Kopay Electoral District Explained

Kopay Electoral District was an electoral district of Sri Lanka between August 1947 and February 1989. The district was named after the town of Kopay in Jaffna District, Northern Province. The 1978 Constitution of Sri Lanka introduced the proportional representation electoral system for electing members of Parliament. The existing 160 mainly single-member electoral districts were replaced with 22 multi-member electoral districts.[1] Kopay electoral district was replaced by the Jaffna multi-member electoral district at the 1989 general elections, the first under the PR system, though Kopay continues to be a polling division of the multi-member electoral district.

Members of Parliament

Key

ElectionMemberPartyTerm
1947C. VanniasingamAll Ceylon Tamil Congress1947-1952
1952Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi1952-1956
19561956-1960
1960 (March)M. Balasundaram1960-1960
1960 (July)1960-1965
1965S. Kathiravelupillai1965-1970
19701970-1977
1977Tamil United Liberation Front1977-1989

Elections

1947 Parliamentary General Election

Results of the 1st parliamentary election held between 23 August 1947 and 20 September 1947:[2]

align=left colspan=2 width="180"Candidate!align=left width="180"Party!align=left width="120"Symbol!align=left width="60"Votes!align=left width="60"%
bgcolor=  C. VanniasingamAll Ceylon Tamil CongressElephant9,61958.90%
bgcolor=  S. RasaratnamUnited National PartyHand5,26632.24%
C. RagunathanIndependentCart Wheel1,4478.86%
align=left colspan=4Valid Votes16,332100.00%
align=left colspan=4Rejected Votes276
align=left colspan=4Total Polled16,608
align=left colspan=4Registered Electors32,999
align=left colspan=4Turnout50.33%

1952 Parliamentary General Election

Results of the 2nd parliamentary election held between 24 May 1952 and 30 May 1952:[3]

align=left colspan=2 width="180"Candidate!align=left width="180"Party!align=left width="120"Symbol!align=left width="60"Votes!align=left width="60"%
bgcolor=  C. VanniasingamIllankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi[4] Key9,41044.89%
bgcolor=  C. ArulampalamAll Ceylon Tamil CongressElephant9,20043.88%
R. R. DharmaratnamStar2,35411.23%
align=left colspan=4Valid Votes20,964100.00%
align=left colspan=4Rejected Votes283
align=left colspan=4Total Polled21,247
align=left colspan=4Registered Electors32,903
align=left colspan=4Turnout64.57%

1956 Parliamentary General Election

Results of the 3rd parliamentary election held between 5 April 1956 and 10 April 1956:[5]

align=left colspan=2 width="180"Candidate!align=left width="180"Party!align=left width="120"Symbol!align=left width="60"Votes!align=left width="60"%
bgcolor=  C. VanniasingamIllankai Tamil Arasu KachchiHouse12,80453.83%
C. ArulampalamUmbrella10,98346.17%
align=left colspan=4Valid Votes23,787100.00%
align=left colspan=4Rejected Votes304
align=left colspan=4Total Polled24,091
align=left colspan=4Registered Electors34,465
align=left colspan=4Turnout69.90%

C. Vanniasingam died on 17 September 1959.

1960 (March) Parliamentary General Election

Results of the 4th parliamentary election held on 19 March 1960:[6]

align=left colspan=2 width="180"Candidate!align=left width="180"Party!align=left width="120"Symbol!align=left width="60"Votes!align=left width="60"%
bgcolor=  M. BalasundaramIllankai Tamil Arasu KachchiHouse10,27948.63%
bgcolor=  T. GunaratnamAll Ceylon Tamil CongressBicycle4,93623.35%
S. K. NallathambySun3,49416.53%
bgcolor=  K. V. S. ShanmuganathanLanka Sama Samaja PartyKey1,7778.41%
bgcolor=  S. P. NadarajahCommunist PartyStar4582.17%
S. SivasubramaniamCockerel1920.91%
align=left colspan=4Valid Votes21,136100.00%
align=left colspan=4Rejected Votes351
align=left colspan=4Total Polled21,487
align=left colspan=4Registered Electors27,858
align=left colspan=4Turnout77.13%

1960 (July) Parliamentary General Election

Results of the 5th parliamentary election held on 20 July 1960:[7]

align=left colspan=2 width="180"Candidate!align=left width="180"Party!align=left width="120"Symbol!align=left width="60"Votes!align=left width="60"%
bgcolor=  M. BalasundaramIllankai Tamil Arasu KachchiHouse12,08867.64%
bgcolor=  T. GunaratnamAll Ceylon Tamil CongressBicycle5,78232.36%
align=left colspan=4Valid Votes17,870100.00%
align=left colspan=4Rejected Votes188
align=left colspan=4Total Polled18,058
align=left colspan=4Registered Electors27,858
align=left colspan=4Turnout64.82%

1965 Parliamentary General Election

Results of the 6th parliamentary election held on 22 March 1965:[8]

align=left colspan=2 width="180"Candidate!align=left width="180"Party!align=left width="120"Symbol!align=left width="60"Votes!align=left width="60"%
bgcolor=  S. KathiravelupillaiIllankai Tamil Arasu KachchiHouse12,33951.93%
bgcolor=  T. GunaratnamAll Ceylon Tamil CongressBicycle8,23034.64%
bgcolor=  M. ThurairajahLanka Sama Samaja PartyKey2,62511.05%
M. BalasundaramUmbrella5682.39%
align=left colspan=4Valid Votes23,762100.00%
align=left colspan=4Rejected Votes361
align=left colspan=4Total Polled24,123
align=left colspan=4Registered Electors33,091
align=left colspan=4Turnout72.90%

1970 Parliamentary General Election

Results of the 7th parliamentary election held on 27 May 1970:[9]

align=left colspan=2 width="180"Candidate!align=left width="180"Party!align=left width="120"Symbol!align=left width="60"Votes!align=left width="60"%
bgcolor=  S. KathiravelupillaiIllankai Tamil Arasu KachchiHouse16,42855.85%
bgcolor=  T. GunaratnamAll Ceylon Tamil CongressBicycle11,28838.38%
M. S. KanagasundaramPair of Scales9833.34%
bgcolor=  M. ThurairajahSri Lanka Freedom PartyHand7132.42%
align=left colspan=4Valid Votes29,412100.00%
align=left colspan=4Rejected Votes189
align=left colspan=4Total Polled29,601
align=left colspan=4Registered Electors37,464
align=left colspan=4Turnout79.01%

1977 Parliamentary General Election

Results of the 8th parliamentary election held on 21 July 1977:[10]

align=left colspan=2 width="180"Candidate!align=left width="180"Party!align=left width="120"Symbol!align=left width="60"Votes!align=left width="60"%
bgcolor=  S. KathiravelupillaiTamil United Liberation FrontSun25,84077.20%
bgcolor=  V. NadarajahLanka Sama Samaja PartyKey3,48710.42%
bgcolor=  S. JeganathanUnited National PartyElephant2,6998.06%
V. T. JeyadevanIndependentShip1,4444.31%
align=left colspan=4Valid Votes33,470100.00%
align=left colspan=4Rejected Votes149
align=left colspan=4Total Polled33,619
align=left colspan=4Registered Electors41,824
align=left colspan=4Turnout80.38%

S. Kathiravelupillai died on 31 March 1981. His replacement M. Alalasundaram was sworn in on 23 July 1981.[11]

M. Alalasundaram and all other TULF MPs boycotted Parliament from the middle of 1983 for a number of reasons: they were under pressure from Sri Lankan Tamil militants not to stay in Parliament beyond their normal six-year term; the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka required them to swear an oath unconditionally renouncing support for a separate state; and the Black July riots in which up to 3,000 Tamils were murdered by Sinhalese mobs. After three months of absence, Alalasundaram forfeited his seat in Parliament on 5 January 1984.[12]

M. Alalasundaram was murdered on 2 September 1985.[13]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: The Electoral System . . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20101127041829/http://parliament.lk/about_us/electoral_system.jsp . 2010-11-27 .
  2. Web site: Result of Parliamentary General Election 1947 . https://web.archive.org/web/20091209231847/http://www.slelections.gov.lk/pdf/Results_1947%20GENERAL%20ELECTION.PDF . dead . 2009-12-09 . Department of Elections, Sri Lanka .
  3. Web site: Result of Parliamentary General Election 1952 . https://web.archive.org/web/20091209231904/http://www.slelections.gov.lk/pdf/Results_1952%20GENERAL%20ELECTION.PDF . dead . 2009-12-09 . Department of Elections, Sri Lanka .
  4. Also known as the Federal Party
  5. Web site: Result of Parliamentary General Election 1956 . https://web.archive.org/web/20091209232204/http://www.slelections.gov.lk/pdf/Results_1956%20GENERAL%20ELECTION.PDF . dead . 2009-12-09 . Department of Elections, Sri Lanka .
  6. Web site: Result of Parliamentary General Election 1960-03-19 . https://web.archive.org/web/20091209231748/http://www.slelections.gov.lk/pdf/Results_1960_03_19%20GENERAL%20ELECTION.PDF . dead . 2009-12-09 . Department of Elections, Sri Lanka .
  7. Web site: Result of Parliamentary General Election 1960-07-20 . https://web.archive.org/web/20091209232020/http://www.slelections.gov.lk/pdf/Results_1960_07_20%20GENERAL%20ELECTION.PDF . dead . 2009-12-09 . Department of Elections, Sri Lanka .
  8. Web site: Result of Parliamentary General Election 1965 . https://web.archive.org/web/20091209231813/http://www.slelections.gov.lk/pdf/Results_1965%20GENERAL%20ELECTION.PDF . dead . 2009-12-09 . Department of Elections, Sri Lanka .
  9. Web site: Result of Parliamentary General Election 1970 . Department of Elections, Sri Lanka . 2009-02-15 . https://web.archive.org/web/20091209231958/http://www.slelections.gov.lk/pdf/Results_1970%20GENERAL%20ELECTION.PDF . 2009-12-09 . dead .
  10. Web site: Result of Parliamentary General Election 1977. https://web.archive.org/web/20110717002624/http://www.slelections.gov.lk/pdf/General%20Election%201977.PDF. dead. 2011-07-17. Department of Elections, Sri Lanka.
  11. Web site: Chapter 27 - Horsewhip Amirthalingham . https://web.archive.org/web/20020622185747/http://www.atimes.com/ind-pak/DB16Df06.html. unfit. 22 June 2002. KT Rajasingham. 16 February 2002. SRI LANKA: THE UNTOLD STORY. Asia Times. 23 March 2010.
  12. News: Wickramasinghe. Wimal. Saga of crossovers, expulsions and resignations etc. Referendum for of Parliament. The Island, Sri Lanka. 18 January 2008.
  13. Web site: Chapter 33: India shows its hand. https://web.archive.org/web/20020407114337/http://www.atimes.com/ind-pak/DC30Df04.html. unfit. 7 April 2002. KT Rajasingham. SRI LANKA: THE UNTOLD STORY. Asia Times. 23 March 2010.

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