Sri Lanka’s Tamil voters create history as Dissanayake’s NPP sweeps polls
Political parties that for long have supported militant organisation LTTE and continue to voice pro-separatist noises face big setbacks despite netting a few seats
Sri Lanka’s ruling National People’s Power (NPP) on Friday (November 15) became the first national party in decades to win the most seats in general elections in Tamil areas where a quarter-century-long separatist war almost split the country.
In a most unexpected showing, President Anura Dissanayake’s NPP finished on top in all the 22 electoral districts including in Tamil populated regions barring Batticaloa on the east coast where alone a Tamil party grabbed the first place.
Win in Tamil heartland
In the electoral district of Jaffna, the Tamil heartland, the NPP bagged three of the six seats – a performance that stunned foes and friends. The other three seats went to three Tamil parties and independents.
Five of the eight seats in Nuwaraeliya, home to tens of thousands of tea plantation Tamil workers of Indian origin, went to the NPP, reflecting a radical change from the time Dissanayake fared poorly in Tamil areas during the September presidential race.
Overall, the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK), popularly known as the Federal Party, came second in Tamil areas in the north and east of the island, winning a total of eight seats.
No takers for separatist pitch
Political parties which for long have supported the vanquished LTTE and continue to voice pro-separatist noises faced huge setbacks despite netting a few seats.
Tamil areas, Jaffna in particular, have for decades voted dominantly for Tamil parties, crushing the challenges posed by national parties headquartered in Sri Lankan regions populated by the majority Sinhalese community.
Dissanayake and the NPP in the election campaign vowed to carry out a badly-needed national reconciliation and stamp out corruption.
Towards the end of the campaign, in a desperate attempt to keep the flames of separatism alive, pro-LTTE activists and the pro-LTTE Tamil diaspora pressed Tamils to vote for any Tamil party but not to a “Sinhalese party”.
Results on Friday showed that the Jaffna voters had rejected the racist appeal.
‘People want to put war behind’
“This is not a slap on the face of pro-LTTE diaspora but a body blow to them,” Arul, the editor of Jaffna Monitor, told The Federal on telephone from Jaffna.
He added that his conversations with the people of Jaffna showed that many former LTTE fighters, eager to embrace peace and turn a new leaf, had heavily voted for the NPP along with most first-time voters.
Another Jaffna resident who did not want to be quoted by name said: “People are sick and tired of all this separatist talk. They want to put the war behind them once and for all. This is the meaning of this pro-NPP vote.”
Waning of LTTE clout
The Jaffna electoral district includes Jaffna and Kilinochchi, which for decades were a stronghold of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a formidable insurgent group that was crushed militarily in 2009.
“For the first time in history, the people of Jaffna have voted for a national party based in the South when Tamil parties contested separately,” former foreign minister Ali Sabry posted on X.
“This moment is not just about electoral results – it is a powerful symbol of hope, trust and unity across our nation,” he said, echoing a widely held view in a country where ethnic conflict has led to hundreds of thousands of dead and wounded since the 1970s.
In the Vanni electoral district, comprising Mannar, Vavuniya and Mullaitivu districts, the last being where LTTE founder leader Velupillai Prabhakaran was killed, the NPP bagged two of the five seats to finish on top of the table.
In Trincomalee on the east coast, it got two of the four seats but was pipped to the top slot by a Tamil party in adjoining Batticaloa, the only Tamil-majority district in the country’s multi-racial east.
What worked in favour of NPP?
Shanthan K Thambiah, a former Tamil militant who now lives in Britain, pointed out that many among the Tamil expatriates in the West had begun to lean towards the NPP, primarily on account of its anti-corruption plank.
“The pro-LTTE sections thought they alone reflected the Tamil mind,” he told The Federal. “This has been proved wrong,” he added.
Colombo-based political analyst Kusal Perera underlined that the NPP won Tamil backing although it refused to devolve powers to Tamil areas – a long-standing Tamil demand. It is also known to be a solid supporter of a unitary system in Sri Lanka.
“This is a very, very significant moment in Sri Lanka’s history,” he said in a telephonic interview.
How Tamils warmed up to Dissanayake
While Dissanayake’s Janatha Vimukti Peramuna (JVP, People’s Liberation Front), the NPP’s core constituent, is a largely Sinhalese party, it has slowly spread its wings in the Tamil populated areas.
Dissanayake has promised repeatedly to end ethnic and religious differences plaguing Sri Lanka for long and build a country where the Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims can live as equal partners.
Clearly, there were many takers for his message in the Tamil areas too.