A generation of Sri Lankans under twenty-five years of age would know Lalith Athulathmudali only as a historical figure not having the good fortune of seeing on hearing him in person. Tomorrow marks Athulathmudali’s 25th death anniversary, an opportune moment to reflect on his relatively brief but exceptional political career.
Athulathmudali had all the credentials to launch himself into politics: the son of D. D. Athulathmudali, a member of the Ceylon State Council, a brilliant academic career both at Royal College, Colombo and later at Oxford University in Britain where he was to become the first Sri Lankan to become the President of the Oxford Union. He was also fast acquiring a reputation as a brilliant lawyer.
Athulathmudali though was not born with the proverbial silver spoon. While an undergraduate at Oxford, his father passed away unexpectedly. In an era when politicians were honest and above board with no stashed wealth to rely on, the young man was in need of financial support to continue his studies.
Athulathmudali was to appeal to the Government of Ceylon for financial assistance. The matter was debated in Parliament in 1959, supported by then Prime Minister S.W.R. D. Bandaranaike, himself an Oxford alumnus, and approved. Ironically, voting against the motion were the members of the United National Party (UNP), the party he would later join. Among those who voted against him was E.L.B. Hurulle, who would later become Athulathmudali’s Cabinet colleague in 1977.
In the mid-seventies, while he was reforming the UNP, J. R. Jayewardene, whose greatest strengths included picking the right man for the right job, saw something special in Athulathmudali, then an up and coming lawyer. Athulathmudali was among those who advised Jayewardene in preparing the framework for the 1978 Constitution.
Jayewardene initially asked Athulathmudali to be organiser for the Agalawatte electorate but fearing that Colvin R. de Silva would be a formidable rival, shifted Athulathmudali to the Ratmalana electorate. In the Jayewardene led UNP landslide of 1977, Athulathmudali made his debut in Parliament, comfortably defeating C. V. Gooneratne.
The rest, as they say, is history. Jayewardene appointed two young politicians, Athulathmudali and Gamini Dissanayake to spearhead his development drive. Athulathmudali was entrusted with the Ministry of Trade and Shipping, responsible for liberalising what was then a closed economy while Dissanayake piloted the accelerated Mahaveli programme.
Athulathmudali was the mastermind behind the Mahapola scholarship scheme which provided financial assistance to hundreds of thousands of university undergraduates.
He was to say that inspiration for the scheme came from his own experience as an undergraduate at Oxford. The scholarships continue to this day.
In a few years, Athulathmudali established himself as a key minister in the UNP and was appointed Minister of National Security, tasked with defeating the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). He didn’t succeed, but came close during the Vadamarachchi operation in 1987, only for India to intervene air-dropping humanitarian supplies to the North and forcing Jayewardene to abandon the offensive.
If Vadamarachchi was Athulathmudali’s finest hour as a Minister, he also had his debacles, most notably when he was deceived into announcing a truce with the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), when in fact there was none. Athulathmudali recovered from that fiasco but his political fortunes plummeted with the ascension of Ranasinghe Premadasa to the UNP leadership and the Presidency in 1989.
In Premadasa’s cabinet Athulathmudali was handed the less important portfolio of Agriculture and it was only a matter of time before he teamed up with Dissanayake to try an impeach Premadasa. That failed, but the party they formed, the Democratic United National Front (DUNF) was gathering momentum. Athulathmudali was running for Chief Minister of the Western Provincial Council and was campaigning at a rally Kirullapone when he was gunned down on April 23, 1993.
Premadasa himself was assassinated by a bomb blast eight days later, a fate Dissanayake also suffered eighteen months later. The departure of this triumvirate marked a sea change in the Lankan political landscape that is felt even now.
Athulathmudali’s widow, Srimani teamed up with Chandrika Kumaratunga in the polls that followed in 1994 and was appointed a Minister in the Kumaratunga’s Cabinet. Ms. Athulathmudali passed away in 2004. Their only child, Serela, has kept away from the limelight.
Over the years Athulathmudali acquired a reputation of being a brilliant speaker in both Sinhalese and English, an efficient minister, a consummate political tactician and above all, being that rare breed of politician who had the potential to become a statesman because he mixed intellectual abilities with personal charm and popular appeal, a combination that is so lacking in today’s political firmament.
Lalith Athulathmudali will go down in history not only for what he achieved in a short political career but also for might have been, had he not been gunned down in his prime.
His enduring legacy though will arguably be the Mahapola scholarship scheme which has now become part of the fabric of Sri Lankan university life.