All Ceylon Tamil Congress ( ta, அகில இலங்கைத் தமிழ்க் காங்கிரஸ்), is the oldest

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

History

The ACTC was founded in 1944 by

G.G. Ponnambalam Ganapathipillai Gangaser Ponnambalam ( ta, கணபதி காங்கேசர் பொன்னம்பலம்; 8 November 1901 – 9 February 1977) was a Ceylon Tamil lawyer, politician and cabinet minister. He was the founder and l ...

. Ponnambalam asked for a 50-50 representation in

parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

(50% for the

Sinhalese Sinhala may refer to: * Something of or related to the Sinhalese people of Sri Lanka * Sinhalese people * Sinhala language, one of the three official languages used in Sri Lanka * Sinhala script, a writing system for the Sinhala language ** Sinha ...

, 50% for ''all'' other ethnic groups). This was immediately rejected by the British Governor General Lord Soulbury as a "mockery of

democracy Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation (" direct democracy"), or to choose gov ...

". Due to the cooperation of the ACTC with the

United National Party The United National Party, often abbreviated as UNP ( si, එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂය, translit=Eksath Jāthika Pakshaya, ta, ஐக்கிய தேசியக் கட்சி, translit=Aikkiya Tēciyak Kaṭci), ...

a group led by S.J.V. Chelvanayakam broke away in 1949, forming the Federal Party (FP). The ACTC was largely discredited when their ally the UNP moved away from bilingual and bicommunal policies towards a pro-

stance. Thus the FP emerged as the major Tamil party in 1956. In 1972 the ACTC and the FP formed the Tamil United Front, which later evolved into the

Tamil United Liberation Front The Tamil United Liberation Front ( ta, தமிழர் ஐக்கிய விடுதலை முன்னணி, translit=Tamil Onrupattatu Viduthulai Munnai, si, ද්‍රවිඩ එක්සත් විමුක්ති ප� ...

in 1976. Ahead of the 2001 elections, ACTC joined the

LTTE The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; ta, தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், translit=Tamiḻīḻa viṭutalaip pulikaḷ, si, දෙමළ ඊළාම් විමුක්ති කොටි, t ...

-backed

Tamil National Alliance The Tamil National Alliance ( ta, தமிழ்த் தேசியக் கூட்டமைப்பு ISO 15919: ''tamiḻt tēciyakkūṭṭamaippu''; TNA) is a political alliance in Sri Lanka that represents the country's Sri Lan ...

(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 joined a new political alliance, the

Tamil National People's Front The Tamil National People's Front (TNPF) is a Sri Lankan political alliance which represents the Sri Lankan Tamil ethnic minority in the country. It was launched on 28 February 2010 as breakaway faction of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA). Its ma ...

Leaders

Leaders of this party: * G. G. Ponnambalam (Snr.) *

Kumar Ponnambalam Gaasinather Gangaser Ponnambalam ( ta, காசிநாதர் காங்கேசர் பொன்னம்பலம்: 12 August 1938 – 5 January 2000; known as Kumar Ponnambalam) was a Sri Lankan lawyer and politician. Leader of th ...

* Dr.

Nalliah Kumaraguruparan Nalliah Kumaraguruparan ( ta, நல்லையா குமரகுருபரன்; si, නල්ලය්යා කුමරගුරුපරන්) is a Sri Lankan Tamil accountant, politician and former provincial councillor. He is ...

* A. Vinayagamoorthy * Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam

1947 Parliamentary General Election

In the 1947 election, the first for the independent

Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

, the ACTC won 4.37% of the popular vote and 7 out of 95 seats in the

Sri Lankan parliament The Parliament of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (Sinhala: ශ්‍රී ලංකා පාර්ලිමේන්තුව ''Shri Lanka Parlimenthuwa'', Tamil: இலங்கை நாடாளுமன்றம் ''Ila� ...

. Votes and seats won by ACTC by electoral district

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

. Votes and seats won by ACTC by electoral district

1956 Parliamentary General Election

In the 1956 election the ACTC fielded only one

candidate A candidate, or nominee, is the prospective recipient of an award or honor, or a person seeking or being considered for some kind of position; for example: * to be elected to an office — in this case a candidate selection procedure occurs. * t ...

, party leader

Jaffna Jaffna (, ) is the capital city of the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna District located on a peninsula of the same name. With a population of 88,138 in 2012, Jaffna is Sri Lanka's 12th most ...

, who managed to win the seat with 8,914 votes.

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

. Votes and seats won by ACTC by electoral district

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

.Result of Parliamentary General Election 1960-07-20, Department of Elections

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

. Votes and seats won by ACTC by electoral district

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

. Votes and seats won by ACTC by electoral district

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

. Votes and seats won by ACTC by electoral district

2001 Parliamentary General Election

2004 Parliamentary General Election

2010 Parliamentary General Election

References

{{Sri Lankan Tamil people 1944 establishments in Ceylon Ceylon in World War II Political parties established in 1944 Political parties in Sri Lanka Sri Lankan Tamil nationalist parties