Former Elections Commissioner, ex-Defence Secretary and former diplomat Chandrananda de Silva passed away early this morning.

Chandrananda de Silva is best remembered for his role as the Commissioner of Elections. He assumed duties in that post on May 4, 1982. During this period new system Elections as adopted in 1978 Constitution came into operation.

The first ever Presidential Election and the only referendum in Sri Lanka took place in the early part of his tenure.

The Parliamentary General Elections Act was amended to include the system of Proportional Representation, and later in 1988 the marking of Preferences was introduced. Meanwhile Provincial Councils were also introduced at the time. As Elections Commissioner, Chandrananda de Silva oversaw the elections with all these changes.

De Silva was 78 years old at the time of his death.