Watson Fernando
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Watson Fernando is a Sri Lankan communist politician and trade unionist.[1] He served as president of the Ceylon Communist Party (Peking Wing) and was a member of the Moratuwa Municipal Council.[1]
Fernando worked as a mercantile clerk.[2] He rose to become a district-level leader of the Communist Party of Sri Lanka.[2] In the first parliamentary election of 1947 he contested the Moratuwa Electoral District seat. He obtained 722 votes (2.58%).[3] He was a leader during the Hartal of 1953.[4] As of 1958 he served as Vice President of the All Ceylon Toddy Workers' Union (CTUF affiliate, with M.G. Mendis as President).[5] He again contested the Morutuwa seat in the March 1960 parliamentary election, obtaining 1,091 votes (4.49%).[6]
Sino-Soviet split
Fernando became president of the Ceylon Trade Union Federation after the split in the Communist Party in 1963.[2] He had sided with the pro-China faction in the split.[2] In 1964 he held the post of Ratmalana District Committee secretary of the party and was one of 116 signatories to the declaration that marked the definitive split of the party into two groups.[7]