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29| popular_vote1 = 1,022,171 | percentage1 = 33.22% | swing1 =150x150px)| leader2 = Dudley Senanayake| leader_since2 = 1957| party2 = United National PartyDedigama Electoral District>Dedigama| last_election2 = 29.89%, 50 seats| seats2 = 30| seat_change2 = {{decrease}}20| popular_vote2 = 1,144,166 | percentage2 = 37.19%| swing2 =Prime Minister of Sri Lanka>Prime MinisterPrime Minister of Sri Lanka>Prime Minister-designate| before_election = Dudley Senanayake| after_election = Sirimavo Bandaranaike| before_party = United National Party| after_party = Sri Lanka Freedom Party}}Snap parliamentary elections were held in Ceylon in July 1960.

Background

The March 1960 election had left neither of Ceylon's two major parties with a majority, so another election was inevitable.The Sri Lanka Freedom Party, which had been in disarray since the murder of its leader S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike the previous year, settled on his widow, Sirimavo, as its new leader. She pledged to continue her husband's policies, notably the Sinhala Only Act, and to proceed with repatriation of the estate Tamils to India. However, she promised to reach a compromise with the Federal Party.The United National Party, led by Dudley Senanayake, refused to compromise with the Federal Party. It also differed with the SLFP over economic policy. The SLFP called for a socialist program of nationalization of both private enterprises and religious schools; the UNP preferred to leave both in private hands.

Results

The SLFP obtained a bare majority, despite getting a lower share of the popular vote than the UNP, and Mrs. Bandaranaike became prime minister. This was the first time in history a woman led her party to victory in a general election and thus becoming Prime Minister. {{Election resultsUnited National Party>votes1=1144166|seats1=30Sri Lanka Freedom Party>votes2=1022171|seats2=75Lanka Sama Samaja Party>votes3=224995|seats3=12Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi>votes4=213733|seats4=16Mahajana Eksath Peramuna>votes5=106816|seats5=3Communist Party of Ceylon>votes6=90219|seats6=4All Ceylon Tamil Congress>votes7=46804|seats7=1Lanka Democratic Party>votes8=30207|seats8=2National Liberation Front (Ceylon)>National Liberation Frontseats9=2votes10=183728|seats10=6turnout=75.9et al.Dieter Nohlen, Florian Grotz & Christof Hartmann (2001) Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume I, pp710–722 {{ISBN>0-19-924958-X}}}}

References

{{Reflist}}

• WEB,weblink Result of Parliamentary General Election 1960-07-20, Department of Elections, Sri Lanka, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20150924115611weblink">weblink 2015-09-24,
• WEB,weblink 1960 July General Election Results, LankaNewspapers.com, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20120310000746weblink">weblink 2012-03-10,
• WEB,weblink Table 35 Parliament Election (1960 July), 10 February 2009, Sri Lanka Statistics,
• WEB,weblinkweblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20011220212820weblink">weblink unfit, 20 December 2001, Chapter 17: Assassination of Bandaranaike, K. T., Rajasingham, 1 December 2001, Sri Lanka: The Untold Story, Asia Times,
• WEB,weblinkweblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20011217063058weblink">weblink unfit, 17 December 2001, Chapter 18: Srimavo - weeping arrogance, K. T., Rajasingham, 8 December 2001, Sri Lanka: The Untold Story, Asia Times,
• BOOK, DeVotta, Neil, Blowback: Linguistic Nationalism, Institutional Decay, and Ethnic Conflict in Sri Lanka, Stanford University Press, 9780804749244, 123, 2004,

{{Sri Lankan elections}}