Tamil National People's Front

Last updated

Tamil National People's Front
தமிழ் தேசியத்திற்கான மக்கள் முன்னணி
ද්‍රවිඩ ජාතික ජනතා පෙරමුණ
President Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam
Secretary-General S. Kajendren
Vice PresidentR. E. Anandaraja
Rajakon Hariharan
Visvalingam Manivannan
Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam
P. Sithamparanathan
Founder Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam
Founded28 February 2010 (2010-02-28)
Split from Tamil National Alliance
Headquarters43, 3rd Cross Street, Jaffna, Sri Lanka
Ideology Tamil nationalism
Regionalism
Secularism
Colors  Yellow
Parliament of Sri Lanka
1 / 225
Website
www.tnpf.info

The Tamil National People's Front (TNPF) is a Sri Lankan political alliance which represents the Sri Lankan Tamil ethnic minority in the country. It was launched on 28 February 2010 as breakaway faction of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA). [1] Its main constituent is the All Ceylon Tamil Congress and it also includes former TNA Jaffna district MPs Selvarajah Kajendren and Pathmini Sithamparanathan. [2]

It contests under the Ideology of "Two-Nations in One Country" meaning Sri Lankan State as the country comprising the Sinhala nation and the Tamil nation in a pluri-national society and supports Federalism as a model to achieve this goal. But diverges from the TNA in that the TNPF does not agree on the devolutionary path to federalism. It also opposes both the concept of Sri Lankan nation state and the concept of a Sinhala State. [3]

2010 Parliamentary General Election

In the 8 April 2010 parliamentary election in which the United People's Freedom Alliance alliance led by President Rajapaksa retained power, the Tamil National People's Front led by Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam won 0.09% of the popular vote and no seats in the Sri Lankan parliament.

Votes and seats won by TNPF by electoral district

Electoral
District
Votes%SeatsTurnoutTNPF MPs
Jaffna 6,3624.28%023.33%
Trincomalee 1,1820.85%062.20%
Total7,5440.09%061.26%
Source: "Parliamentary General Election – 2010". Department of Elections, Sri Lanka.

Related Research Articles

The Tamil United Liberation Front is a political party in Sri Lanka.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">All Ceylon Tamil Congress</span> Political party in Sri Lanka

All Ceylon Tamil Congress, is the oldest Tamil political party in Sri Lanka.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tamil National Alliance</span> Centre-left political alliance in Sri Lanka

The Tamil National Alliance was a political alliance in Sri Lanka which represented the Sri Lankan Tamil minority of the country. It was formed in October 2001 by a group of moderate Tamil nationalist parties and former Tamil militant groups. The alliance originally supported self-determination in an autonomous state for the island's Tamils. It supported negotiations with the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to resolve the civil war in Sri Lanka. The TNA was considered a political proxy of the LTTE, with the LTTE personally selecting some of its candidates, even though its leadership maintains it never supported the LTTE and merely negotiated with the LTTE just as the government did.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">S. J. V. Chelvanayakam</span> Sri Lankan politician (1898–1977)

Samuel James Veluppillai Chelvanayakam was a Ceylonese lawyer, politician and Member of Parliament. He was the founder and leader of the Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) and Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) and a political leader of the Ceylon Tamil community for more than two decades. Chelvanayakam has been described as a father figure to Ceylon's Tamils, to whom he was known as "Thanthai Chelva".

Veerasingham Anandasangaree is a Sri Lankan Tamil politician, former Member of Parliament and leader of the Tamil United Liberation Front. He is commonly known as Sangaree. A vocal critic of violence committed by all sides, Sangaree is a supporter of federalism similar to that of India as a solution to Sri Lanka's ethnic conflict.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tamil Eelam</span> Proposed independent state in Sri Lanka

Tamil Eelam is a proposed independent state that many Tamils in Sri Lanka and the Eelam Tamil diaspora aspire to create in the north and east of Sri Lanka. Large sections of the North-East were under de facto control of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) for most of the 1990s–2000s during the Sri Lankan Civil War. Tamil Eelam, although encompassing the traditional homelands of Eelam Tamils, does not have official status or recognition by world states. The name is derived from the ancient Tamil name for Sri Lanka, Eelam.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nadarajah Raviraj</span> Sri Lankan politician

Nadarajah Raviraj was a Sri Lankan lawyer and politician who served as Mayor of Jaffna in 2001 and a Member of Parliament for Jaffna District from 2001 to 2006. A member of the Tamil National Alliance, he was shot dead on 10 November 2006 in Colombo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kumar Ponnambalam</span> Sri Lankan politician (1938-2000)

Gaasinather Gangaser Ponnambalam was a Sri Lankan lawyer and politician. Leader of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress, he was the party's presidential candidate in 1982. He was shot dead on 5 January 2000 in an assassination many suspect to be ordered by President Chandrika Kumaratunga.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">R. Sampanthan</span> Sri Lankan politician and lawyer (1933–2024)

Rajavarothiam Sampanthan was a Sri Lankan politician and lawyer who led the Tamil National Alliance from 2001 until his death in 2024. He was a Member of Parliament from 2001 until his death, and previously from 1977 to 1983 and from 1997 to 2000. He was the Leader of the Opposition from September 2015 to December 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam</span> Sri Lankan lawyer, politician and Member of Parliament

Gajendrakumar Gangaser Ponnambalam is a Sri Lankan lawyer, politician and Member of Parliament. He is the leader of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress, a member of the Tamil National People's Front.

Pathmini Sithamparanathan is a Sri Lankan Tamil politician and former member of parliament.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">S. Kajendran</span>

Selvarajah Kajendran is a Sri Lankan Tamil politician and a Member of Parliament of Sri Lanka.

Kanthar Nallathamby Srikantha is a Sri Lankan Tamil lawyer, politician and former Member of Parliament.

Jaffna Electoral District is one of the 22 multi-member electoral districts of Sri Lanka created by the 1978 Constitution of Sri Lanka. The district covers the administrative districts of Jaffna and Kilinochchi in the Northern province. The district currently elects 9 of the 225 members of the Sri Lankan Parliament and had 529,239 registered electors in 2014. The district is Sri Lanka's Electorate Number 10.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi</span> Political party in Sri Lanka

Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi is a Sri Lankan political party which represents the Sri Lankan Tamil ethnic minority in the country. It was originally founded in 1949 as a breakaway faction of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC). In 1972, ITAK merged with the ACTC and Ceylon Workers' Congress (CWC) to form the Tamil United Front, which later changed its name to the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF). ITAK remained dormant until 2004 when a split in the TULF resulted in ITAK being re-established as an active political party. ITAK was the main constituent party of the Tamil National Alliance from its formation in 2001 until its dissolution in 2024.

Appathurai Vinayagamoorthy was a Sri Lankan Tamil lawyer, politician and Member of Parliament. He was leader and president of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jaffna Municipal Council</span>

Jaffna Municipal Council is the local authority for the city of Jaffna in northern Sri Lanka. JMC is responsible for providing a variety of local public services including roads, sanitation, drains, housing, libraries, public parks and recreational facilities. Established in January 1949 as a successor to Jaffna Urban Council, it currently has 45 members elected using the mixed electoral system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">C. V. Vigneswaran</span> Sri Lankan politician

Canagasabapathy Visuvalingam Vigneswaran, PC is a Sri Lankan Tamil lawyer, judge, politician and Member of Parliament. After practising law for more than 15 years, Vigneswaran was a member of the judiciary for 25 years. He was a magistrate and a judge of the District Court, High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court. He was Chief Minister of the Northern Province from October 2013 to October 2018. He was elected to the Parliament of Sri Lanka in August 2020. Vigneswaran is leader of the Tamil People's Alliance and the Tamil People's National Alliance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">D. Siddarthan</span> Sri Lankan politician

Dharmalingam Siddarthan is a Sri Lankan Tamil militant turned politician, former provincial councillor and Member of Parliament. He is the leader of the People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam, a member of the Tamil National Alliance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tamil People's National Alliance</span> Political party in Sri Lanka

The Tamil People's National Alliance, also known as the Thamizh Makkal Tesiya Kootani, is a political alliance in Sri Lanka that represents the country's Sri Lankan Tamil ethnic minority. It was formed in February 2020 by a group of Tamil nationalist parties after they broke away from the Tamil National Alliance. The alliance is recognised by the Election Commission of Sri Lanka as registered political party with the fish as its symbol.

References

  1. "Tamil National Peoples Front launched in Jaffna". TamilNet. 1 March 2010. Retrieved 10 April 2010.
  2. "TNPF announces Central Committee, prepares party constitution". TamilNet. 24 February 2011. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
  3. Telegraph, Colombo (29 August 2015). "TNPF For 'Two-Nations in One Country': Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam". Colombo Telegraph. Retrieved 19 May 2021.