All Ceylon Tamil Congress

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All Ceylon Tamil Congress Akila Ilankai Thamil Congress அகில இலங்கைத் தமிழ்க் காங்கிரஸ் අකිල ඉලංකෙයි තමිල් කොංග්‍රස්
Secretary	Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam
Founder	G. G. Ponnambalam
Founded	29 August 1944 (79 years ago) (1944-08-29)
Headquarters	15 Queen's Road, Colpetty, Colombo 3
Ideology	Tamil nationalism
National affiliation	Tamil National People's Front
Election symbol
Bicycle
Party flag
Politics of Sri Lanka Political parties Elections

All Ceylon Tamil Congress (Tamil: அகில இலங்கைத் தமிழ்க் காங்கிரஸ்), is the oldest Tamil political party in Sri Lanka.

History

The ACTC was founded in 1944 by G.G. Ponnambalam. Ponnambalam asked for a 50-50 representation in parliament (50% for the Sinhalese, 50% for all other ethnic groups).^[1] This was immediately rejected by the British Governor General Lord Soulbury as a "mockery of democracy".^{[citation needed]}

Due to the cooperation of the ACTC with the United National Party 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-Sinhalese stance. Thus the FP emerged as the major Tamil party in 1956.^{[citation needed]}

In 1972 the ACTC and the FP formed the Tamil United Front, which later evolved into the Tamil United Liberation Front in 1976.^{[citation needed]}

Ahead of the 2001 elections, ACTC joined the LTTE-backed Tamil National Alliance (TNA). In the 2004 elections the TNA won 6.9% of the popular vote and 22 out of the 225 seats in parliament.^{[citation needed]}

The ACTC left the TNA in 2010 and subsequently joined a new political alliance, the Tamil National People's Front.^{[citation needed]}

Leaders

Leaders of this party:

• G. G. Ponnambalam (Snr.)
• Kumar Ponnambalam
• Dr. Nalliah Kumaraguruparan
• A. Vinayagamoorthy
• Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam

1947 Parliamentary General Election

In the 1947 election, the first for the independent Ceylon, the ACTC won 4.37% of the popular vote and 7 out of 95 seats in the Sri Lankan parliament.

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 Sri Lankan parliament.

Votes and seats won by ACTC by electoral district

1956 Parliamentary General Election

In the 1956 election the ACTC fielded only one candidate, party leader G.G. Ponnambalam in Jaffna, who managed to win the seat with 8,914 votes.^[4]

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 Sri Lankan parliament.

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 Sri Lankan parliament.^[6]

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 Sri Lankan parliament.

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 Sri Lankan parliament.

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 Sri Lankan parliament.

Votes and seats won by ACTC by electoral district

2001 Parliamentary General Election

In the first parliamentary election contested by the Tamil National Alliance, the 5 December 2001 election, the TNA led by Rajavarothiam Sampanthan won 3.88% of the popular vote and 15 out of 225 seats in the Sri Lankan parliament.

Votes and seats won by TNA by electoral district

2004 Parliamentary General Election

In the 2 April 2004 parliamentary election in which the United People's Freedom Alliance alliance led by President Kumaratunga came to power, the Tamil National Alliance led by Rajavarothiam Sampanthan won 6.84% of the popular vote and 22 out of 225 seats in the Sri Lankan parliament.

Votes and seats won by TNA by electoral district

2010 Parliamentary General Election

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

References