The Tamil Progressive Alliance (TPF; ta, தமிழ் முற்போக்கு கூட்டணி ''Tamiḻ Muṟpōkku Kūṭṭaṇi'') is a

Sri Lanka 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 ...

political alliance A political group is a group consisting of political parties or legislators of aligned ideologies. A technical group is similar to a political group, but with members of differing ideologies. International terms Equivalent terms are used differ ...

. It was formed in 2015 by the

Democratic People's Front The Western People's Front, currently named the Democratic People's Front ( ta, ஜனநாயக மக்கள் முன்னணி, translit=Jaṉanāyaka Makkaḷ Muṉṉaṇi; si, ප්රජාතන්ත්රවාදී ජන ...

(DPF),

National Union of Workers The National Union of Workers was an Australian trade union formed in 1989. History The National Union of Workers of Australia was formed by a progressive amalgamation of unions from 1989 onwards in a time when all Australian unions were merging ...

(NUW) and the

Up-Country People's Front The Up-Country People's Front is a political party in Sri Lanka. It is part of the Tamil Progressive Alliance. History The party was established in 1989. At the last legislative elections An election is a formal group decision-makin ...

(UCPF) to represent the 1.5 million

Tamils The Tamil people, also known as Tamilar ( ta, தமிழர், Tamiḻar, translit-std=ISO, in the singular or ta, தமிழர்கள், Tamiḻarkaḷ, translit-std=ISO, label=none, in the plural), or simply Tamils (), are a Drav ...

, mostly Indian Tamils, living outside the

Northern Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ra ...

and

Eastern Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai *Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 *Eastern Air Li ...

provinces A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outsi ...

History

On 3 June 2015 a Memorandum of Understanding was signed by

Mano Ganesan Akilan Manoharan Ganesan (born 17 December 1959) is a Sri Lankan trade unionist, politician and government minister. He is the leader of the Democratic People's Front (DPF) and Tamil Progressive Alliance (TPA), members of the United National Fron ...

Palani Digambaran Palani ( or ''Palni'' as in British records, is a town and a taluk headquarters in Dindigul district of the western part of Tamil Nadu state in India. It is located about south-east of Coimbatore and north-west of Madurai, from Kodaikanal ...

and

Velusami Radhakrishnan Akandhan Velusami Radhakrishnan ( ta, அகண்டன் வேலுசாமி இராதாகிருஷ்ணன்; born 1 August 1952) is a Sri Lankan politician and state minister. He is the leader of the Up-Country People's Fron ...

, leaders of the DPF, NUW and UPCF respectively, at the

Taj Samudra Taj Samudra, trading as TAL Lanka Hotels PLC, is a five-star luxury hotel in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The hotel is a listed company on the Colombo Stock Exchange since 1982 and the majority of the shares are held by Taj Hotels. The hotel is located r ...

hotel in

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...

. Ganesan was appointed leader of the TPF whilst Digambaran and Radhakrishnan were appointed deputy leaders. A. Lawrence, the secretary of the UCPF, was appointed general-secretary of the TPF. Although the alliance was focusing on issues affecting Tamil people, particularly Indian Tamils, it would also serve

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 ** Sinha ...

and

Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraha ...

. The

Ceylon Workers' Congress The Ceylon Workers' Congress (CWC) ( ta, இலங்கை தொழிலாளர் காங்கிரஸ், translit=Ilaṅkai Toḻilāḷar Kāṅkiras; si, ලංකා කම්කරු කොංග්‍රසය ''Lanka Kamkaru ...

, the largest political party representing Indian Tamils was excluded from the alliance. The alliance would not contest elections but would fight for the political rights of Tamils. On 5 June 2014 the three members of the alliance announced that they would contest the then upcoming 2015 Sri Lankan parliamentary election in alliance with the

United National Party The United National Party, often abbreviated as UNP ( si, එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂය, translit=Eksath Jāthika Pakshaya, ta, ஐக்கிய தேசியக் கட்சி, translit=Aikkiya Tēciyak Kaṭci), ...

References

External links

* * {{Sri Lankan political parties 2015 establishments in Sri Lanka Political parties established in 2015 Political parties in Sri Lanka Indian Tamil politicians of Sri Lanka

History

See also

References

External links