Arumugam Kandaiah Premachandran ( ta, ஆறுமுகம் கந்தையா பிரேமச்சந்திரன்; born 8 November 1957; commonly known as Suresh Premachandran) is a

Sri Lankan Tamil Sri Lankan Tamils ( or ), also known as Ceylon Tamils or Eelam Tamils, are Tamils native to the South Asian island state of Sri Lanka. Today, they constitute a majority in the Northern Province, live in significant numbers in the Eastern Pr ...

militant The English word ''militant'' is both an adjective and a noun, and it is generally used to mean vigorously active, combative and/or aggressive, especially in support of a cause, as in "militant reformers". It comes from the 15th century Latin " ...

turned politician and former Member of Parliament. He is the current leader of the

Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front The Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF) is a series of Sri Lankan political parties and a former militant separatist group. Militant separatists The EPRLF was formed in 1980 by K. Pathmanabha (Padmanaba), Douglas Devananda, Su ...

(EPRLF), a member of the

Tamil National Alliance The Tamil National Alliance ( ta, தமிழ்த் தேசியக் கூட்டமைப்பு ISO 15919: ''tamiḻt tēciyakkūṭṭamaippu''; TNA) is a political alliance in Sri Lanka that represents the country's Sri Lankan ...

(TNA).

Early life

Premachandran was born on 8 November 1957, the son of a farmer. He was educated at Uruthirapuram Maha Vidyalayam and Senguntha Hindu College. He then joined Waterloo College, London and

Madras Christian College Madras Christian College (MCC) is a liberal arts and sciences college in Chennai, India. Founded in 1837, MCC is one of Asia's oldest extant colleges. The college is affiliated to the University of Madras but functions as an autonomous institu ...

where he studied political science. Premachandran got involved in the Sri Lankan Tamil nationalism movement whilst at school and in 1976, whilst in London, he joined the Eelam Revolutionary Organisation of Students (EROS). He received military training from the Palestinians in Lebanon. In 1979

K. Pathmanabha Kandasamy Pathmanabha ( ta, கந்தசாமி பத்மநாபா; 19 November 1951 – 19 June 1990) was a Sri Lankan Tamil rebel and founder/leader of the Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF), a separatist Tamil ...

left EROS to form the

(EPRLF) and Premachandran joined him. He took on the

nom de guerre A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

Suresh and was a member of the EPRLF's central committee and

politburo A politburo () or political bureau is the executive committee for communist parties. It is present in most former and existing communist states. Names The term "politburo" in English comes from the Russian ''Politbyuro'' (), itself a contraction ...

. Premachandran took on the leadership of EPRLF following the assassination of Pathmanabha by the

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; ta, தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், translit=Tamiḻīḻa viṭutalaip pulikaḷ, si, දෙමළ ඊළාම් විමුක්ති කොටි, t ...

on 19 June 1990.

Career

Premachandran was one of the ENDLF/EPRLF/ TELO/ TULF alliance's candidates in Jaffna District at the 1989 parliamentary election. He was elected and entered

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

. On 20 October 2001 the

All Ceylon Tamil Congress All Ceylon Tamil Congress ( ta, அகில இலங்கைத் தமிழ்க் காங்கிரஸ்), is the oldest Tamil political party in Sri Lanka. History The ACTC was founded in 1944 by G.G. Ponnambalam. Ponnambalam ask ...

, EPRLF,

Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization The Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization (TELO) is an Eelam Tamil organisation which campaigned for the establishment of an independent Tamil Eelam in the northeast of Sri Lanka during 1972-1987 which later accepted the December 19th proposals. T ...

and

Tamil United Liberation Front The Tamil United Liberation Front ( ta, தமிழர் ஐக்கிய விடுதலை முன்னணி, translit=Tamil Onrupattatu Viduthulai Munnai, si, ද්‍රවිඩ එක්සත් විමුක්ති ප� ...

formed the

(TNA). He contested the 2001 parliamentary election as one of the TNA's candidates in Jaffna District but failed to get elected. Premachandran contested the 2004 parliamentary election as one of the TNA's candidates in Jaffna District. He was elected and re-entered Parliament. He was re-elected at the 2010 parliamentary election. He failed to get re-elected at the 2015 parliamentary election after coming seventh amongst the TNA candidates.

Electoral history

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Premachandran, Suresh 1957 births Living people Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front militants Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front politicians Eelam Revolutionary Organisation of Students militants Members of the 9th Parliament of Sri Lanka Members of the 13th Parliament of Sri Lanka Members of the 14th Parliament of Sri Lanka Sri Lankan Hindus Sri Lankan Tamil politicians Sri Lankan Tamil rebels Tamil National Alliance politicians