Jaffna Electoral District (1947–1989)

Jaffna Electoral District was an electoral district of Sri Lanka between August 1947 and February 1989. The district was named after the city of Jaffna in Jaffna District, Northern Province. The 1978 Constitution of Sri Lanka introduced the proportional representation electoral system for electing members of Parliament. The existing 160 mainly single-member electoral districts were replaced with 22 multi-member electoral districts.[1] Jaffna electoral district was replaced by the Jaffna multi-member electoral district at the 1989 general elections, the first under the PR system, though Jaffna continues to be a polling division of the multi-member electoral district.

Members of Parliament

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Key

  Independent   All Ceylon Tamil Congress   ITAK   TULF

Election Member Party Term
1947 G. G. Ponnambalam All Ceylon Tamil Congress 1947-1960
1952
1956
1960 (March) Alfred Duraiappah Independent 1960-1965
1960 (July)
1965 G. G. Ponnambalam All Ceylon Tamil Congress 1965-1970
1970 C. X. Martyn Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi 1970-1977
1977 V. Yogeswaran Tamil United Liberation Front 1977-1989

Elections

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1947 Parliamentary General Election

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Results of the 1st parliamentary election held between 23 August 1947 and 20 September 1947:[2]

Candidate Party Symbol Votes %
  G. G. Ponnambalam All Ceylon Tamil Congress Bicycle 14,324 73.28%
  Arunachalam Mahadeva United National Party Elephant 5,224 26.72%
Valid Votes 19,548 100.00%
Rejected Votes 133
Total Polled 19,681
Registered Electors 42,546
Turnout 46.26%

1952 Parliamentary General Election

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Results of the 2nd parliamentary election held between 24 May 1952 and 30 May 1952:[3]

Candidate Party Symbol Votes %
  G. G. Ponnambalam All Ceylon Tamil Congress Umbrella 12,726 60.48%
  E. M. V. Naganathan Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi[4] Hand 8,317 39.52%
Valid Votes 21,043 100.00%
Rejected Votes 88
Total Polled 21,131
Registered Electors 29,489
Turnout 71.66%

1956 Parliamentary General Election

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Results of the 3rd parliamentary election held between 5 April 1956 and 10 April 1956:[5]

Candidate Party Symbol Votes %
  G. G. Ponnambalam All Ceylon Tamil Congress Bicycle 8,914 40.46%
  E. M. V. Naganathan Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi[4] House 7,173 32.56%
  M. Karthigasan Communist Party Star 3,239 14.70%
  Arulambalam Visuvanathan Lanka Sama Samaja Party Key 2,703 12.27%
Valid Votes 22,029 100.00%
Rejected Votes 149
Total Polled 22,178
Registered Electors 34,804
Turnout 63.72%

1960 (March) Parliamentary General Election

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Results of the 4th parliamentary election held on 19 March 1960:[6]

Candidate Party Symbol Votes %
Alfred Duraiappah Independent Sun 6,201 35.68%
  G. G. Ponnambalam All Ceylon Tamil Congress Bicycle 5,312 30.56%
  S. Kathiravelupillai Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi[4] House 5,101 29.35%
  Arulambalam Visuvanathan Lanka Sama Samaja Party Key 767 4.41%
Valid Votes 17,381 100.00%
Rejected Votes 92
Total Polled 17,473
Registered Electors 24,299
Turnout 71.91%

1960 (July) Parliamentary General Election

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Results of the 5th parliamentary election held on 20 July 1960:[7]

Candidate Party Symbol Votes %
Alfred Duraiappah Independent Bicycle 6,313 35.13%
  G. G. Ponnambalam All Ceylon Tamil Congress Eye 6,015 33.47%
  S. Kathiravelupillai Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi[4] House 5,644 31.40%
Valid Votes 17,972 100.00%
Rejected Votes 84
Total Polled 18,056
Registered Electors 25,299
Turnout 74.31%

1965 Parliamentary General Election

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Results of the 6th parliamentary election held on 22 March 1965:[8]

Candidate Party Symbol Votes %
  G. G. Ponnambalam All Ceylon Tamil Congress Bicycle 9,350 42.37%
  C. X. Martyn Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi[4] House 6,800 30.81%
Alfred Duraiappah Pair of Scales 5,918 26.82%
Valid Votes 22,068 100.00%
Rejected Votes 73
Total Polled 22,141
Registered Electors 28,473
Turnout 77.76%

1970 Parliamentary General Election

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Results of the 7th parliamentary election held on 27 May 1970:[9]

Candidate Party Symbol Votes %
  C. X. Martyn Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi[4] House 8,848 35.59%
Alfred Duraiappah Independent Umbrella 8,792 35.36%
  G. G. Ponnambalam All Ceylon Tamil Congress Bicycle 7,222 29.05%
Valid Votes 24,862 100.00%
Rejected Votes 76
Total Polled 24,938
Registered Electors 31,214
Turnout 79.89%

1977 Parliamentary General Election

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Results of the 8th parliamentary election held on 21 July 1977:[10]

Candidate Party Symbol Votes %
  V. Yogeswaran Tamil United Liberation Front Sun 16,251 51.26%
Kumar Ponnambalam Independent Tree 6,960 24.25%
A. L. Abraham Pair of Scales 4,349 15.15%
C. X. Martyn Umbrella 900 3.14%
A. G. Rajasooriar Chair 164 0..57%
A. Tharmalingham Independent Ship 77 0.27%
Valid Votes 28,701 100.00%
Rejected Votes 78
Total Polled 28,779
Registered Electors 34,865
Turnout 82.54%

V. Yogeswaran and all other TULF MPs boycotted Parliament from the middle of 1983 for a number of reasons: they were under pressure from Sri Lankan Tamil militants not to stay in Parliament beyond their normal six-year term; the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka required them to swear an oath unconditionally renouncing support for a separate state; and the Black July riots in which up to 3,000 Tamils were murdered by Sinhalese mobs. After three months of absence, Yogeswaran forfeited his seat in Parliament on 22 October 1983.[11]

References & footnotes

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  1. ^ "The Electoral System". Parliament of Sri Lanka. Archived from the original on 2010-11-27.
  2. ^ "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1947" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-09-24.
  3. ^ "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1952" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-09-24.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Also known as the Federal Party
  5. ^ "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1956" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-09-24.
  6. ^ "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1960-03-19" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-07-12.
  7. ^ "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1960-07-20" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-09-24.
  8. ^ "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1965" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-07-13.
  9. ^ "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1970" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-12-09.
  10. ^ "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1977" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-17.
  11. ^ Wickramasinghe, Wimal (18 January 2008). "Saga of crossovers, expulsions and resignations etc. Referendum for extention [sic] of Parliament". The Island, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original on 17 June 2011. Retrieved 24 April 2011.