All Ceylon Tamil Congress

{{ safesubst:#invoke:Unsubst||date=__DATE__ |$B= Template:Ambox }} Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox political party All Ceylon Tamil Congress (Template:Langx) 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 majority Sinhalese, and 50% for all other ethnic groups).<ref>November 1948 Template:Webarchive, Peace and Conflict Timeline</ref> This was immediately rejected by the British Governor General Lord Soulbury as a "mockery of democracy".Template:Citation needed

Due to the cooperation of the ACTC with the United National Party (UNP), a group led by S. J. V. Chelvanayakam split from the ACTC in 1949, forming the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK), commonly known as Federal Party. The ACTC was largely discredited when the UNP began to move away from bilingual and bicommunal policies and more towards Sinhalese Buddhist nationalism. As a result, the ITAK overtook the ACTC as the main Tamil party in the country in 1956.Template:Fact

In 1972 the ACTC and ITAK formed the Tamil United Front, which later evolved into the Tamil United Liberation Front in 1976. The TULF would win 18 out of the 168 seats in the National State Assembly in the 1977 general elections, thus making it the main opposition party.Template:Fact

Ahead of the 2001 general elections, the 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.Template:Fact

The ACTC left the TNA in 2010 and subsequently formed a new political alliance, the Tamil National People's Front.Template:Fact

Leaders

Leaders of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress:

• G. G. Ponnambalam (Sr.)
• 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

Electoral District	Votes	%	Seats	Turnout	ACTC MP
Chavakachcheri	11,813	85.51%	1	49.34%	V. Kumarasamy
Jaffna	14,324	73.28%	1	46.26%	G. G. Ponnambalam
Kankesanthurai	12,126	55.39%	1	57.69%	S. J. V. Chelvanayakam
Kayts	5,230	29.21%	0	55.69%
Kopay	9,619	58.90%	1	50.33%	C. Vanniasingam
Point Pedro	10,396	43.51%	1	58.39%	T. Ramalingam
Trincomalee	5,252	56.15%	1	56.10%	S. Sivapalan
Vaddukoddai	11,721	61.24%	1	52.00%	K. Kanagaratnam
Vavuniya	2,018	33.39%	0	55.64%
Total	82,499	4.37%	7
Source:<ref>Result of Parliamentary General Election 1947, Department of Elections </ref>

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

Electoral District	Votes	%	Seats	Turnout	ACTC MP
Chavakachcheri	14,801	72.33%	1	67.22%	V. Kumarasamy
Jaffna	12,726	60.48%	1	71.66%	G. G. Ponnambalam
Kayts	9,517	43.44%	1	73.36%	Alfred Thambiayah
Kopay	9,200	43.88%	0	64.57%
Point Pedro	11,609	41.54%	1	65.80%	T. Ramalingam
Vaddukoddai	5,261	22.64%	0	69.54%
Vavuniya	1,398	15.52%	0	69.59%
Total	64,512	2.77%	4
Source:<ref>Result of Parliamentary General Election 1952, Department of Elections </ref>

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.<ref>Result of Parliamentary General Election 1956, Department of Elections </ref>

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

Electoral District	Votes	%	Seats	Turnout	ACTC MP
Chavakachcheri	6,930	32.52%	0	83.20%
Jaffna	5,312	30.56%	0	71.91%
Kankesanthurai	1,448	7.23%	0	71.22%
Kopay	4,936	23.35%	0	77.13%
Nallur	6,808	34.82%	0	73.12%
Point Pedro	2,521	17.91%	0	73.33%
Udupiddy	7,365	34.70%	1	74.84%	M. Sivasithamparam
Vaddukoddai	2,955	13.72%	0	75.37%
Total	38,275	1.32%	1
Source:<ref>Result of Parliamentary General Election 1960-03-19, Department of Elections </ref>

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.<ref>Result of Parliamentary General Election 1960-07-20, Department of Elections </ref>

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

Electoral District	Votes	%	Seats	Turnout	ACTC MP
Batticaloa	8,107	12.14%	0	150.59%
Chavakachcheri	7,191	30.59%	0	77.92%
Jaffna	9,350	42.37%	1	77.76%	G. G. Ponnambalam
Kalkudah	3,354	19.38%	0	72.70%
Kankesanthurai	6,611	26.13%	0	72.42%
Kayts	5,816	30.02%	0	61.49%
Kilinochchi	4,076	30.76%	0	71.33%
Kopay	8,230	34.34%	0	72.90%
Mutur	327	0.58%	0	150.92%
Nallur	9,860	43.12%	0	72.03%
Point Pedro	6,614	40.43%	0	71.62%
Udupiddy	12,009	46.67%	1	75.47%	M. Sivasithamparam
Uduvil	5,577	23.29%	0	72.80%
Vaddukoddai	4,359	17.09%	0	69.83%
Vavuniya	7,265	40.33%	1	73.45%	T. Sivasithamparam
Total	98,746	2.44%	3
Source:<ref>Result of Parliamentary General Election 1965, Department of Elections </ref>

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

Electoral District	Votes	%	Seats	Turnout	ACTC MP
Chavakachcheri	12,921	45.51%	0	86.11%
Jaffna	7,222	29.05%	0	79.89%
Kankesanthurai	3,051	10.00%	0	81.03%
Kayts	1,667	6.80%	0	76.88%
Kilinochchi	9,049	50.19%	1	76.03%	V. Anandasangaree
Kopay	11,288	38.38%	0	79.01%
Nallur	13,116	46.78%	1	78.69%	C. Arulampalam
Point Pedro	8,902	46.85%	0	79.52%
Udupiddy	11,662	42.02%	0	80.41%
Uduvil	11,656	40.68%	0	78.43%
Vaddukoddai	14,359	51.29%	1	78.67%	Dr. A. Thiagarajah
Vavuniya	10,674	41.92%	0	80.82%
Total	115,567	2.32%	3
Source:<ref>Result of Parliamentary General Election 1970, Department of Elections</ref>

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

Electoral District	Votes	%	Seats	Turnout	ACTC MP
Batticaloa	6,968	3.74%	0	71.74%
Colombo	5,238	0.52%	0	76.05%
Jaffna	10,648	8.94%	1	21.33%	A. Vinayagamoorthy
Trincomalee	3,748	2.82%	0	68.53%
Vanni	721	0.87%	0	42.14%
Total	27,323	0.32%	1
Source:<ref>Result of Parliamentary General Election 10.10.2000, Department of Elections</ref>