Sirimavo Bandaranaike, the grand old lady of Sri Lankan politics

TWENTY-FIVE years have passed since the world’s first woman Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike passed away on 10 October 2000. Parliamentary elections were being held on that day and the grand old lady of Sri Lankan politics was returning to Colombo from Gampaha district after casting her vote in Horagolla. Sirimavo suffered a heart attack when her vehicle was in Kadawatta enroute to Colombo.

- By D.B.S. Jeyaraj

Sirimavo Bandaranaike’s remains were laid to rest alongside her husband Solomon West Ridgeway Dias (SWRD) Bandaranaike at the Horagolla Samadhi in keeping with her wishes... “I don’t want to be cremated. I want to be buried next to my husband. I want a simple funeral with little expenditure,” she had said earlier. Tens of thousands of people including her three children Sunethra, Chandrika and Anura bade farewell to the elder stateswoman of Sri Lanka at the solemn funeral.

Sirimavo Bandaranaike was a dominant matriarchal figure on the island’s political landscape for more than 40 years. She created history as the world’s first woman Prime Minister when appointed on 21 July 1960. She was Prime Minister during 1960-65, 1970-77 and 1994-2000 and Leader of the Opposition during 1965-70 and 1989-1994.

Sirimavo was the world’s oldest serving Premier when she stepped down at the age of 84 in August 2000. She resigned citing health reasons. “It’s time to withdraw from the humdrum of busy political life, to a more tranquil and quite environment,” she stated in her letter of resignation. Barely two months later, Sirimavo breathed her last in October 2000. This column focuses on Sirimavo Bandaranaike this week to denote her 25th death anniversary.

To strike a personal note, I was six years old when Mrs. Bandaranaike became Prime Minister in 1960 but am able to remember the excitement that enveloped the country when she was appointed PM. As I grew up my interest in politics too grew and naturally the political role of Mrs. Bandaranaike was keenly followed. Many happenings during her first two prime ministerial terms did not endear her to Tamils then.