Tamil National People's Front

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Tamil National People's Front
தமிழ் தேசியத்திற்கான மக்கள் முன்னணி
ද්‍රවිඩ ජාතික ජනතා පෙරමුණ
PresidentGajendrakumar Ponnambalam
Secretary-GeneralS. Kajendren
Vice PresidentR. E. Anandaraja
Rajakon Hariharan
Visvalingam Manivannan
Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam
P. Sithamparanathan
FounderGajendrakumar Ponnambalam
Founded28 February 2010 (2010-02-28)
Split fromTamil National Alliance
Headquarters43, 3rd Cross Street, Jaffna, Sri Lanka
IdeologyTamil nationalism
Regionalism
Secularism
Colors 
Parliament of Sri Lanka
2 / 225
Website
www.tnpf.info

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).[1] Its main constituent is the All Ceylon Tamil Congress and it also includes former TNA Jaffna district MPs Selvarajah Kajendren and Pathmini Sithamparanathan.[2]

It contests under the Ideology of "Two-Nations in One Country" meaning Sri Lankan State as the country comprising the Sinhala nation and the Tamil nation in a pluri-national society and supports Federalism as a model to achieve this goal. But diverges from the TNA in that the TNPF does not agree on the devolutionary path to federalism. It also opposes both the concept of Sri Lankan nation state and the concept of a Sinhala State.[3]

2010 Parliamentary General Election[edit]

In the 8 April 2010 parliamentary election in which the United People's Freedom Alliance alliance led by President Rajapaksa retained power, the Tamil National People's Front led by Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam won 0.09% of the popular vote and no seats in the Sri Lankan parliament.

Votes and seats won by TNPF by electoral district

Electoral
District
Votes % Seats Turnout TNPF MPs
Jaffna 6,362 4.28% 0 23.33%
Trincomalee 1,182 0.85% 0 62.20%
Total 7,544 0.09% 0 61.26%
Source:"Parliamentary General Election – 2010". Department of Elections, Sri Lanka.

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Tamil National Peoples Front launched in Jaffna". TamilNet. 1 March 2010. Retrieved 10 April 2010.
  2. ^ "TNPF announces Central Committee, prepares party constitution". TamilNet. 24 February 2011. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
  3. ^ Telegraph, Colombo (29 August 2015). "TNPF For 'Two-Nations in One Country': Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam". Colombo Telegraph. Retrieved 19 May 2021.