returned as the third member of parliament obtaining 15,435 votes. On his proposal in June 1948 for a Bribery Commission, the first Bribery and Corruption Commission was formed chaired by his father Justice A.E. Keuneman. In the 1952 elections, he was elected as the first MP for Colombo Central electorate defeating the labour party leader A.E. Goonesinghe and retained his seat in the 1956, 1960 and 1970 elections. He was very critical of the 1962 coup d'état attempt and the 1971 JVP Insurrection. In 1970, in the government of Sirimavo Bandaranaike, he held the portfolio of Housing and Construction as a Cabinet Minister. The establishment of the State Engineering Corporation and many housing schemes was his brainchild. He introduced a controversial floor area limit of 300 square metres on all new private houses. However he lost his seat in the 1977 election and retired from politics. Family He married his first wife Hedi Stadlen after graduating from Cambridge. In 1952 he married his second wife Maud Rogerson a communist activist. His third wife was Ouida Keuneman, with whom he lived out his days. See also Communist Party of Sri Lanka References External links Pioneer of Left and Socialist Movement in Sri Lanka Official Website of Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP) Amara Samra Pieter Keuneman in Sinhala Royal College honours old Royalists in Parliament 1917 births 1997 deaths Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge Alumni of Royal College, Colombo Burgher journalists Burgher politicians Colombo municipal councillors Communist Party of Sri Lanka politicians Foreign volunteers in the Spanish Civil War Housing ministers of Sri Lanka Lanka Sama Samaja Party politicians Members of Gray's Inn Members of the 1st Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 2nd Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 3rd Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 4th Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 5th Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 6th Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 7th Parliament of Ceylon People of British Ceylon Presidents of the Cambridge Union Sri Lankan people of Dutch descent Sri Lankan Roman Catholics