M. H. Mohamed

Mohamed Haniffa Mohamed (15 June 1921 – 26 April 2016) was a Sri Lankan politician. Mohamed served as the 14th Speaker of the Parliament of Sri Lanka as well as being a former member of Parliament and government minister. Mohamed was the first Sri Lankan Moor to hold office as Mayor of Colombo from 1960 to 1962 
Early life.
Born 15 June 1921, Mohamed was educated at Wesley College, Colombo. After completing his schooling, he joined Cargills Ltd., where he became active in trade union activities. Later he joined the family shipping firm, Nagoor Meera and Sons. His grandfather Marhoom Abdur Rahman was a member of the Legislative Council of Ceylon. 
Political career.
Mohamed entered politics having been elected to the Colombo Municipal Council from the Maligawatte Ward and served as Mayor of Colombo from 1960 to 1962. He contested the 1965 general elections as the United National Party candidate in the Borella electorate and was elected to parliament defeating the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP) candidate Vivienne Goonewardena. He lost his seat in the 1970 general elections to LSSP candidate Kusala Abhayavardhana by 16,421 votes to 15,829 votes. He was re-elected to parliament in the 1977 general elections and would retain his seat until 2010 in the consecutive elections that followed. In 1977, he was appointed to the Cabinet by J.R. Jayawardena as Minister of Transport.