Sri Lankan lawyer, politician and Member of Parliament
Gajendrakumar Gangaser Ponnambalam (Tamil : கஜேந்திரகுமார் காங்கேசர் பொன்னம்பலம் , romanized: Kajēntirakumār Kāṅkēcar Poṉṉampalam ; born 16 January 1974) is a Sri Lankan lawyer, politician and Member of Parliament .[ 1] He is the leader of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress , a member of the Tamil National People's Front .[ 2]
Early life and family
Ponnambalam was born on 16 January 1974.[ 1] He is the son of Kumar Ponnambalam and grandson of G. G. Ponnambalam , both leaders of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC).[ 3] [ 4] He was educated at Royal College, Colombo and the Colombo International School .[ 3] [ 5] After school he joined SOAS, University of London , graduating with a LL.B. degree in 1995.[ 3] [ 5]
Career
Ponnambalam qualified as a barrister-at-law from Lincoln's Inn and was called to the bar of England and Wales in 1997.[ 3] Returning to Sri Lanka, he qualified as an attorney-at-law and was called to the bar of Sri Lanka in 1999.[ 3]
Ponnambalam entered politics following the assassination of his father on 5 January 2000.[ 3] On 20 October 2001 the ACTC, Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front , Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization and Tamil United Liberation Front formed the Tamil National Alliance (TNA).[ 6] [ 7] Ponnambalam contested the 2001 parliamentary election as one of the TNA's candidates in Jaffna District and was elected to the Parliament .[ 8] He was re-elected at the 2004 parliamentary election .[ 9] In March 2010 Ponnambalam, along with fellow TNA MPs S. Kajendran and Pathmini Sithamparanathan , left the TNA and formed the Tamil National People's Front (TNPF).[ 10] [ 11]
Ponnambalam contested the 2010 parliamentary election as a TNPF candidate in Jaffna District but the TNPF failed to win any seats in Parliament.[ 12] [ 13] In February 2011 Ponnambalam became one of the vice-presidents of the TNPF.[ 14] He contested the 2015 parliamentary election as a TNPF candidates in Jaffna District but, again, the TNPF failed to win any seats in Parliament.[ 15] [ 16]
Ponnambalam contested the 2020 parliamentary election as a TNPF candidate in Jaffna District and was re-elected to the Parliament of Sri Lanka.[ 17] [ 18] [ 19]
Ponnambalam has extensive shareholdings in several companies listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange - either directly or through family owned companies Gee Gees Properties (Pvt) Ltd and Gitanjali Gajaluckshmi (Pvt) Ltd - including Serendib Land PLC (property developer), LOLC Holdings PLC/Lanka ORIX Leasing Company (leasing , factoring and microfinance ) and Bukit Darah PLC (palm oil ).[ 20] [ 21] [ 22]
Electoral history
See also
References
^ a b "Directory of Members: G. G. Ponnambalam" . Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, Sri Lanka: Parliament of Sri Lanka . Retrieved 16 September 2020 .
^ "Kumar Ponnambalam memorial held in Vavuniya" . Tamil Guardian . 9 January 2014. Retrieved 16 September 2020 .
^ a b c d e f Jeyaraj, D. B. S. (4 August 2015). "Tiger Diaspora backs Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam" . The Daily Mirror . Colombo, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 16 September 2020 .
^ "Gajendrakumar threatened" . Ceylon Today . Colombo, Sri Lanka. 3 May 2013. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015.
^ a b Gnanadass, Wilson (30 December 2001). "We suspected the PA government – Gajen" . The Sunday Leader . Colombo, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 16 September 2020 .
^ Jeyaraj, D. B. S. (27 March 2010). "Tamil National Alliance enters critical third phase – 1" . The Daily Mirror . Colombo, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original on 4 April 2010.
^ "Tamil parties sign MOU" . TamilNet . 20 October 2001. Retrieved 16 September 2020 .
^ a b "Parliamentary General Election - 2001 - Preferences" (PDF) . Rajagiriya, Sri Lanka: Department of Elections . p. 5. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2010.
^ a b "Parliamentary General Election - 2004 - Preferences" (PDF) . Rajagiriya, Sri Lanka: Department of Elections . p. 189. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2010.
^ Jeyaraj, D. B. S. (17 April 2010). "T.N.A. Performs creditably in parliamentary elections" . The Daily Mirror . Colombo, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original on 28 April 2010.
^ "Tamil National Peoples Front launched in Jaffna" . TamilNet . 1 March 2010. Retrieved 16 September 2020 .
^ "Part I : Section (I) — General - Government Notifications - The Parliamentary Elections Act, No. 1 of 1981 - Notice Under Section 24(1) - General Elections of Members of the Parliament" (PDF) . The Gazette of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka Extraordinary . No. 1643/07. Colombo, Sri Lanka. 2 March 2010. p. 205A. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 November 2014.
^ "Results of Parliamentary General Election – 2010" (PDF) . Rajagiriya, Sri Lanka: Election Commission of Sri Lanka . p. 200. Retrieved 16 September 2020 .
^ "TNPF announces Central Committee, prepares party constitution" . TamilNet . 24 February 2011. Retrieved 16 September 2020 .
^ "Part I : Section (I) — General - Government Notifications - The Parliamentary Elections Act, No. 1 of 1981 - Notice Under Section 24(1) - General Elections of Members of the Parliament" (PDF) . The Gazette of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka Extraordinary . No. 1923/3. Colombo, Sri Lanka. 13 July 2015. p. 236A. Retrieved 11 August 2015 .
^ "Parliamentary Election - 2015 - Composition of the Parliamant" . Rajagiriya, Sri Lanka: Department of Elections . p. 5. Archived from the original on 27 September 2015.
^ "Part I : Section (I) — General - Government Notifications - Parliamentary Elections Act, No. 1 of 1981" (PDF) . The Gazette of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka Extraordinary . No. 2187/26. Colombo, Sri Lanka. 8 August 2020. p. 5A. Retrieved 9 August 2020 .
^ "General Election 2020: Preferential votes of Jaffna District" . Ceylon Today . Colombo, Sri Lanka. 7 August 2020. Archived from the original on 27 October 2020. Retrieved 16 September 2020 .
^ Jeyaraj, D. B. S. (8 August 2020). "TNA suffers electoral setback in North and East polls" . The Daily Mirror . Colombo, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 16 September 2020 .
^ "Quarterly Financial Statements for the Three Months Period Ended June 30, 2020" (PDF) . Colombo Stock Exchange . Colombo, Sri Lanka: Serendib Land PLC. p. 8. Retrieved 16 September 2020 .
^ "Interim Condensed Financial Statements for the Three Months Ended 30 June 2020" (PDF) . Colombo Stock Exchange . Rajagiriya, Sri Lanka: LOLC Holdings PLC. p. 17. Retrieved 16 September 2020 .
^ "Interim Condensed Interim Financial Statements for the Period Ended 30th June 2020" (PDF) . Colombo Stock Exchange . Colombo, Sri Lanka: Bukit Darah PLC. p. 20. Retrieved 16 September 2020 .
^ "General Election Preferential Votes" . Daily News . Colombo Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka. 8 August 2020. p. 2. Retrieved 20 September 2020 .