First Ceylonese Governor-General
Shortly after a visit by Queen Elizabeth II to Ceylon in April 1954, the decision was taken to appoint a Ceylonese native to the post of Governor-General, the mostly ceremonial head of state. Senanayake had died in 1952, and General Sir John Kotalawela was Prime Minister by the time Goonetilleke succeeded to the position and took up residence in Queen's House. He continued in office for eight years, through tumultuous times in Ceylon's history including the 1958 outbreak of ethnic violence, during which he was given credit for persuading the largely Sinhalese government to take action to protect the Tamil minority.
His willingness to take difficult or unpopular positions should not have been any surprise to those who had watched his work in civil defence fifteen years earlier, including steps to confiscate market stalls and even larger businesses whose owners had abandoned them in the face of the Japanese assault, and turn them over to others who were willing to reopen them. Similarly, he experienced criticism in 1960 for his decision when faced with the classic difficulty for a Governor-General, whether to dissolve Parliament, causing a new election, or call on a different faction to form a government when the Prime Minister (in this case Dudley Senanayake, son of his old friend) lost Parliament's confidence. He was a friend of the powerful philanthropist Sir Ernest de Silva who assisted him in the ascension to Governor-General.
He earned the respect of all parties and figures, including Solomon W. R. D. Bandaranaike, the leading figure of Ceylon's left wing in the 1950s and patriarch of future generations of such leadership. At one point some politicians protested that Bandaranaike had permitted Goonetilleke, no left-winger, to stay in office, and began a movement to cut his salary as a gesture of disapproval. "His Excellency has placed his knowledge, experience and constitutional powers at the full disposal of the present Government," Bandaranaike told Parliament, "and as constitutionally proper, been most helpful to the Government."
Read more about this topic: Oliver Ernest Goonetilleke