Tamil National Alliance

Tamil National Alliance
தமிழ் தேசிய கூட்டமைப்பு
AbbreviationTNA
PresidentR. Sampanthan
Secretary-GeneralMavai Senathirajah
Deputy PresidentA. Vinayagamoorthy
Deputy Secretary
Founded20 October 2001 (2001-10-20)
Dissolved2024
Headquarters6, 1st Lane,
Point Pedro Road,
Jaffna, Sri Lanka
Ideology
Political positionCentre-left
Colours  Yellow
  Red
Parliament
0 / 225
Provincial Councils
41 / 455
Local Government
417 / 8,327

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA; Tamil: தமிழ்த் தேசியக் கூட்டமைப்பு ISO 15919: tamiḻt tēciyakkūṭṭamaippu) was a political alliance in Sri Lanka which represented the Sri Lankan Tamil minority of the country. It was formed in October 2001 by a group of moderate Tamil nationalist parties and former Tamil militant groups. The alliance originally supported self-determination in an autonomous state (Tamil Eelam) for the island's Tamils. It supported negotiations with the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to resolve the civil war in Sri Lanka. The TNA was considered a political proxy of the LTTE, with the LTTE personally selecting some of its candidates, even though its leadership maintains it never supported the LTTE and merely negotiated with the LTTE just as the government did.[1][2][3][4][5]

Soon after its formation in 2001, the alliance began to make a more pro-LTTE stance, supporting their "freedom struggle" and recognizing them as the sole representative of the Tamils. In an interview, Selvam Adaikalanathan explained that it would be betraying the Tamil people to oppose the LTTE, because victory could only be achieved if all Tamil groups set aside their differences and stood as a united front. Since the end of the civil war and the defeat of the Tamil Tigers, the TNA has dropped the demand for an independent state, saying that it is ready to accept federalism and regional self-rule. The TNA and its supporters have been subject to numerous attacks during its existence and three of its sitting Members of Parliament have been assassinated, allegedly by government-backed paramilitary groups.[6][7]

In 2015, TNA consisted of four parties: the Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front, the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK), the People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam and the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization.[8] The alliance began to fall apart during the lead-up to the 2024 presidential election,[9] and in the following parliamentary election, the Tamil nationalist vote was split between several parties, including the ITAK, the Democratic Tamil National Alliance, the Tamil People's Alliance, the Eros Democratic Front, the All Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC) and the People's Struggle Alliance.[10][11][12]

At the end of its parliametary lifespan, the TNA had 10 members in the national parliament. It controlled the provincial government in the Northern Province and was part of the provincial government in the Eastern Province. It also controlled 33 local authorities in the north and east. The leader of the alliance, R. Sampanthan, served as the leader of the opposition from September 2015 to December 2018.[13][14]

  1. ^ "Sri Lankan Tamils drop demand for separate independent homeland". The Guardian. 14 March 2010. Archived from the original on 22 January 2023.
  2. ^ BBC Tamil party wins elections in Sri Lanka's ex-war zone
  3. ^ Robert C Oberst; Yogendra K Malik; Charles Kennedy; Ashok Kapur; Mahendra Lawoti, Syedur Rahman & Ahrar Ahmad (9 July 2013). Government and Politics in South Asia. Avalon Publishing. pp. 255–. ISBN 978-0-8133-4880-3. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
  4. ^ Randolph Kluver (2007). The Internet and National Elections: A Comparative Study of Web Campaigning. Taylor & Francis. pp. 124–. ISBN 978-0-415-44618-1. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
  5. ^ "சிங்கள ஊடகத்திற்கு".
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference TN160308 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Ferdinando, Shamindra (9 March 2015). "President to solicit British support for reconciliation". The Island (Sri Lanka).
  9. ^ "Tamil National Alliance Fractures as Parties Rally Behind a Common Presidential Candidate". Lankasara. 20 August 2024. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
  10. ^ Mario Arultha (28 October 2024). "Sri Lanka elections: Out with the old, in with the new – for Tamils too". Tamil Guardian. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
  11. ^ "Candidates target the Tamil nationalist vote as Sri Lanka's general election looms". Tamil Guardian. 11 November 2024. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
  12. ^ S. Rubatheesan (17 November 2024). "Tamil nationalist parties feel the popular heat". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
  13. ^ "TNA's Sampanthan becomes opposition leader in Sri Lankan parliament". The Hindu. 3 September 2015. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 13 September 2016.
  14. ^ "MR appointed as Opposition Leader". Daily Mirror. 18 December 2018. Retrieved 11 February 2019.