Cally Balthazaar, N.M. and Colombo 'Sanniya'

Retelling history after 60 years by Nandana Weeraratne

For the first time in its 150-year history, the Colombo Municipal Council is preparing to elect its leader. What a surprise! Once again, she faces the same fate she did 60 years ago in 1955 when choosing her ruler. How will her latest choice be made this time? In this year's local government elections, the NPP won 48 seats, giving it a majority, but they need at least 12 more seats to win power in the city. Vraie Cally Balthazaar, the NPP candidate can become mayor only if she manages to win over the support of 12 municipal councilors. However, recalling the history of the 1954 Colombo Municipal Council election—and the election and subsequent dismissal of Dr. N. M. Perera, the only non-UNP politician to hold the mayoralty since 1945—reveals just how dangerous a political move this could be.

What happened at the CMC in 1954? N. M. Perera— a 'double doctor' with doctorates in constitutional law and economics—was elected municipal councilor for the Wanathamulla division in the 1954 CMC election. Fortunately, the Sama Samaja Party, which represented the N.M., and the Communist Party of Sri Lanka, together won about half of the seats. The United National Party and other parties won the remaining seats. The only advantage that the Sama Samaja had was the support of the Communists. However, by the end of 1955, Ranasinghe Premadasa, the MP for the Aluth Kade division, had launched a political coup to remove one of the country's most intelligent men from the position of Mayor for the first time in history. He was led by J.R. Jayewardene, the MP for Kelaniya.

As a result of this political coup, Communist Party municipal councilor Anthony Marshall was allegedly bought off for a hefty sum. Simultaneously, Mayor N. M. Perera was unseated by a no-confidence motion—losing by a single vote. The Sama Samajaya sought legal recourse against this no-confidence motion. However, the trial and the session convened by Municipal Commissioner William Gopallawa to elect a new mayor were held on the same day. Since the ousted mayor N.M. had gone to court, three Sama Samaja representatives had been appointed to address the session convened by Commissioner Gopalla. Bernard Zoysa, Dr. Osman Jayaratne and renowned architect J. E. Devapura were the three representatives. Municipal Councilor Bernard addressed the session for 7 hours regarding the illegal council to remove the mayor. Dr. Jayaratne addressed the session for 3 hours. Devapura addressed the session for one hour. The debate marred by constant interference from Gopallawa, the uncle of then-SLFP leader Bandaranaike, ended with the opposition securing victory by a margin of two votes. UNP North Colombo leader V.A. Sugathadasa was appointed as the Mayor. Coup leader R. Premadasa was given the post of Deputy Mayor…!

Even if Vrai Callie Balthazar secures the mayor's position through an alliance with the independent candidates, it would amount to a three-headed-donkey arrangement with a future as uncertain as it was in 1956. This reference to the past was intended to bridge two eras. However, I will write down for you two excerpts from the speeches given by Dr. Jayaratne and architect Devapura at that municipal session.

“In human evolution, from the hunting era, humans have gone through various eras to reach urban civilization today. However, in this evolution, tribes that have not changed still exist in these societies. The service of my learned friend N. M. Perera is being lost to this capital because of the like-minded primitives in this city.” (Dr. Osman Jayaratne)

The destruction and fraud surrounding the construction of this Municipal Building are endless. Even the design of this building is a potential source of future crises. [Architect J. E. Devapura]

So you can compare the present with the past. There was a time when a very poor man in the city, a three-wheeler driver, rose to become the mayor, and democracy flourished there.

But, let's not forget that even today, half of Colombo's urban area is covered in slums.

Nandana Weeraratne

12/05/25