiah Key3520.34 K. C. F. Deen Star3450.34 N. R. Perera Butterfly2590.25Valid Votes99,28396.61Rejected Votes3,4893.39Total Polled102,772100.00Registered Electors55,994Turnout183.54
1950 Parliamentary by-election Following the resignation of Tuan Burhanudeen Jayah a parliamentary by-election for his seat was held on 6 May 1950: CandidatePartySymbolVotes%M. C. M. KaleelUnited National PartyHouse14,79646.85S. A. WickremasingheCommunist Party Umbrella12,50139.59M. S. Abubaker Elephant2,7683.90Ayisha Rauf Star1,23217.74%Valid Votes31,29799.11Rejected Votes2820.89Total Polled31,579100Registered Electors55,994Turnout56.40
1952 Parliamentary General Election Results of the 2nd parliamentary election held between 24 May 1952 and 30 May 1952 for the district:
CandidatePartySymbolVotes%Pieter KeunemanCommunist Party Umbrella32,34627.28%M. C. M. KaleelUnited National Party House25,64721.63%Razik FareedUnited National Party Key24,91121.01%A. E. Goonesinha Labour Party Bicycle19,84316.74%P. de S. KularatneSri Lanka Freedom Party Elephant14,55612.28%Piyaseela Givendrasingha Hand7510.63%H.L. Perera Star5170.44%Valid Votes118,570100.00%Rejected Votes4,217Total Polled122,788Registered Electors58,400Turnout210.25%
1956 Parliamentary General Election Results of the 3rd parliamentary election held between 5 April 1956 and 10 April 1956 for the district:
CandidatePartySymbolVotes%Pieter KeunemanCommunist PartyStar45,29630.62%Razik FareedUnited National Party Umbrella26,51217.92%M. S. ThemisMahajana Eksath Peramuna Hand20,37813.77%M. C. M. KaleelUnited National Party Cartwheel20,33813.75%V. A. SugathadasaUnited National Party Elephant18,23412.33%A. E. Goonesinha Labour Party Bicycle16,67811.27%A. Ally Mohamood Flower5010.34%Valid Votes147,937100.00%Rejected Votes3,901Total Polled151,838Registered Electors70,022Turnout216.84%
1960 (March) Parliamentary General Election Results of the 4th parliamentary election held on 19 March 1960 for the district:
CandidatePartySymbolVotes%M. C. M. KaleelUnited National Party Pair of Spectacles33,12119.02%Pieter KeunemanCommunist PartyStar30,57417.56%Ranasinghe PremadasaUnited National PartyElephant29,82817.13%P.B. ThampoeLanka Sama Samaja PartyKey22,22812.76%Razik Fareed United National Party Umbrella21,03312.08%M. S. ThemisMahajana Eksath PeramunaCartwheel19,09310.96%E. S. RatnaweeraSri Lanka Freedom PartyHand11,8596.81%Abdul Aziz Tree4,6352.66%D. J. S. Paranayapa Lamp4140.24%Vasanta Appadurai Ship4040.23%Cecil Wickremasinghe Eye3970.23%A. Kumarasinghe Flower2200.13%Premaranjan Lokeshvara Table1710.10%A. A. Mohamed Pot1660.10%Valid Votes174,143100.00%Rejected Votes4,592Total Polled178,735Registered Electors74,922Turnout238.56%
1960 (July) Parliamentary General Election Results of the 5th parliamentary election held on 20 July 1960 for the district:
CandidatePartySymbolVotes%Razik FareedSri Lanka Freedom PartyHand45,34225.75%Pieter KeunemanCommunist PartyStar38,66321.96%M. C. M. KaleelUnited National PartyEye37,48621.29%Ranasinghe PremadasaUnited National PartyElephant35,03519.90%Bala TampoeLanka Sama Samaja PartyKey16,4069.32%M. S. Themis Cartwheel3,1641.80%Valid Votes176,096100.00%Rejected Votes3,488Total Polled179,584Registered Electors74,922Turnout239.69%
1965 Parliamentary General Election Results of the 6th parliamentary election held on 22 March 1965 for the district:
CandidatePartySymbolVotes%Falil CaffoorUnited National PartyChair68,37231.54%Ranasinghe PremadasaUnited National PartyElephant64,43829.72%Pieter KeunemanCommunist Party (Moscow)Star41,47819.13%M. Haleem IshakSri Lanka Freedom PartyHand32,13214.82%Bala Tampoe Lamp4,5592.10%D. A. PiyadasaMahajana Eksath PeramunaCartwheel2,5201.16%N. ShanmugathasanCommunist Party (Peking)Umbrella2,4271.12%O. S. A. Z. Abdeen Flower3320.15%Poopathy Saravanamuttu Ship2820.13%R. H. Jayasekera Scales2680.12%Valid Votes216,808100.00%Rejected Votes4,638Total Polled221,446Registered Electors93,468Turnout236.92%
1970 Parliamentary General Election Results of the 7th parliamentary election held on 27 May 1970 for the district:
CandidatePartySymbolVotes%Ranasinghe PremadasaUnited National PartyElephant69,31029.48%Falil CaffoorUnited National PartyChair63,62427.06%Pieter KeunemanCommunist PartyStar58,55724.91%M. Haleem IshakSri Lanka Freedom PartyHand41,71617.74%C. Durairajah Umbrella7830.33%M. Haroun Careem Bell4130.18%Poopathy Saravanamuttu Ship3960.17%Panangadan Raman Krishnan Scales3070.13%Valid Votes235,106100.00%Rejected Votes5,491Total Polled240,597Registered Electors99,265Turnout242.38%
1977 Parliamentary General Election Results of the 8th parliamentary election held on 21 July 1977 for the district:
CandidatePartySymbolVotes%Ranasinghe PremadasaUnited National Party Elephant94,12836.32%M. Jabir A. CaderUnited National Party Eye58,97222.76%M. Haleem IshakSri Lanka Freedom Party Hand53,77720.75%M. S. SellasamyCeylon Workers' CongressCockerel26,96410.41%Pieter KeunemanCommunist Party Star24,5689.48%W. A. Sunil Perera Chair4220.16%R. Rathnasamy Flower2020.08%M. T. M. Saleem Table1030.04%Valid Votes259,136100.00%Rejected Votes6,660Total Polled265,796Registered Electors106,403Turnout249.80%
References