M. A. Sumanthiran
Honourable M. A. Sumanthiran MP | |
---|---|
ம. ஆ. சுமந்திரன் | |
Member of the Sri Lankan Parliament for Jaffna District | |
Assumed office 2015 | |
Member of the Sri Lankan Parliament for National List | |
In office 2010–2015 | |
Personal details | |
Born |
Inuvil, Ceylon | 9 February 1964
Political party | Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi |
Other political affiliations | Tamil National Alliance |
Alma mater | Monash University |
Profession | Lawyer |
Religion | Christian |
Ethnicity | Sri Lankan Tamil |
Website |
sumanthiran |
Mathiaparanan Abraham Sumanthiran (Tamil: மதியாபரணம் ஆபிரகாம் சுமந்திரன்; born 9 February 1964; commonly known as M. A. Sumanthiran) is a Sri Lankan Tamil lawyer, politician and Member of Parliament.
Early life
Sumanthiran was born on 9 February 1964 at the Church of South India's McLeod Hospital in Inuvil in northern Ceylon.[1][2] His family are from the Vadamarachchi region of the Jaffna peninsula - his father is from Karaveddy and his mother is from Kudathanai.[2] Both of his grandfathers were teachers in Vadamarachchi.[2] Sumanthiran grew up in Colombo and was educated at Royal College, Colombo.[2][3] After school he joined the University of Madras, graduating with a B.Sc. degree in physics.[4] He then proceeded to Sri Lanka Law College, qualifying as an advocate.[4]
Sumanthiran is a Methodist Christian.[2][5] He is vice-president of the Methodist Church in Sri Lanka.[6][7]
Career
Sumanthiran was called to the bar in 1991.[4] He then started practising law in Colombo, appearing in civil litigation cases in the supreme court, court of appeal, commercial high court and district courts.[4] His successful cases include the privatisation of Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation, privatisation of Lanka Marine Services and the closure of Pramuka Bank.[4] He has appeared in a number of fundamental rights cases and judicial reviews of parliamentary legislation and executive action including the charging of levy for water and establishing a revenue authority.[4] He prevented the forced expulsion of Tamils from Colombo and successfully challenged an anti-conversion bill which the courts struck down as being unconstitutional.[4][8] He has also appeared for petitioners against the proposed 18th and 19th amendments to the constitution which were found to be unconstitutional and required two-thirds majority in Parliament and a referendum.[4][9] He has worked on a number of public interest cases including the ongoing attempt by residents of the Valikamam North High Security Zone to get their land back from the Sri Lankan military.[4] His human rights work has led to him being threatened, harassed and branded "traitors in black coats" by the Sri Lankan military under the then President's brother Gotabhaya Rajapaksa.[10][11][12]
Sumanthiran has become one of Sri Lanka's top human rights and constitutional lawyers.[13] He received an LLM degree in internet and electronic law from Monash University in 2001.[4][14]
Sumanthiran was appointed as the Tamil National Alliance's (TNA) National List MP in the Sri Lankan Parliament following the 2010 parliamentary election.[15][16] In May 2012 he was elected Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi's (ITAK) Secretary for Foreign and Legal Affairs.[17][18] He became one of ITAK's two Assistant Secretaries in September 2014.[19][20] Sumanthiran was one of the TNA's candidates in Jaffna District at the 2015 parliamentary election. He was elected and re-entered Parliament.[21][22][23]
Sumanthiran is one of a trio of MPs (the other two being R. Sampanthan and Mavai Senathirajah) who lead the TNA.[24][25]
Electoral history
Election | Constituency | Party | Votes | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
2015 parliamentary[26] | Jaffna District | TNA | 58,043 | Elected |
References
- ↑ "Directory of Members: M.A. Sumanthiran". Parliament of Sri Lanka.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Jeyaraj, D. B. S. (28 February 2015). "Tamil "Extremists" target Sampanthan and Sumanthiran of the TNA as "Traitors"". The Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka).
- ↑ "Members of Parliament". Tamil National Alliance.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "Sri Lanka public interest lawyer in parliament". Lank Business Online. 21 April 2010.
- ↑ "Church of South India Newsletter" (PDF). Jaffna Diocese of the Church of South India. July 2009. p. 2.
- ↑ "JDCSI Welcomes New Vice President of the Methodist Church". Jaffna Diocese of the Church of South India.
- ↑ Dwight, Richard (10 July 2008). "164th Anniversary celebration: History of the Methodist Church, Wellawatte". Daily News (Sri Lanka).
- ↑ "SL Supreme Court issues stay order on expelling Tamils from Colombo lodges". TamilNet. 8 June 2007.
- ↑ "CPA challenges 18th and 19th amendments". Daily News (Sri Lanka). 28 September 2002.
- ↑ "Behind the Rajapaksa brothers' smiles". The Indian Express. 14 August 2009.
- ↑ "Gotabaya labels popular Colombo attorneys as traitors". TamilNet. 12 July 2009.
- ↑ "Campaign against some lawyers:Rule of law, people's right to justice threatened – Chief Opp. Whip". The Island (Sri Lanka). 22 July 2009.
- ↑ "Past Hauser Global Scholars". New York University School of Law.
- ↑ "Post-war Sri Lanka: The Role of International Justice in Ending Military Oppression and Protecting the Rights of Tamil People". Australian National University.
- ↑ "National list MPs nominated: UPFA-17, UNP-09, DNA-02, and ITAK-01". TamilNet. 21 April 2010.
- ↑ "The full National List" (PDF). The Sunday Times (Sri Lanka). 25 April 2010. p. 12.
- ↑ Radhakrishnan, R. K. (27 May 2012). "Sampanthan re-elected leader of ITAK". The Hindu.
- ↑ "TNA on the verge of a split over ITAK". Ceylon Today. 30 May 2012.
- ↑ "Mavai replaces Sampanthan as ITAK leader". Tamil Guardian. 6 September 2014.
- ↑ "Changes In ITAK Top Posts". Asian Mirror. 7 September 2014.
- ↑ "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. 1928/03. 19 August 2015.
- ↑ "Ranil tops with over 500,000 votes in Colombo". The Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka). 19 August 2015.
- ↑ Santiago, Melanie (18 August 2015). "General Election 2015: Full list of preferential votes". News First.
- ↑ Jeyaraj, D. B. S. (27 July 2013). "Wigneswaran, Senathirajah and the Facade of TNA Unity". The Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka).
- ↑ Gammanpila, Udaya (4 August 2013). "TNA's majoritism in minority politics". Ceylon Today.
- ↑ Jayakody, Pradeep (28 August 2015). "The Comparison of Preferential Votes in 2015 & 2010". The Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka).
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to M. A. Sumanthiran. |