Gajendrakumar Gangaser Ponnambalam ( ta, கஜேந்திரகுமார் காங்கேசர் பொன்னம்பலம், translit=Kajēntirakumār Kāṅkēcar Poṉṉampalam; born 16 January 1974) is a Sri Lankan lawyer, politician and

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

. He is the leader of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress, a member of 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 ...

Early life and family

Ponnambalam was born on 16 January 1974. He is the son of Kumar Ponnambalam and grandson of G. G. Ponnambalam, both leaders of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC). He was educated at Royal College, Colombo and the

Colombo International School Colombo International School (CIS) is a private co-educational school in Colombo, Sri Lanka. It was founded in 1982 by Elizabeth Moir and employs an English-medium curriculum. In 1998 the school was expanded by the new Chairman of the Board of Di ...

. After school he joined

SOAS, University of London SOAS University of London (; the School of Oriental and African Studies) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury are ...

, graduating with a

LL.B. Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

degree in 1995.

Career

Ponnambalam qualified as a barrister-at-law from Lincoln's Inn and was called to the bar of England and Wales in 1997. Returning to Sri Lanka, he qualified as an attorney-at-law and was called to the bar of Sri Lanka in 1999. Ponnambalam entered politics following the assassination of his father on 5 January 2000. On 20 October 2001 the ACTC,

Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front The Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF) is a series of Sri Lankan political parties and a former militant separatist group. Militant separatists The EPRLF was formed in 1980 by K. Pathmanabha (Padmanaba), Douglas Devananda, S ...

Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization The Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization (TELO) is an Eelam Tamil organisation which campaigned for the establishment of an independent Tamil Eelam in the northeast of Sri Lanka during 1972-1987 which later accepted the December 19th proposals. ...

and

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

formed the

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). Ponnambalam contested the 2001 parliamentary election as one of the TNA's candidates in Jaffna District and was elected to the Parliament of Sri Lanka, Parliament. He was re-elected at the 2004 Sri Lankan parliamentary election, 2004 parliamentary election. In March 2010 Ponnambalam, along with fellow TNA MPs S. Kajendran and Pathmini Sithamparanathan, left the TNA and formed the

(TNPF). Ponnambalam contested the 2010 Sri Lankan parliamentary election, 2010 parliamentary election as a TNPF candidate in Jaffna District but the TNPF failed to win any seats in Parliament. In February 2011 Ponnambalam became one of the vice-presidents of the TNPF. He contested the 2015 Sri Lankan parliamentary election, 2015 parliamentary election as a TNPF candidates in Jaffna District but, again, the TNPF failed to win any seats in Parliament. Ponnambalam contested the 2020 Sri Lankan parliamentary election, 2020 parliamentary election as a TNPF candidate in Jaffna District and was re-elected to the Parliament of Sri Lanka. Ponnambalam has extensive Stock, shareholdings in several companies Listing (finance), listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange - either directly or through family owned companies Gee Gees Properties (Pvt) Ltd and Gitanjali Gajaluckshmi (Pvt) Ltd - including Serendib Land PLC (property developer), LOLC Holdings PLC/Lanka ORIX Leasing Company (leasing, Factoring (finance), factoring and microfinance) and Bukit Darah PLC (palm oil).

Electoral history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ponnambalam, Gajendrakumar 1974 births All Ceylon Tamil Congress politicians Alumni of Colombo International School Alumni of Royal College, Colombo Alumni of SOAS University of London Members of Lincoln's Inn Members of the 12th Parliament of Sri Lanka Members of the 13th Parliament of Sri Lanka Members of the 16th Parliament of Sri Lanka Living people Ponnambalam family, Gajendrakumar Sri Lankan Hindus Sri Lankan Tamil lawyers Sri Lankan Tamil politicians Tamil National Alliance politicians

Early life and family

Career

Electoral history

See also

References