Kankesanthurai Electoral District

Kankesanthurai Electoral District was an electoral district of Sri Lanka between August 1947 and February 1989. The district was named after the town of Kankesanthurai 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] Kankesanthurai electoral district was replaced by the Jaffna multi-member electoral district at the 1989 general elections, the first under the PR system, though Kankesanthurai continues to be a polling division of the multi-member electoral district.

Members of Parliament edit

Key

  All Ceylon Tamil Congress   Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi   TULF   UNP

Election Member Party Term
1947 S. J. V. Chelvanayakam All Ceylon Tamil Congress 1947-1952
1952 S. Natesan United National Party 1952-1956
1956 S. J. V. Chelvanayakam Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi 1956-1977
1960 (March)
1960 (July)
1965
1970
1975 by Tamil United Front
1977 A. Amirthalingam Tamil United Liberation Front 1977-1989

Elections edit

1947 Parliamentary General Election edit

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

Candidate Party Symbol Votes %
  S. J. V. Chelvanayakam All Ceylon Tamil Congress Key 12,126 55.39%
  Ponnambalam Nagalingam Lanka Sama Samaja Party Hand 5,160 23.57%
  S. Natesan United National Party Pair of Scales 4,605 21.04%
Valid Votes 21,891 100.00%
Rejected Votes 534
Total Polled 22,425
Registered Electors 38,871
Turnout 57.69%

1952 Parliamentary General Election edit

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

Candidate Party Symbol Votes %
  S. Natesan United National Party Key 15,337 57.00%
  S. J. V. Chelvanayakam Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi[4] Bicycle 11,571 43.00%
Valid Votes 26,908 100.00%
Rejected Votes 355
Total Polled 27,263
Registered Electors 38,439
Turnout 70.93%

1956 Parliamentary General Election edit

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

Candidate Party Symbol Votes %
  S. J. V. Chelvanayakam Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi[4] House 14,855 54.30%
S. Natesan Independent Umbrella 8,188 29.39%
  V. Ponnampalam Communist Party Star 4,313 15.77%
Valid Votes 27,356 100.00%
Rejected Votes 317
Total Polled 27,673
Registered Electors 40,964
Turnout 67.55%

1960 (March) Parliamentary General Election edit

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

Candidate Party Symbol Votes %
  S. J. V. Chelvanayakam Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi[4] House 13,545 67.61%
  V. Karalasingham Lanka Sama Samaja Party Key 5,042 25.17%
  R. N. Sivapirakasam All Ceylon Tamil Congress Bicycle 1,448 7.23%
Valid Votes 20,035 100.00%
Rejected Votes 244
Total Polled 20,279
Registered Electors 28,473
Turnout 71.22%

1960 (July) Parliamentary General Election edit

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

Candidate Party Symbol Votes %
  S. J. V. Chelvanayakam Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi[4] House 15,668 88.63%
  R. N. Sivapirakasam All Ceylon Tamil Congress Pair of Spectacles 2,009 11.37%
Valid Votes 17,677 100.00%
Rejected Votes 131
Total Polled 17,808
Registered Electors 28,473
Turnout 62.54%

1965 Parliamentary General Election edit

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

Candidate Party Symbol Votes %
  S. J. V. Chelvanayakam Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi[4] House 14,735 58.24%
  S. Sri Bhaskaran All Ceylon Tamil Congress Bicycle 6,611 26.13%
V. Karalasingham Lanka Sama Samaja Party (R) Lamp 2,257 8.92%
  K. Vaikunthavasan Communist Party (Moscow) Star 958 3.79%
  V. Seenivasagam Communist Party (Peking) Umbrella 741 2.93%
Valid Votes 25,302 100.00%
Rejected Votes 269
Total Polled 25,571
Registered Electors 35,309
Turnout 72.42%

1970 Parliamentary General Election edit

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

Candidate Party Symbol Votes %
  S. J. V. Chelvanayakam Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi[4] House 13,520 44.29%
  V. Ponnampalam Communist Party Star 8,164 26.75%
C. Suntharalingam Independent Cockerel 5,788 18.96%
  T. Thirunavukarasu All Ceylon Tamil Congress Bicycle 3,051 10.00%
Valid Votes 30,523 100.00%
Rejected Votes 140
Total Polled 30,663
Registered Electors 37,804
Turnout 81.11%

1975 by-election edit

Candidate Party Symbol Votes %
  S.J.V. Chelvanayakam Tamil United Front House 25,927 72.55%
  V. Ponnampalam Communist Party Star 9,457 26.46%
M. Ambalavanar Ship 185 0.52%
Valid Votes 35,569 100.00%
Rejected Votes 168
Total Polled 35,737
Registered Electors 41,227
Turnout 86.68%

[10]

1977 Parliamentary General Election edit

Results of the 8th parliamentary election held on 21 July 1977:[11]

Candidate Party Symbol Votes %
  A. Amirthalingam Tamil United Liberation Front Sun 31,155 85.41%
Sivapiragasam Sritharan Independent Pair of Scales 5,322 14.59%
Valid Votes 36,477 100.00%
Rejected Votes 218
Total Polled 36,695
Registered Electors 43,907
Turnout 83.57%

A. Amirthalingam 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, Amirthalingam forfeited his seat in Parliament on 22 October 1983.[12]

References & footnotes edit

  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. ^ "Summary of By-Elections 1947 to 1988" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-12-09.
  11. ^ "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1977" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-17.
  12. ^ Wickramasinghe, Wimal (18 January 2008). "Saga of crossovers, expulsions and resignations etc. Referendum for extention [sic] of Parliament". The Island, Sri Lanka.