Though Jayewardene's successor, Ranasinghe Premadasa, managed to restore order in the south after elections were held, the resentment that had peaked in the north has contributed to continuing conflict with the Tamil Tigers.

Premadasa began a programme of reforms that brought the country closer to principles Amaratunga had enunciated, in particular a competitive open economy that did not depend on state patronage, an independent judiciary, and regular free elections.

[citation needed] Dissanayake was also assassinated by the Tigers and though his widow contested the presidency on the manifesto drafted by Amaratunga, his successor as Leader of the Party, who was cast more in the Jayewardene mould, repudiated those principles.

Typically, for one who believed in free speech, he included papers by politicians and social commentators representing the whole range of the political spectrum, from the old Trotskyists to modern libertarians.

[citation needed] Rajiva Wijesinha, MA, DPhil (Oxon), Senior Professor of Languages, Sabaragamuwa University & former President, Liberal Party of Sri Lanka