Soulbury Commission - Acceptance of The Soulbury Constitution

Acceptance of The Soulbury Constitution

The British historian Jane Russell argues that the official boycott of the Soulbury Commission by the Board of Ministers led by Senanayake was a "statesman-like action, if not a diplomatic coup. The fact that the more ... communal-minded (politicians) held aloof ..., enabled the minorities to have the floor unchallenged. This manoeuvre avoided a repetition of the situation ... of the Donoughmore Commission where there had been a spiraling of communal demands as accusations and denunciations (which) provoked counter-accusations, ... until communal tension reached ... in outbreaks of violence. (sic) It enabled G. G. Ponnambalam to strut about the political arena for a few months unimpeded", while the Board of Ministers maintained a quiet dignity while doing behind-the-curtain politics. Thus the visit of the Soulbury Commission and the final Soulbury Report did much to reconcile the minority communities with the Sinhalese leadership under D. S. Senanayake. The voting in the third reading (in March) of the "Free Lanka" bill of January 1945, was supported by all the Muslim members, and by T. G. Rajakulendran, S. P. Vytilingam, and V. Nalliah. Some of the other minority members who did not want to openly support the bill took care to be absent or abstain. Finally, the debate and the vote of acceptance on the eighth and ninth of September 1945 was the most significant indication of general reconciliation among the ethnic and regional groups. Far exceeding the 3/4 majority required by the Soulbury Commission, Senanayake had 51 votes in favour and only three votes against the adoption of the constitution. The vote was "in many ways a vote of confidence by all communities in ... Senanayake", and the minorities were as anxious as the majority for self-government( p 317, also, p. 6).

Senanayake's speech in proposing the motion of acceptance made reference to the minorities and said "throughout this period the Ministers had in view one objective only, the attainment of maximum freedom. Accusations of Sinhalese domination have been bandied about. We can afford to ignore them for it must be plain to every one that what we sought was not Sinhalese domination, but Ceylonese domination. We devised a scheme that gave heavy weight to the minorities; we deliberately protected them against discriminatory legislation. We vested important powers in the Governor-General... We decided upon an Independent Public Service Commission so as to give assurance that there should be no communalism in the Public Srvice.(sic) I do not normally speak as a Sinhalese, and I do not think that the Leader of this Council ought to think of himself as a Sinhalese representative, but for once I should like to speak as a Sinhalese and assert with all the force at my command that the interests of one community are the interests of all. We are one of another, what ever race or creed."

When the war ended, D. S. Senanayake was ready, on a mission to Whitehall to push for full dominion status instead of the status discussed in the 1943 Colonial secretary's report. During August–September 1945 Senanayake argued that the limits on Ceylon's external sovereignty (defence and external affairs), adhered to by the Soulbury report were unworkable and unnecessary. Senanayake suggested the confirmation of Dominion status by an Order in Council, and delivered a draft to G. H. Hall, the new Secretary to the Colonies. While the new labour government was prepared to accept the Soulbury report, it was firmly opposed to granting Dominion Status. The British were willing to consider Dominion status six years after the Soulbury constitution, say in 1953-54, although this was not revealed to the Ceylonese politicians. In 1947, with the general election to the new parliament scheduled for August–September 1947, Senanayake once again pressed Whitehall for a more precise date for Dominion Status. Arthur Creeh-Jones, successor to Hall in the Colonial office was much more receptive to Senanayake's request. Independence for India was announced by the Labour cabinet on 20 February 1947. Oliver Goonatilleke, who was handling the negotiations in Whitehall on behalf of Senanayake, argued that the immediate granting of Dominion Status was urgently necessary since the moderates were under increasing pressure from left-wing and nationalist extremist groups. The British government made the official announcement on 18 June 1947 that the Island would receive "fully responsible status within the British Commonwealth of Nations".

G. G. Ponnambalam had in the 1930s begun to declare that he is a "proud Dravidian" and had rejected the "Ceylonese Concept" of Senanayake and others at the time. At the end of the Soulbury submissions, he decided to moderate his politics, and publicly advocated "responsive cooperation" with the Sinhalese leaders. He joined the cabinet of D. S. Senanayake who became the first prime minister of independent Ceylon in 1948. S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike, the Sinhalese Nationalist counterpart of Ponnambalam had also joined the cabinet, leaving the opposition to the Marxists and small nationalist groups.