National Congress (Sri Lanka)

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National Congress
தேசிய காங்கிரஸ்
ජාතික කොංග්‍රසය
Provincial Councils
3 / 455
Election symbol
Horse

The National Congress (Tamil: தேசிய காங்கிரஸ், romanized: Tēciya Kāṅkiras; Sinhala: ජාතික කොංග්‍රසය, romanized: Jātika Koṁgrasaya) is a registered political party in Sri Lanka.[1][2] It was founded in 2004 by A. L. M. Athaullah.[1]

History

Following the death of M. H. M. Ashraff, the leader of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC), in September 2000 there was a power struggle between Ashraff's widow Ferial Ashraff and Rauff Hakeem for control of the party.[3] In June 2001 Hakeem, A. L. M. Athaullah and some other SLMC MPs left the governing People's Alliance (PA).[3][4][5] Ferial Ashraff remained in the PA as leader of the National Unity Alliance.[3]

In October 2001 the Hakeem led SLMC joined the United National Party dominated United National Front (UNF).[6] The UNF defeated the PA at the 2001 parliamentary election after which Hakeem was appointed a cabinet minister in the UNF government.[3][7] Athaullah was only given a non-cabinet ministerial position.[7] This caused jealousy amongst Athaullah and other SLMC members who accused Hakeem of monopolising cabinet ministerial positions for himself.[3] Another leadership battle emerged in the SLMC, this time between Hakeem and Athaullah. In December 2002 Hakeem suspended Athaullah who was chairman of the SLMC.[8] A legal battle ensued after which Athaullah and his supporters were expelled from the SLMC.[9][10][11]

Athaullah and his supporters launched the Ashraff Congress political party on 25 February 2003.[12][13][14] In February 2004 Athaullah and some others left the Ashraff Congress to form the National Muslim Congress (NMC) which became a constituent member of the newly formed UPFA, the successor to the PA.[15][16][17][18]

The NMC contested the

National List.[1] Athaullah was made a cabinet minister in the new UPFA government whilst Ismail became a deputy minister.[19][20][21] The NMC changed its name to National Congress (NC) in September 2005.[22] Following the death of Ismail in September 2007 the NC was reduced to a single MP.[23] Athaullah retained his parliamentary seat and cabinet position at the 2010 parliamentary election.[1] The NC won three seats on the Eastern Provincial Council at the 2012 provincial council election.[24] At the 2015 presidential election, whilst other Muslim political parties flocked to support common opposition candidate Maithripala Sirisena, the NC remained loyal to President Mahinda Rajapaksa
. Following Sirisena's victory, Athaullah lost his ministerial position.

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 978-1-4833-3328-1
    .
  2. ^ "List of recognized political parties" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. 6 July 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 July 2015.
  3. ^ a b c d e Farook, Latheef (23 December 2014). "SLMC: Liability on the Muslim community". Daily FT. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015.
  4. ^ Satyapalan, Franklin R. (21 June 2001). "SLMC-NUA quit PA coalition". The Island (Sri Lanka).
  5. ^ "Sri Lanka govt. faces collapse as Muslims leave". TamilNet. 20 June 2001.
  6. ^ "UNP to contest as UNF with elephant symbol". TamilNet. 21 October 2001.
  7. ^ a b "New Ministers". Daily News (Sri Lanka). 13 December 2001.
  8. ^ "Hakeem suspends SLMC Chairman, General Secretary". TamilNet. 1 December 2002.
  9. ^ "Court restrains Hakim functioning as SLMC leader". TamilNet. 3 December 2002.
  10. ^ "Courts allows Hakeem to function as SLMC leader". TamilNet. 5 December 2002.
  11. ^ "Athaullah group expelled, Hakim leadership strengthened". TamilNet. 9 December 2002.
  12. The Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka). 27 February 2003.[permanent dead link
    ]
  13. ^ Silva, Rashomi (5 March 2003). "Ashraff Congress established". Daily News (Sri Lanka).
  14. ^ Satyapalan, Franklin R. (6 March 2003). "Ashraff Congress to carry forward ideals of late leader - Dr. Hafrath". The Island (Sri Lanka).
  15. ^ Jeyaraj, D. B. S. (29 February 2004). "Hakeem fights last-ditch battle in Amparai". The Sunday Leader.
  16. ^ "Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga is the only President who has honoured the Muslims - Athaulla". Daily News (Sri Lanka). 2 March 2004.
  17. ^ Wijedasa, Namini; Satyapalan, Franklin (22 February 2004). "SLMC breakaway Athaulla with 3 MPs join PA". The Island (Sri Lanka).
  18. ^ "SLMC Athaullah faction joins SLFP-JVP alliance". TamilNet. 20 February 2004.
  19. ^ "32 member UPFA Cabinet to be sworn in on Saturday". TamilNet. 8 April 2004.
  20. ^ "The new UPFA Cabinet". The Sunday Times (Sri Lanka). 11 April 2004.
  21. ^ "The New Cabinet". The Island (Sri Lanka). 29 January 2007.
  22. ^ "NMC changes name". Sunday Observer (Sri Lanka). 25 September 2005. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 19 July 2015.
  23. ^ Kaleel, M. A. (15 September 2007). "Anwer Ismail dead". The Island (Sri Lanka).
  24. The Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka)
    .
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