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. 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 Key
ElectionMemberPartyTerm 1947G. G. PonnambalamAll Ceylon Tamil Congress1947-1960 1952 1956 1960 (March)Alfred DuraiappahIndependent1960-1965 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
1947 Parliamentary General Election Results of the 1st parliamentary election held between 23 August 1947 and 20 September 1947:
CandidatePartySymbolVotes% G. G. PonnambalamAll Ceylon Tamil CongressBicycle14,32473.28% Arunachalam MahadevaUnited National PartyElephant5,22426.72%Valid Votes19,548100.00%Rejected Votes133Total Polled19,681Registered Electors42,546Turnout46.26%
1952 Parliamentary General Election Results of the 2nd parliamentary election held between 24 May 1952 and 30 May 1952:
CandidatePartySymbolVotes% G. G. PonnambalamAll Ceylon Tamil CongressUmbrella12,72660.48% E. M. V. NaganathanIllankai Tamil Arasu KachchiAlso known as the Federal PartyHand8,31739.52%Valid Votes21,043100.00%Rejected Votes88Total Polled21,131Registered Electors29,489Turnout71.66%
1956 Parliamentary General Election Results of the 3rd parliamentary election held between 5 April 1956 and 10 April 1956:
CandidatePartySymbolVotes% G. G. PonnambalamAll Ceylon Tamil CongressBicycle8,91440.46% E. M. V. NaganathanIllankai Tamil Arasu KachchiHouse7,17332.56% M. KarthigasanCommunist PartyStar3,23914.70% Arulambalam VisuvanathanLanka Sama Samaja PartyKey2,70312.27%Valid Votes22,029100.00%Rejected Votes149Total Polled22,178Registered Electors34,804Turnout63.72%
1960 (March) Parliamentary General Election Results of the 4th parliamentary election held on 19 March 1960:
CandidatePartySymbolVotes% Alfred DuraiappahIndependentSun6,20135.68% G. G. PonnambalamAll Ceylon Tamil CongressBicycle5,31230.56% S. KathiravelupillaiIllankai Tamil Arasu KachchiHouse5,10129.35% Arulambalam VisuvanathanLanka Sama Samaja PartyKey7674.41%Valid Votes17,381100.00%Rejected Votes92Total Polled17,473Registered Electors24,299Turnout71.91%
1960 (July) Parliamentary General Election Results of the 5th parliamentary election held on 20 July 1960:
CandidatePartySymbolVotes% Alfred DuraiappahIndependentBicycle6,31335.13% G. G. PonnambalamAll Ceylon Tamil CongressEye6,01533.47% S. KathiravelupillaiIllankai Tamil Arasu KachchiHouse5,64431.40%Valid Votes17,972100.00%Rejected Votes84Total Polled18,056Registered Electors25,299Turnout74.31%
1965 Parliamentary General Election Results of the 6th parliamentary election held on 22 March 1965:
CandidatePartySymbolVotes% G. G. PonnambalamAll Ceylon Tamil CongressBicycle9,35042.37% C. X. MartynIllankai Tamil Arasu KachchiHouse6,80030.81% Alfred DuraiappahPair of Scales5,91826.82%Valid Votes22,068100.00%Rejected Votes73Total Polled22,141Registered Electors28,473Turnout77.76%
1970 Parliamentary General Election Results of the 7th parliamentary election held on 27 May 1970:
CandidatePartySymbolVotes% C. X. MartynIllankai Tamil Arasu KachchiHouse8,84835.59% Alfred DuraiappahIndependentUmbrella8,79235.36% G. G. PonnambalamAll Ceylon Tamil CongressBicycle7,22229.05%Valid Votes24,862100.00%Rejected Votes76Total Polled24,938Registered Electors31,214Turnout79.89%
1977 Parliamentary General Election Results of the 8th parliamentary election held on 21 July 1977:
CandidatePartySymbolVotes% V. YogeswaranTamil United Liberation FrontSun16,25151.26% Kumar PonnambalamIndependentTree6,96024.25% A. L. AbrahamPair of Scales4,34915.15% C. X. MartynUmbrella9003.14% A. G. RajasooriarChair1640..57% A. TharmalinghamIndependentShip770.27%Valid Votes28,701100.00%Rejected Votes78Total Polled28,779Registered Electors34,865Turnout82.54%
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.
References & footnotes