All Ceylon Tamil Congress

All Ceylon Tamil Congress (Tamil: அகில இலங்கைத் தமிழ்க் காங்கிரஸ்), is the oldest Tamil political party in Sri Lanka.

All Ceylon Tamil Congress
Akila Ilankai Thamil Congress
அகில இலங்கைத் தமிழ்க் காங்கிரஸ்
අකිල ඉලංකෙයි තමිල් කොංග්‍රස්
SecretaryGajendrakumar Ponnambalam
FounderG. G. Ponnambalam
Founded29 August 1944 (1944-08-29)
Headquarters15 Queen's Road, Colpetty, Colombo 3
IdeologyTamil nationalism
National affiliationTamil National People's Front
Election symbol
Bicycle
Party flag

History

The ACTC was founded in 1944 by G.G. Ponnambalam. Ponnambalam asked for a 50-50 representation in parliament (50% for the Sinhalese, 50% for all other ethnic groups).[1] This was immediately rejected by the British Governor General Lord Soulbury as a "mockery of democracy".

Due to the cooperation of the ACTC with the United National Party a group led by S.J.V. Chelvanayakam broke away in 1949, forming the Federal Party (FP). The ACTC was largely discredited when their ally the UNP moved away from bilingual and bicommunal policies towards a pro-Sinhalese stance. Thus the FP emerged as the major Tamil party in 1956.

In 1972 the ACTC and the FP formed the Tamil United Front, which later evolved into the Tamil United Liberation Front in 1976.

Ahead of the 2001 elections, ACTC joined the LTTE-backed Tamil National Alliance (TNA). In the 2004 elections the TNA won 6.9% of the popular vote and 22 out of the 225 seats in parliament.

The ACTC left the TNA in 2010 and subsequently joined a new political alliance, the Tamil National People's Front.

Leaders

Leaders of this party:

1947 Parliamentary General Election

In the 1947 election, the first for the independent Ceylon, the ACTC won 4.37% of the popular vote and 7 out of 95 seats in the Sri Lankan parliament.

Votes and seats won by ACTC by electoral district

Electoral DistrictVotes%SeatsTurnoutACTC MP
Chavakachcheri11,81385.51%149.34%V. Kumarasamy
Jaffna14,32473.28%146.26%G. G. Ponnambalam
Kankesanthurai12,12655.39%157.69%S. J. V. Chelvanayakam
Kayts5,23029.21%055.69%
Kopay9,61958.90%150.33%C. Vanniasingam
Point Pedro10,39643.51%158.39%T. Ramalingam
Trincomalee5,25256.15%156.10%S. Sivapalan
Vaddukoddai11,72161.24%152.00%K. Kanagaratnam
Vavuniya2,01833.39%055.64%
Total82,4994.37%7
Source:[2]

1952 Parliamentary General Election

In the 1952 election the ACTC won 2.77% of the popular vote and 4 out of 95 seats in the Sri Lankan parliament.

Votes and seats won by ACTC by electoral district

Electoral DistrictVotes%SeatsTurnoutACTC MP
Chavakachcheri14,80172.33%167.22%V. Kumarasamy
Jaffna12,72660.48%171.66%G. G. Ponnambalam
Kayts9,51743.44%173.36%Alfred Thambiayah
Kopay9,20043.88%064.57%
Point Pedro11,60941.54%165.80%T. Ramalingam
Vaddukoddai5,26122.64%069.54%
Vavuniya1,39815.52%069.59%
Total64,5122.77%4
Source:[3]

1956 Parliamentary General Election

In the 1956 election the ACTC fielded only one candidate, party leader G.G. Ponnambalam in Jaffna, who managed to win the seat with 8,914 votes.[4]

1960 (March) Parliamentary General Election

In the March 1960 election the ACTC won 1.32% of the popular vote and 1 out of 151 seats in the Sri Lankan parliament.

Votes and seats won by ACTC by electoral district

Electoral DistrictVotes%SeatsTurnoutACTC MP
Chavakachcheri6,93032.52%083.20%
Jaffna5,31230.56%071.91%
Kankesanthurai1,4487.23%071.22%
Kopay4,93623.35%077.13%
Nallur6,80834.82%073.12%
Point Pedro2,52117.91%073.33%
Udupiddy7,36534.70%174.84%M. Sivasithamparam
Vaddukoddai2,95513.72%075.37%
Total38,2751.32%1
Source:[5]

1960 (July) Parliamentary General Election

In the July 1960 election the ACTC won 1.66% of the popular vote and 1 out of 151 seats in the Sri Lankan parliament.[6]

1965 Parliamentary General Election

In the 1965 election the ACTC won 2.44% of the popular vote and 3 out of 151 seats in the Sri Lankan parliament.

Votes and seats won by ACTC by electoral district

Electoral DistrictVotes%SeatsTurnoutACTC MP
Batticaloa8,10712.14%0150.59%
Chavakachcheri7,19130.59%077.92%
Jaffna9,35042.37%177.76%G. G. Ponnambalam
Kalkudah3,35419.38%072.70%
Kankesanthurai6,61126.13%072.42%
Kayts5,81630.02%061.49%
Kilinochchi4,07630.76%071.33%
Kopay8,23034.34%072.90%
Mutur3270.58%0150.92%
Nallur9,86043.12%072.03%
Point Pedro6,61440.43%071.62%
Udupiddy12,00946.67%175.47%M. Sivasithamparam
Uduvil5,57723.29%072.80%
Vaddukoddai4,35917.09%069.83%
Vavuniya7,26540.33%173.45%T. Sivasithamparam
Total98,7462.44%3
Source:[7]

1970 Parliamentary General Election

In the 1970 election the ACTC won 2.32% of the popular vote and 3 out of 151 seats in the Sri Lankan parliament.

Votes and seats won by ACTC by electoral district

Electoral DistrictVotes%SeatsTurnoutACTC MP
Chavakachcheri12,92145.51%086.11%
Jaffna7,22229.05%079.89%
Kankesanthurai3,05110.00%081.03%
Kayts1,6676.80%076.88%
Kilinochchi9,04950.19%176.03%V. Anandasangaree
Kopay11,28838.38%079.01%
Nallur13,11646.78%178.69%C. Arulampalam
Point Pedro8,90246.85%079.52%
Udupiddy11,66242.02%080.41%
Uduvil11,65640.68%078.43%
Vaddukoddai14,35951.29%178.67%Dr. A. Thiagarajah
Vavuniya10,67441.92%080.82%
Total115,5672.32%3
Source:[8]

2000 Parliamentary General Election

In the 2000 election the ACTC won 0.32% of the popular vote and 1 out of 225 seats in the Sri Lankan parliament.

Votes and seats won by ACTC by electoral district

Electoral DistrictVotes%SeatsTurnoutACTC MP
Batticaloa6,9683.74%071.74%
Colombo5,2380.52%076.05%
Jaffna10,6488.94%121.33%A. Vinayagamoorthy
Trincomalee3,7482.82%068.53%
Vanni7210.87%042.14%
Total27,3230.32%1
Source:[9]

2001 Parliamentary General Election

In the first parliamentary election contested by the Tamil National Alliance, the 5 December 2001 election, the TNA led by Rajavarothiam Sampanthan won 3.88% of the popular vote and 15 out of 225 seats in the Sri Lankan parliament.

Votes and seats won by TNA by electoral district

Electoral
District
Votes%SeatsTurnoutTNA MPs
Ampara48,78917.41%182.51%A. Chandranehru (TULF)
Batticaloa86,28448.17%368.20%G. Krishnapillai (ACTC)
Joseph Pararajasingham (TULF)
Thambiraja Thangavadivel (TELO)
Colombo12,6961.20%076.31%
Jaffna102,32454.84%631.14%V. Anandasangaree (TULF)
Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam (ACTC)
Nadarajah Raviraj (TULF)
Mavai Senathirajah (TULF)
M. K. Shivajilingam (TELO)
A. Vinayagamoorthy (ACTC)
Trincomalee56,12134.83%179.88%R. Sampanthan (TULF)
Vanni41,95044.39%346.77%Selvam Adaikalanathan (TELO)
Sivasakthy Ananthan (EPRLF)
Irasa Kuhaneswaran (TELO)
National List1M. Sivasithamparam (TULF), died 5 June 2002
K. Thurairetnasingam (TULF) (replaces M. Sivasithamparam)
Total348,1643.88%1576.03%
Source:"Parliamentary General Election 2001, Final District Results". Department of Elections, Sri Lanka.

2004 Parliamentary General Election

In the 2 April 2004 parliamentary election in which the United People's Freedom Alliance alliance led by President Kumaratunga came to power, the Tamil National Alliance led by Rajavarothiam Sampanthan won 6.84% of the popular vote and 22 out of 225 seats in the Sri Lankan parliament.

Votes and seats won by TNA by electoral district

Electoral
District
Votes%SeatsTurnoutTNA MPs
Ampara55,53319.13%181.42%K. Pathmanathan, died 21 May 2009
Thomas Thangathurai William, from 12 June 2009 (replaces K. Pathmanathan)
Batticaloa161,01166.71%483.58%Senathirajah Jeyanandamoorthy
Thanmanpillai Kanagasabai
Thangeswary Kathiraman
Kingsley Rasanayagam, resigned April 2004
P. Ariyanethiran, from 18 May 2004 (replaces Kingsley Rasanayagam)
Jaffna257,32090.60%847.38%Selvarajah Kajendren
Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam (ACTC)
Suresh Premachandran (EPRLF)
Nadarajah Raviraj (ITAK), murdered 10 November 2006
Mavai Senathirajah (ITAK)
M. K. Shivajilingam (TELO)
K. Sivanesan, murdered 6 March 2008
Pathmini Sithamparanathan
Nallathamby Srikantha (TELO), from 30 November 2006 (replaces Nadarajah Raviraj)
Solomon Cyril, from 9 April 2008 (replaces Kidnan Sivanesan)
Trincomalee68,95537.72%285.44%R. Sampanthan (ITAK)
K. Thurairetnasingam (ITAK)
Vanni90,83564.71%566.64%Selvam Adaikalanathan (TELO)
Sivasakthy Ananthan (EPRLF)
Sathasivam Kanagaratnam
Sivanathan Kisshor
Vino Noharathalingam (TELO)
National List2M. K. Eelaventhan, expelled from Parliament 14 December 2007 for non-attendance
Joseph Pararajasingham (ITAK), murdered 24 December 2005
Chandra Nehru Chandrakanthan, from 27 September 2006 (replaces Joseph Pararajasingham)
Raseen Mohammed Imam, from 5 February 2008 (replaces M. K. Eelaventhan)
Total633,6546.84%2275.96%
Source:"Parliamentary General Election 2004, Final District Results". Department of Elections, Sri Lanka.

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
Jaffna6,3624.28%023.33%
Trincomalee1,1820.85%062.20%
Total7,5440.09%061.26%
Source:"Parliamentary General Election – 2010". Department of Elections, Sri Lanka.

References

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