Northern Provincial Council

Northern Provincial Council
வட மாகாண சபை
උතුරු පළාත් සභා
1st Northern Provincial Council
Type
Type
Leadership
Chairman
C. V. K. Sivagnanam, TNA
Since 25 October 2013
Deputy Chairman
Anton Jeyanathan, TNA
Since 25 October 2013
C. V. Vigneswaran, TNA
Since 7 October 2013
Leader of the Opposition
K. Kamalendran, UPFA
Since 25 October 2013
Chief Secretary
R. Wijialudchumi
Since 5 December 2011
Structure
Seats 38
Political groups

Government (30)

  •      TNA (30)

Opposition (8)

Elections
Last election
 21 September 2013
Meeting place
Provincial Council Assembly Hall, Northern Provincial Council Building, Kaithady
Website
np.gov.lk

Northern Provincial Council (Tamil: வட மாகாண சபை Vaṭa Mākāṇa Capai; NPC) is the provincial council for the Northern Province in Sri Lanka. In accordance with the Sri Lankan constitution, NPC has legislative power over a variety of matters including agriculture, education, health, housing, local government, planning, road transport and social services. The constitution also gives it powers over police and land but successive central governments have refused to devolve these powers to the provinces.[1][2][3] NPC has 38 members elected using the open list proportional representation system.

History

In an attempt to end the Sri Lankan Civil War the Indo-Lanka Accord was signed on 29 July 1987. One of the requirements of the accord was that the Sri Lankan government should devolve powers to the provinces.[4] Accordingly on 14 November 1987 the Sri Lankan Parliament passed the 13th Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka and the Provincial Councils Act No 42 of 1987.[5][6] On 3 February 1988 nine provincial councils were created by order.[7] The first elections for provincial councils took place on 28 April 1988 in North Central, North Western, Sabaragamuwa, and Uva provinces.[8] On 2 June 1988 elections were held for provincial councils for Central, Southern and Western provinces.

The Indo-Lanka Accord also required the merger of the Eastern and Northern provinces into one administrative unit. The accord required a referendum to be held by 31 December 1988 in the Eastern Province to decide whether the merger should be permanent. Crucially, the accord allowed the Sri Lankan president to postpone the referendum at his discretion.[4] On September 2 and 8 1988 President Jayewardene issued proclamations enabling the Eastern and Northern provinces to be one administrative unit administered by one elected council, creating the North Eastern Province.[7] Elections in the newly merged North Eastern Province were held on 19 November 1988. The Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front, an Indian backed paramilitary group, won control of the North Eastern provincial council.

On 1 March 1990, just as the Indian Peace Keeping Force were preparing to withdraw from Sri Lanka, Annamalai Varatharajah Perumal, Chief Minister of the North Eastern Province, moved a motion in the North Eastern Provincial Council declaring an independent Eelam.[9] President Premadasa reacted to Permual's UDI by dissolving the provincial council and imposing direct rule on the province.

The proclamations issued by President Jayewardene in September 1988 merging the Northern and Eastern provinces were only meant to be a temporary measure until a referendum was held in the Eastern Province on a permanent merger between the two provinces. However, the referendum was never held and successive Sri Lankan presidents issued proclamations annually extending the life of the "temporary" entity.[10] The merger was bitterly opposed by Sri Lankan nationalists. The combined North Eastern Province occupied one third of Sri Lanka. The thought of the rebel Tamil Tigers controlling this province, directly or indirectly, alarmed them greatly. On 14 July 2006, after a long campaign against the merger, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna filed three separate petitions with the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka requesting a separate Provincial Council for the East.[7] On 16 October 2006 the Supreme Court ruled that the proclamations issued by President Jayewardene were null and void and had no legal effect.[7] The North Eastern Province was formally de-merged into the Eastern and Northern provinces on 1 January 2007. The Northern province was ruled directly from Colombo until 21 September 2013 when elections were held.

Chairmen, deputy chairmen, chief ministers, leaders of the opposition and chief secretaries

Chairmen

Deputy Chairmen

Chief Ministers

Leaders of the Opposition

  • K. Kamalendran, UPFA-EPDP (2013-present)[14]

Chief Secretaries

  • S. Rangarajah, (2007-09)[15][16]
  • A. Sivaswamy, (2009-11)[17]
  • R. Wijialudchumi, (2011-present)[18]

Election results

2013 provincial council election

Results of the 1st Northern Provincial Council election held on 21 September 2013:[19]

Alliances and parties Jaffna Kilinochchi Mannar Mullaitivu Vavuniya Bonus
Seats 		Total
Votes % Seats Votes % Seats Votes % Seats Votes % Seats Votes % Seats Votes % Seats
  Tamil National Alliance 213,907 84.37% 14 37,079 81.57% 3 33,118 62.22% 3 28,266 78.56% 4 41,225 66.10% 4 2 353,595 78.48% 30
  United People's Freedom Alliance 35,995 14.20% 2 7,897 17.37% 1 15,104 28.38% 1 7,209 20.04% 1 16,633 26.67% 2 0 82,838 18.38% 7
  Sri Lanka Muslim Congress 4,571 8.59% 1 199 0.55% 0 1,991 3.19% 0 0 6,761 1.50% 1
  United National Party 855 0.34% 0 54 0.12% 0 187 0.35% 0 197 0.55% 0 1,769 2.84% 0 0 3,062 0.68% 0
  Independent lists 1,445 0.57% 0 29 0.06% 0 49 0.09% 0 54 0.15% 0 327 0.52% 0 0 1,904 0.42% 0
  Democratic Unity Alliance 525 0.21% 0 61 0.13% 0 70 0.13% 0 170 0.27% 0 0 826 0.18% 0
  Eelavar Democratic Front 300 0.66% 0 0 300 0.07% 0
Sri Lanka People's Party 292 0.12% 0 0 292 0.06% 0
  Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna 56 0.02% 0 18 0.04% 0 11 0.02% 0 30 0.08% 0 173 0.28% 0 0 288 0.06% 0
United Socialist Party 165 0.07% 0 23 0.04% 0 0 188 0.04% 0
Democratic Party 111 0.04% 0 5 0.01% 0 11 0.02% 0 2 0.01% 0 41 0.07% 0 0 170 0.04% 0
Socialist Equality Party 101 0.04% 0 0 101 0.02% 0
Jana Setha Peramuna 74 0.03% 0 2 0.00% 0 7 0.01% 0 5 0.01% 0 2 0.00% 0 0 90 0.02% 0
Our National Front 87 0.16% 0 0 87 0.02% 0
Sri Lanka Labour Party 16 0.01% 0 4 0.01% 0 7 0.01% 0 2 0.01% 0 3 0.00% 0 0 32 0.01% 0
United Lanka Great Council 6 0.01% 0 1 0.00% 0 6 0.02% 0 2 0.00% 0 0 15 0.00% 0
Nationalities Unity Organisation 4 0.01% 0 10 0.03% 0 0 14 0.00% 0
United Lanka People's Party 2 0.01% 0 6 0.01% 0 0 8 0.00% 0
Muslim Liberation Front 3 0.01% 0 0 3 0.00% 0
Valid Votes 253,542 100.00% 16 45,459 100.00% 4 53,226 100.00% 5 35,982 100.00% 5 62,365 100.00% 6 2 450,574 100.00% 38
Rejected Votes 20,279 4,735 2,989 2,820 4,416 35,239
Total Polled 273,821 50,194 56,215 38,802 66,781 485,813
Registered Electors 426,813 68,600 75,737 53,683 94,644 719,477
Turnout 64.15% 73.17% 74.22% 72.28% 70.56% 67.52%

References

  1. ↑ Colombage, Dinouk (5 June 2014). "Sri Lanka says no to devolution of powers". Al Jazeera.
  2. ↑ Sirilal, Ranga; Aneez, Shihar (4 June 2014). "Sri Lanka again rejects devolving police powers to ease tension with Tamils". Reuters.
  3. ↑ Senadhira, Sugeeswara (11 July 2013). "Sri Lanka and the 13th Amendment: What is '13 Plus'?". Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies.
  4. 1 2 "Indo Sri Lanka Agreement, 1987". TamilNation.
  5. ↑ "Introduction". Official Website of the Government of Sri Lanka. Government of Sri Lanka.
  6. ↑ "Amendments to the 1978 Constitution". Official Website of the Government of Sri Lanka. Government of Sri Lanka.
  7. 1 2 3 4 "North-East merger illegal: SC". LankaNewspapers.com. 17 October 2006.
  8. ↑ "Ethnic Conflict of Sri Lanka: Time Line - From Independence to 1999". International Centre for Ethnic Studies9.
  9. ↑ Ferdinando, Shamindra (10 September 2000). "I'm no traitor, says Perumal". Sunday Island (Sri Lanka).
  10. ↑ V.S. Sambandan (14 November 2003). "Sri Lanka's North-East to remain united for another year". The Hindu. Retrieved 10 October 2009.
  11. ↑ "Wigneswaran takes oath as Northern Province CM". The Hindu/Indo-Asian News Service. 9 October 2013.
  12. ↑ "Wigneswaran sworn-in as NPC CM". The Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka). 7 October 2013.
  13. ↑ "Sri Lanka poll: Tamil minister Wigneswaran says 'peace possible'". BBC News. 7 October 2013.
  14. ↑ Bastians, Dharisha (26 October 2013). "Noble start in north!". Daily FT.
  15. ↑ "Secs. for two provinces". The Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka). 11 January 2007.
  16. ↑ "Separate flags for North and East Provincial Councils". TamilNet. 24 May 2007.
  17. ↑ "PART I : SECTION (I) — GENERAL Appointments & c., by the President" (PDF). The Gazette of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka Extraordinary. 1607/07. 23 June 2009.
  18. ↑ "PART I : SECTION (I) — GENERAL Appointments & c., by the President" (PDF). The Gazette of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka Extraordinary. 1736/40. 16 December 2011.
  19. ↑ "Provincial Council Elections 2013 : Northern Province". Department of Elections, Sri Lanka.
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