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Mavai Senathirajah

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Hon.
Mavai Senathirajah
MP
மாவை சேனாதிராஜா
මාවෙයි සේනාධිරාජා
Member of Parliament
for Jaffna District
In office
10 October 2000 – 3 March 2020
Member of Parliament
for National List
In office
1999–2000
Preceded byNeelan Tiruchelvam
In office
1989–1994
Preceded byA. Amirthalingam
Personal details
Born (1942-10-27) 27 October 1942 (age 82)
NationalitySri Lankan
Political partyIllankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi
Other political
affiliations		Tamil National Alliance
Alma materUniversity of Ceylon, Peradeniya
EthnicitySri Lankan Tamil
ReligionHindu

Somasundaram Senathirajah (Tamil: சோமசுந்தரம் சேனாதிராஜா Sinhala: මාවෙයි සේනාධිරාජා) born 27 October 1942; commonly known as Mavai Senathirajah) is a Sri Lankan Tamil politician and former Member of Parliament. He was the leader of the Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) from 2014 to 2024, the main constituent party of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA).

Early life

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Senathirajah was born on 27 October 1942.[1][2] He was educated Veemanramam School and Nadeswara College.[2] After school he joined the University of Ceylon, Peradeniya as an external student and graduated with a bachelor's degree.[2]

Senathirajah got involved in the Sri Lankan Tamil nationalism movement at a young age and took part in the 1961 satyagraha.[2] He joined the youth wing of Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK), the Tamil Youth League, in 1962.[2] He was secretary of the Eela Thamil Elanger Eyakam (Eelam Tamil Youth Movement) from 1966 to 1969.[2] He was arrested on several occasions between 1969 and 1983 and spent seven years imprisoned at eight different prisons.[2] He became secretary of the Tamil Youth Front, the youth wing the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF), in 1972.[2]

Career

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Senathirajah was one of the ENDLF/EPRLF/TELO/TULF alliance's candidates in Jaffna District at the 1989 parliamentary election but failed to get elected after coming 13th amongst the alliance candidates.[3][4] However, he entered Parliament in 1989 when he was appointed as a National List Member of Parliament for the TULF, replacing A. Amirthalingam who had been assassinated on 13 July 1989.[5] He re-entered Parliament in 1999 as a National List Member of Parliament for the TULF following the assassination of Neelan Tiruchelvam on 29 July 1999.[5][6]

Senathirajah was one of the TULF's candidates in Jaffna District at the 2000 parliamentary election. He was elected and re-entered Parliament.[7] On 20 October 2001 the All Ceylon Tamil Congress, Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front, Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization and TULF formed the Tamil National Alliance (TNA).[8][9] Senathirajah contested the 2001 parliamentary election as one of the TNA's candidates in Jaffna District. He was elected and re-entered Parliament.[10] He was re-elected at the 2004, 2010 and 2015 parliamentary elections.[11][12][13][14][15]

Senathirajah was general-secretary of ITAK before being elected leader of ITAK 6 September 2014.[16][17] Senathirajah is one of a trio of MPs (the other two being R. Sampanthan and M. A. Sumanthiran) who lead the TNA.[18][19]

Electoral history

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Electoral history of Mavai Senathirajah
Election Constituency Party Votes Result
1989 parliamentary[4] Jaffna District TULF 2,820 Not elected
2000 parliamentary[7] Jaffna District TULF 10,965 Elected
2001 parliamentary[10] Jaffna District TNA 33,831 Elected
2004 parliamentary[11] Jaffna District TNA 38,783 Elected
2010 parliamentary[12] Jaffna District TNA 20,501 Elected
2015 parliamentary[20] Jaffna District TNA 58,782 Elected

References

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  1. ^ "Directory of Members: Mavai S. Senathirajah". Parliament of Sri Lanka.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h de Silva, W. P. P.; Ferdinando, T. C. L. 9th Parliament of Sri Lanka (PDF). Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited. p. 306. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 June 2015.
  3. ^ "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1989" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2009.
  4. ^ a b de Silva, W. P. P.; Ferdinando, T. C. L. 9th Parliament of Sri Lanka (PDF). Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited. p. 182. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 June 2015.
  5. ^ a b Jeyaraj, D. B. S. (20 November 2005). "Terror unleashed on Tiger supporters in North-East". Transcurrents. Archived from the original on 10 November 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  6. ^ "Senathirajah - new TULF MP". The Island (Sri Lanka). 15 August 1999. Archived from the original on 1 October 2008.
  7. ^ a b "General Election 2000 Preferences" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 August 2010.
  8. ^ Jeyaraj, D. B. S. "Tamil National Alliance enters critical third phase - 1". The Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka). Archived from the original on 4 April 2010.
  9. ^ "Tamil parties sign MOU". TamilNet. 20 October 2001.
  10. ^ a b "General Election 2001 Preferences" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2010.
  11. ^ a b "General Election 2004 Preferences" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2010.
  12. ^ a b "Parliamentary General Election - 2010 Jaffna Preferences" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 May 2010.
  13. ^ "PART I : SECTION (I) — GENERAL Government Notifications PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS ACT, No. 1 OF 1981" (PDF). The Gazette of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka Extraordinary. 1928/03. 19 August 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 September 2015.
  14. ^ "Ranil tops with over 500,000 votes in Colombo". The Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka). 19 August 2015.
  15. ^ "Preferential Votes". Daily News (Sri Lanka). 19 August 2015. Archived from the original on 20 August 2015.
  16. ^ "Mavai elected as ITAK's new leader". The Sunday Times (Sri Lanka). 7 September 2014.
  17. ^ "Mavai replaces Sampanthan as ITAK leader". Tamil Guardian. 6 September 2014.
  18. ^ Jeyaraj, D. B. S. (27 July 2013). "Wigneswaran, Senathirajah and the Facade of TNA Unity". The Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka).
  19. ^ Gammanpila, Udaya (4 August 2013). "TNA's majoritism in minority politics". Ceylon Today. Archived from the original on 22 December 2014.
  20. ^ Jayakody, Pradeep (28 August 2015). "The Comparison of Preferential Votes in 2015 & 2010". The Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka).
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