TNA MP Sampanthan passes away

Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP R.Sampanthan passed away in Colombo on Sunday night. He was 91.

Mr Sampanthan a veteran Tamil politician and lawyer by profession first entered Parliament in 1977 and was the leader of the Tamil National Alliance since 2001.

After serving his first term in Parliament until 1983 he returned to Parliament for the second time from 1997 to 2000. He was the Leader of the Opposition from September 2015 to December 2018.

Mr Sampanthan was educated at St. Patrick's College, Jaffna, St. Anne's College, Kurunegala, St. Joseph's College, Trincomalee and St. Sebastian's College, Moratuwa.  After school he joined Ceylon Law College, passing out as an attorney at law. He later practiced as a lawyer in Trincomalee.

He  joined the Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi's (Federal Party) in 1956.

In 1972 the ITAK along with other Tamil parties formed the TULF and he first contested from the Trincomalee electorate in 1977 and was elected. Their party boycotted Parliament in 1983. After several unsuccessful attempts to re-enter Parliaemnt in 1997 he entered Parliament to fill in the vacancy created following the assassination of MP A. Thangathurai.

In 2001 he was re-elected to parliament

In 2004 the ITAK was revived and he entered Parliament in 2004, 2010 and 2015.  Following the 2015 elections he was named as the Opposition Leader in Parliament.

He re-entered Parliament in 2020 as a National List MP.