Beliatta Electoral District

The **Beliatta electoral district** was an electoral district of Sri Lanka from August 1947 until February 1989. The district got its name from the town of Beliatta in the Hambantota District of Southern Province, Sri Lanka.

The Sri Lankan Constitution of 1978 changed the voting system to proportional representation. The voting system was to elect members of the Sri Lankan Parliament. 22 multi-member electoral districts replaced the existing 160 single-member electoral districts. The 1989 general elections changed the Beliatta electoral district to the Hambantota multi-member electoral district. The Hambantota electoral district was the first one to use the proportional representation system.

## Members of Parliament

**Key**

|Election|Member|Party|Term|||||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|style="background-color: "||1947|rowspan="3"|D. A. Rajapaksa|United National Party|rowspan="3"|1947 - 1960|
|rowspan="2" style="background-color: ;"||1952|rowspan="2"|Sri Lanka Freedom Party||||
|1956||||||||
|style="background-color: "||1960 (March)|D. P. Atapattu|United National Party|1960|||
|style="background-color: ;"||1960 (July)|D. A. Rajapaksa|Sri Lanka Freedom Party|1960 - 1965|||
|style="background-color: "||1965|D. P. Atapattu|United National Party|1965 - 1970|||
|style="background-color: ;"||1970|Mahinda Rajapaksa|Sri Lanka Freedom Party|1970 - 1977|||
|style="background-color: "||1977|Ranjit Atapattu|United National Party|1977 -1988|||

### 1947 Parliamentary General Election

Results of the first parliamentary election. People voted in the election between 23 August 1947 and 20 September 1947:

|Candidate|Party|Symbol|Votes|%|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|D. A. Rajapaksa|United National Party|Hand|14,007|53.99|
|D. P. Atapattu||Chair|5,985|23.07|
|Eddie Fernando||Elephant|4,885|18.83|
|P. James de Silva||Star|362|1.40|
|P. D. S. Wickremasinghe||Key|270|1.04|
|**Valid Votes**|**25,509**|**98.33**|||
|Rejected Votes|433|1.67|||
|Total Polled|25,942|100.00|||
|Registered Electors|41,570||||
|Turnout|62.41||||

### 1952 Parliamentary General Election

Results of the second parliamentary election. People voted in the election between 24 May 1952 and 30 May 1952:

|Candidate|Party|Symbol|Votes|%|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|D. A. Rajapaksa|Sri Lanka Freedom Party|Umbrella|17,382|55.29|
|D. P. Atapattu|United National Party|Star|13,750|43.74|
|**Valid Votes**|**31,132**|**99.03**|||
|Rejected Votes|304|0.97|||
|Total Polled|31,436|100.00|||
|Registered Electors|41,578||||
|Turnout|75.61||||

### 1956 Parliamentary General Election

Results of the third parliamentary election. People voted in the election between 5 April 1956 and 10 April 1956:

|Candidate|Party|Symbol|Votes|%|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|D. A. Rajapaksa|Sri Lanka Freedom Party|Hand|26,215|71.14|
|D. P. Atapattu|United National Party|Elephant|10,382|28.17|
|**Valid Votes**|**36,597**|**99.32**|||
|Rejected Votes|252|0.68|||
|Total Polled|36,849|100.00|||
|Registered Electors|49,456||||
|Turnout|74.51||||

### 1960 (March) Parliamentary General Election

Results of the fourth parliamentary election. People voted in the election on 19 March 1960:

|Candidate|Party|Symbol|Votes|%|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|D. P. Atapattu|United National Party|Elephant|14,379|49.74|
|D. A. Rajapaksa||Cartwheel|12,685|43.88|
|G. W. Sumathipala||Hand|439|1.52|
|T. H. Somadasa||Key|432|1.49|
|Wilfred Mathangaweera||Umbrella|354|1.22|
|D.L. Weeraratne||Star|298|1.03|
|Karunadasa Wickremanayaka||Lamp|125|0.43|
|**Valid Votes**|**28,712**|**99.32**|||
|Rejected Votes|197|0.68|||
|Total Polled|28,909|100.00|||
|Registered Electors|35,992||||
|Turnout|80.32||||

### 1960 (July) Parliamentary General Election

Results of the fifth parliamentary election. People voted in the election on 20 July 1960:

|Candidate|Party|Symbol|Votes|%|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|D. A. Rajapaksa|Sri Lanka Freedom Party|Hand|15,121|51.57|
|D. P. Atapattu|United National Party|Elephant|14,074|48.00|
|**Valid Votes**|**29,195**|**99.57**|||
|Rejected Votes|127|0.43|||
|Total Polled|29,322|100.00|||
|Registered Electors|35,992||||
|Turnout|81.47||||

### 1965 Parliamentary General Election

Results of the sixth parliamentary election. People voted in the election on 22 March 1965:

|Candidate|Party|Symbol|Votes|%|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|D. P. Atapattu|United National Party|Elephant|20,735|57.95|
|D. A. Rajapaksa|Sri Lanka Freedom Party|Hand|14,873|41.57|
|**Valid Votes**|**35,608**|**99.52**|||
|Rejected Votes|171|0.48|||
|Total Polled|35,779|100.00|||
|Registered Electors|41,584||||
|Turnout|86.04||||

### 1970 Parliamentary General Election

Results of the seventh parliamentary election. People voted in the election on 27 May 1970:

|Candidate|Party|Symbol|Votes|%|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|Mahinda Rajapaksa|Sri Lanka Freedom Party|Hand|23,103|57.16|
|Ranjit Atapattu|United National Party|Elephant|16,477|40.76|
|Gunadasa Weerawarna Nilaweera||Ship|678|1.68|
|**Valid Votes**|**40,258**|**99.60**|||
|Rejected Votes|163|0.40|||
|Total Polled|40,421|100.00|||
|Registered Electors|46,342||||
|Turnout|87.22||||

### 1977 Parliamentary General Election

Results of the eighth parliamentary election. People voted in the election on 21 July 1977:

|Candidate|Party|Symbol|Votes|%|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|Ranjit Atapattu|United National Party|Elephant|24,289|56.36|
|Mahinda Rajapaksa|Sri Lanka Freedom Party|Hand|17,896|41.52|
|Wimaladasa Jayawardana||Key|766|1.78|
|**Valid Votes**|**42,951**|**99.66**|||
|Rejected Votes|147|0.34|||
|Total Polled|43,098|100.00|||
|Registered Electors|48,648||||
|Turnout|88.59||||