Pilesiyan Sosai Soosaithasan ( ta, பிலேசியன் சூசை சூசைதாசன், translit=Pilēciyaṉ Cūcai Cūcaitācaṉ; 24 July 1934 – 13 October 2017) was 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 ...

accountant, politician and

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

Early life

Soosaithasan was born on 24 July 1934. He was from

Vankalai Vankalai or Vangalai or Vangkaalai ( ta, வங்காலை vaṅkālai) is a predominantly fishing and farming village situated in Mannar District of the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. It lies along the Naanaattan Road with the sea on its w ...

in northern

Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

and was a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Career

Soosaithasan was an accountant and worked in Ceylon, United Kingdom, Zambia and Canada. He was chief accountant at Lanka Salu Sala, the

state owned State ownership, also called government ownership and public ownership, is the ownership of an industry, asset, or enterprise by the state or a public body representing a community, as opposed to an individual or private party. Public owners ...

hand loom A loom is a device used to weave cloth and tapestry. The basic purpose of any loom is to hold the warp threads under tension to facilitate the interweaving of the weft threads. The precise shape of the loom and its mechanics may vary, but ...

and textile manufacturer. Soosaithasan stood as the

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

's candidate in

Mannar Mannar may refer to the following places: India * Mannar, Alappuzha, a town in Chengannur Taluk, Kerala Sri Lanka * Mannar District, one of 25 districts in Sri Lanka ** Mannar Island, an island within the district ** Mannar Bridge, a bridge conne ...

at the 1977 parliamentary election. He won the election and entered

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. ...

. He served as chairman of the Public Accounts Committee. Soosaithasan and all other TULF MPs boycotted Parliament from the middle of 1983 for a number of reasons: they were under pressure from Sri Lankan Tamil militants not to stay in Parliament beyond their normal six-year term; the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka required them to swear an oath unconditionally renouncing support for a separate state; and the

Black July Black July ( ta, கறுப்பு யூலை, translit=Kaṟuppu Yūlai; si, කළු ජූලිය, Kalu Juliya) was an anti- Tamil pogrom that occurred in Sri Lanka during July 1983. The pogrom was premeditated,T. Sabaratnam, Pirap ...

riots in which up to 3,000 Tamils were killed by

Sinhalese Sinhala may refer to: * Something of or related to the Sinhalese people of Sri Lanka * Sinhalese people * Sinhala language, one of the three official languages used in Sri Lanka * Sinhala script, a writing system for the Sinhala language ** Sinhal ...

mobs. After three months of absence, Soosaithasan forfeited his seat in Parliament on 22 October 1983. Later Soosaithasan migrated to Canada where some of his children were living, taking up Canadian citizenship and working as an accountant in the private and public sector. After retirement Soosaithasan returned to Sri Lanka to live in Vankalai, taking up

dual citizenship Multiple/dual citizenship (or multiple/dual nationality) is a legal status in which a person is concurrently regarded as a national or citizen of more than one country under the laws of those countries. Conceptually, citizenship is focused on t ...

. Soosaithasan was one 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) candidates in Vanni District at the 2010 parliamentary election but failed to get elected after coming sixth amongst the TNA candidates. Soosaithasan died on 13 October 2017 in Sri Lanka.

Electoral history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Soosaithasan, P. S. 1934 births 2017 deaths Canadian people of Sri Lankan Tamil descent Members of the 8th Parliament of Sri Lanka People from Mannar District People from British Ceylon Sri Lankan Roman Catholics Sri Lankan Tamil accountants Sri Lankan Tamil politicians Tamil National Alliance politicians Tamil United Liberation Front politicians