North Eastern Provincial Council election, 1988

North Eastern Province, Sri Lanka, 1988-2006

Provincial Council elections were held on 19 November 1988 to elect members to Sri Lanka’s North Eastern Provincial Council.

Background

The Indo-Lanka Accord signed on 29 July 1987 required the Sri Lankan government to devolve powers to the provinces and, in the interim, to merge the Northern and Eastern provinces into one administrative unit.[1]

On 14 November 1987 the Sri Lankan Parliament passed the 13th Amendment to the 1978 Constitution of Sri Lanka and the Provincial Councils Act No 42 of 1987, establishing provincial councils.[2][3] On September 2 and 8 1988 President Jayewardene issued proclamations enabling the Northern and Eastern provinces to be one administrative unit administered by one elected Council.[4]

The first elections for provincial councils took place on 28 April 1988 in North Central, North Western, Sabaragamuwa, and Uva provinces.[5] Elections in the newly merged North Eastern Province were held on 19 November 1988.

Results

Overall

PartyEasternNorthernTotal
Votes%SeatsVotes%SeatsVotes%Seats
Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front215,23055.00%1724215,23055.00%41
Sri Lanka Muslim Congress168,03842.94%17168,03842.94%17
United National Party8,0562.06%18,0562.06%1
Eelam National Democratic Liberation Front1212
Total391,324100.00%3536391,324100.00%71
Source:[6]

Ampara District

PartyVotes per Polling DivisionTotal Votes%Seats
AmparaKalmunaiPottuvilSammanthurai
Sri Lanka Muslim Congress4026,44134,97228,98390,43663.03%9
Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front2012,62625,1407,96845,75431.89%4
United National Party5,3381111,7041477,3005.09%1
Valid Votes5,39839,17861,81637,098143,490100.00%14
Rejected Votes2194609321,0202,631
Total Polled5,61739,63862,74838,118146,121
Registered Electors94,06844,07582,83344,975265,951
Turnout (%)5.97%89.93%75.75%84.75%54.94%
Source:[6]

Batticaloa District

PartyVotes per Polling DivisionTotal Votes%Seats
BatticaloaKalkudahPaddiruppu
Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front46,00632,54648,394126,94674.76%8
Sri Lanka Muslim Congress29,59412,33117542,10024.79%3
United National Party476194867560.45%0
Valid Votes76,07645,07148,655169,802100.00%11
Rejected Votes1,4956296102,734
Total Polled77,57145,70049,265172,536
Registered Electors100,53660,28856,452217,276
Turnout (%)77.16%75.80%87.27%79.41%
Source:[6]

Jaffna District

The Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front won all 19 seats uncontested.[6]

Kilinochchi District

The Eelam National Democratic Liberation Front won all 3 seats uncontested.[6]

Mannar District

The Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front won all 5 seats uncontested.[6]

Mullaitivu District

The Eelam National Democratic Liberation Front won all 5 seats uncontested.[6]

Trincomalee District

PartyVotes per Polling DivisionTotal Votes%Seats
MuturSeruwilaTrincomalee
Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front12,3114,84025,37942,53054.50%5
Sri Lanka Muslim Congress24,0063,7647,73235,50245.50%5
Valid Votes36,3178,60433,11178,032100.00%10
Rejected Votes8102951,2722,377
Total Polled37,1278,89934,38380,409
Registered Electors48,57047,69356,026152,289
Turnout (%)76.44%18.66%61.37%52.80%
Source:[6]

Vavuniya District

The Eelam National Democratic Liberation Front won all 4 seats uncontested.[6]

Aftermath

On 10 December 1988 Annamalai Varatharajah Perumal of the EPRLF became the first Chief Minister of the North Eastern Provincial Council.[7]

On 1 March 1990, just as the Indian Peace Keeping Force were preparing to withdraw from Sri Lanka, Permual moved a motion in the North Eastern Provincial Council declaraing an independent Eelam.[8] President Premadasa reacted to Permual's UDI by dissolving the provincial council and imposing direct rule on the province.

On 14 July 2006, after a long campaign against the merger of the Northern and Eastern provinces, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna, a Sinhalese nationalist political party, filed three separate petitions with the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka requesting a separate Provincial Council for the East.[4] On 16 October 2006 the Supreme Court ruled that the proclamations issued by President Jayewardene in September 1988 were null and void and had no legal effect.[4] The North Eastern Province was formally demerged into the Northern and Eastern provinces on 1 January 2007.

The north-east of Sri Lanka was ruled directly from Colombo until May 2008 when elections were held in the demerged Eastern Province. However, the Northern Province continues to be ruled from Colombo. More than 20 years after the introduction of provincial councils the people of the Northern Province remain the only ones in Sri Lanka who have never a cast a vote to elect their provincial council. This is despite the fact that the provincial councils were only established to satisfy the demands for autonomy by the Tamils, the majority of whom live in the Northern Province.

References

  1. ↑ "Indo Sri Lanka Agreement, 1987". TamilNation. Retrieved 28 June 2009.
  2. ↑ "Provincial Councils". The Official Website of the Government of Sri Lanka. Retrieved 28 June 2009.
  3. ↑ "The Constitution". The Official Website of the Government of Sri Lanka. Retrieved 28 June 2009.
  4. 1 2 3 "North-East merger illegal: SC". LankaNewspapers.com. 17 October 2006. Retrieved 28 June 2009.
  5. ↑ "Ethnic Conflict of Sri Lanka: Time Line - From Independence to 1999". International Centre for Ethnic Studies. Retrieved 28 June 2009.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Election Results". Tamil Times. VIII (1): 4. December 1988. ISSN 0266-4488.
  7. ↑ K T Rajasingham (20 April 2002). "Sri Lanka" The Untold Story". Asia Times. Retrieved 28 June 2009.
  8. ↑ Shamindra Ferdinando (10 September 2000). "I'm no traitor, says Perumal". Sunday Island, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 28 June 2009.
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