or conference", after the victory over the Axis powers. However, Senanayake pressed for an immediate consideration of their proposals. There was great reluctance and no sense of urgency on the part of the Colonial office. However, Senanayake, Oliver Goonetilleke and others had developed impressive contacts with Lord Mountbatten who, as Supreme Allied Commander of South-East Asia had worked from Colombo. A telegram from Lord Mountbatten is believed have been crucial in over-riding the foot-dragging of the Colonial office and conceding to Senanayake's demands. The appointment of a commission was made on July 5, 1944. Reaction to the Commission Although the appointment of a commission without waiting for the end of the War was a great concession, the announcement of the Commission headed by Lord Soulbury was greeted with dismay by Senanayake and others. Their disappointment was due to the widening of the scope of the commission beyond what was set out by the Colonial Secretary in 1943, to also consult with "various interests, including the minority communities concerned with the subject of constitutional reforms in Ceylon". Senanayake was a man who preferred behind-the-curtain negotiations instead of confrontational public hearings. He felt that such consultations would simply become very divisive. In fact, the politics of the 1930s had become very communal or racist, with the first Sinhala-Tamil riot occurring in 1939, after an inflammatory speech by G. G. Ponnambalam, a leading Tamil politician. Senanayake and the Board of Ministers resorted to an official boycott of the commission as an expression of their disapproval of the widening of the scope of the commission. However, this merely meant that they did not appear before the commission in public or "official" sittings. Senanayake and his associates held private meetings where the commissioners were the guests of honour. In fact, Oliver Goonetilleke became an "unofficial secretary" to the commission and significantly influenced it. This enabled Senanayake and his advisors to present their views without getting into confrontational politics with the Tamil Congress, led by G. G. Ponnambalam who was allowed to dominate many of the official hearings. G. G. Ponnambalam's submissions Tamil politics during the time of the Donoughmore Commission was dominated by casteism, with P. Ramanathan as its chief exponent. Tamils, only about 15% of the population, had a strong, dominant position in the early legislatures of the country. The introduction of Universal Franchise in 1931 completely changed the character of Ceylonese politics, where