| Native name | Akila Ilankai Thamil Congress அகில இலங்கைத் தமிழ்க் காங்கிரஸ் අකිල ඉලංකෙයි තමිල් කොංග්රස් |
|---|---|
| Lang 1 | Tamil |
| Colorcode | Yellow |
| Founder | G. G. Ponnambalam |
| Secretary | Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam |
| Founded | 29 August 1944 (age 82) |
| Headquarters | 15 Queen's Road, Colpetty, Colombo 3 |
| Ideology | Tamil nationalism |
| National | Tamil National People's Front |
| Country | Sri Lanka |
All Ceylon Tamil Congress (Tamil: அகில இலங்கைத் தமிழ்க் காங்கிரஸ்) is the oldest Tamil political party in Sri Lanka.
History
The ACTC was founded in 1944 by G. G. Ponnambalam. Ponnambalam asked for a 50-50 representation in parliament (50% for the majority Sinhalese, and 50% for all other ethnic groups).[1] This was immediately rejected by the British Governor General Lord Soulbury as a "mockery of democracy".[citation needed]
Due to the cooperation of the ACTC with the United National Party (UNP), a group led by S. J. V. Chelvanayakam split from the ACTC in 1949, forming the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK), commonly known as Federal Party. The ACTC was largely discredited when the UNP began to move away from bilingual and bicommunal policies and more towards Sinhalese Buddhist nationalism. As a result, the ITAK overtook the ACTC as the main Tamil party in the country in 1956.
In 1972 the ACTC and ITAK formed the Tamil United Front, which later evolved into the Tamil United Liberation Front in 1976. The TULF would win 18 out of the 168 seats in the National State Assembly in the 1977 general elections, thus making it the main opposition party.
Ahead of the 2001 general elections, the 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 formed a new political alliance, the Tamil National People's Front.[citation needed]
Leaders
Leaders of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress:
- G. G. Ponnambalam (Sr.)
- Kumar Ponnambalam
- Dr. Nalliah Kumaraguruparan
- A. Vinayagamoorthy
- Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam
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 District | Votes | % | Seats | Turnout | ACTC MP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chavakachcheri | 11,813 | 85.51% | 1 | 49.34% | V. Kumarasamy |
| Jaffna | 14,324 | 73.28% | 1 | 46.26% | G. G. Ponnambalam |
| Kankesanthurai | 12,126 | 55.39% | 1 | 57.69% | S. J. V. Chelvanayakam |
| Kayts | 5,230 | 29.21% | 0 | 55.69% | |
| Kopay | 9,619 | 58.90% | 1 | 50.33% | C. Vanniasingam |
| Point Pedro | 10,396 | 43.51% | 1 | 58.39% | T. Ramalingam |
| Trincomalee | 5,252 | 56.15% | 1 | 56.10% | S. Sivapalan |
| Vaddukoddai | 11,721 | 61.24% | 1 | 52.00% | K. Kanagaratnam |
| Vavuniya | 2,018 | 33.39% | 0 | 55.64% | |
| Total | 82,499 | 4.37% | 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 District | Votes | % | Seats | Turnout | ACTC MP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chavakachcheri | 14,801 | 72.33% | 1 | 67.22% | V. Kumarasamy |
| Jaffna | 12,726 | 60.48% | 1 | 71.66% | G. G. Ponnambalam |
| Kayts | 9,517 | 43.44% | 1 | 73.36% | Alfred Thambiayah |
| Kopay | 9,200 | 43.88% | 0 | 64.57% | |
| Point Pedro | 11,609 | 41.54% | 1 | 65.80% | T. Ramalingam |
| Vaddukoddai | 5,261 | 22.64% | 0 | 69.54% | |
| Vavuniya | 1,398 | 15.52% | 0 | 69.59% | |
| Total | 64,512 | 2.77% | 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 District | Votes | % | Seats | Turnout | ACTC MP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chavakachcheri | 6,930 | 32.52% | 0 | 83.20% | |
| Jaffna | 5,312 | 30.56% | 0 | 71.91% | |
| Kankesanthurai | 1,448 | 7.23% | 0 | 71.22% | |
| Kopay | 4,936 | 23.35% | 0 | 77.13% | |
| Nallur | 6,808 | 34.82% | 0 | 73.12% | |
| Point Pedro | 2,521 | 17.91% | 0 | 73.33% | |
| Udupiddy | 7,365 | 34.70% | 1 | 74.84% | M. Sivasithamparam |
| Vaddukoddai | 2,955 | 13.72% | 0 | 75.37% | |
| Total | 38,275 | 1.32% | 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 District | Votes | % | Seats | Turnout | ACTC MP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Batticaloa | 8,107 | 12.14% | 0 | 150.59% | |
| Chavakachcheri | 7,191 | 30.59% | 0 | 77.92% | |
| Jaffna | 9,350 | 42.37% | 1 | 77.76% | G. G. Ponnambalam |
| Kalkudah | 3,354 | 19.38% | 0 | 72.70% | |
| Kankesanthurai | 6,611 | 26.13% | 0 | 72.42% | |
| Kayts | 5,816 | 30.02% | 0 | 61.49% | |
| Kilinochchi | 4,076 | 30.76% | 0 | 71.33% | |
| Kopay | 8,230 | 34.34% | 0 | 72.90% | |
| Mutur | 327 | 0.58% | 0 | 150.92% | |
| Nallur | 9,860 | 43.12% | 0 | 72.03% | |
| Point Pedro | 6,614 | 40.43% | 0 | 71.62% | |
| Udupiddy | 12,009 | 46.67% | 1 | 75.47% | M. Sivasithamparam |
| Uduvil | 5,577 | 23.29% | 0 | 72.80% | |
| Vaddukoddai | 4,359 | 17.09% | 0 | 69.83% | |
| Vavuniya | 7,265 | 40.33% | 1 | 73.45% | T. Sivasithamparam |
| Total | 98,746 | 2.44% | 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 District | Votes | % | Seats | Turnout | ACTC MP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chavakachcheri | 12,921 | 45.51% | 0 | 86.11% | |
| Jaffna | 7,222 | 29.05% | 0 | 79.89% | |
| Kankesanthurai | 3,051 | 10.00% | 0 | 81.03% | |
| Kayts | 1,667 | 6.80% | 0 | 76.88% | |
| Kilinochchi | 9,049 | 50.19% | 1 | 76.03% | V. Anandasangaree |
| Kopay | 11,288 | 38.38% | 0 | 79.01% | |
| Nallur | 13,116 | 46.78% | 1 | 78.69% | C. Arulampalam |
| Point Pedro | 8,902 | 46.85% | 0 | 79.52% | |
| Udupiddy | 11,662 | 42.02% | 0 | 80.41% | |
| Uduvil | 11,656 | 40.68% | 0 | 78.43% | |
| Vaddukoddai | 14,359 | 51.29% | 1 | 78.67% | Dr. A. Thiagarajah |
| Vavuniya | 10,674 | 41.92% | 0 | 80.82% | |
| Total | 115,567 | 2.32% | 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 District | Votes | % | Seats | Turnout | ACTC MP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Batticaloa | 6,968 | 3.74% | 0 | 71.74% | |
| Colombo | 5,238 | 0.52% | 0 | 76.05% | |
| Jaffna | 10,648 | 8.94% | 1 | 21.33% | A. Vinayagamoorthy |
| Trincomalee | 3,748 | 2.82% | 0 | 68.53% | |
| Vanni | 721 | 0.87% | 0 | 42.14% | |
| Total | 27,323 | 0.32% | 1 | ||
| Source:[9] | |||||
References
- ^ November 1948 Archived January 19, 2009 at the Wayback Machine, Peace and Conflict Timeline
- ^ Result of Parliamentary General Election 1947, Department of Elections
- ^ Result of Parliamentary General Election 1952, Department of Elections
- ^ Result of Parliamentary General Election 1956, Department of Elections
- ^ Result of Parliamentary General Election 1960-03-19, Department of Elections
- ^ Result of Parliamentary General Election 1960-07-20, Department of Elections
- ^ Result of Parliamentary General Election 1965, Department of Elections
- ^ Result of Parliamentary General Election 1970, Department of Elections
- ^ Result of Parliamentary General Election 10.10.2000, Department of Elections