Bot: robot: Create/update articles. If there is a mistake please report on my talk page.

2022-08-12T15:46:46Z

robot: Create/update articles. If there is a mistake please report on my talk page.

New page

{{Infobox settlement

| name = North Eastern Province
| native_name = 
| other_name =
| settlement_type = [[Provinces of Sri Lanka|Historical Province]]
| image_skyline =
| image_alt =
| image_caption =
| image_flag = Flag of the Northeast Province (Sri Lanka).png
| flag_alt =
| image_map = Sri Lanka North Eastern Province locator map.svg
| map_alt =
| map_caption = Location within Sri Lanka
| coor_pinpoint =
| coordinates = {{Coord|8|15|N|81|20|E|region:LK_type:adm1st|display=inline,title}}
| coordinates_footnotes =
| subdivision_type = Country
| subdivision_name = {{flagu|Sri Lanka}}
| established_title = Created
| established_date = September 1988
| established_title1 = [[Constitution of Sri Lanka|Admitted]]
| established_date1 = September 1988
| extinct_title = Abolished
| extinct_date = 31 December 2006
| founder =
| seat_type = Capital
| seat = [[Trincomalee]]
| seat1_type = Largest City
| seat1 = [[Jaffna]]
| unit_pref = Metric
| area_footnotes =<ref name="area">[http://www.statistics.gov.lk/Abstract_2006/abstract2006/table%202007/CHAP%201/ab1-1.pdf Department of Census & Statistics Statistical Abstract 2007 (Area & Climate)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090304101306/http://www.statistics.gov.lk/Abstract_2006/abstract2006/table%202007/CHAP%201/ab1-1.pdf |date=4 March 2009 }}</ref>
| area_total_km2 = 18,880
| area_land_km2 = 17,651
| area_rank = 1st (28.78% of total area)
| area_water_percent = 6.5
| area_note =
| elevation_footnotes =
| elevation_m =
| population_footnotes =
| population_total = 2,460,565
| population_as_of = 2003
| population_density_km2 = auto
| population_demonym =
| population_note =
| timezone1 = Sri Lanka
| utc_offset1 = +05:30
| blank_name_sec1 = Official Languages
| blank_info_sec1 = [[Tamil language|Tamil]], [[Sinhala language|Sinhala]]
| iso_code =
| website =
| footnotes =
}}

The '''North Eastern Province''' was one of the [[provinces of Sri Lanka]]. The province was created in September 1988 by merging the [[Northern Province, Sri Lanka|Northern]] and [[Eastern Province, Sri Lanka|Eastern]] provinces.<ref name="lnp">{{cite web|url=http://www.lankanewspapers.com/news/2006/10/8947.html|title=North-East merger illegal:SC|publisher=LankaNewspapers.com|date=17 October 2006|access-date=22 August 2009}}</ref> This merger was declared illegal by the [[Supreme Court of Sri Lanka]] in 2006.<ref name="lnp"/> The province was formally demerged into the Northern and Eastern provinces on 1 January 2007. The capital of the province was [[Trincomalee]].

==History==
The [[Indo-Sri Lanka Accord|Indo-Lanka Accord]] signed on 29 July 1987 required the [[Politics of Sri Lanka|Sri Lankan government]] to [[devolve]] powers to the provinces and, in the interim, to [[merger (politics)|merge]] the Northern and Eastern provinces into one [[Administrative division|administrative unit]]. The accord required a [[referendum]] to be held by 31 December 1988 in the Eastern Province to decide whether the merger should be permanent. Crucially, the accord allowed the [[President of Sri Lanka|Sri Lankan president]] to postpone the referendum at his [[discretion]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tamilnation.org/conflictresolution/tamileelam/87peaceaccord.htm|title=Indo Sri Lanka Agreement, 1987|publisher=Tamil Nation|access-date=22 August 2009}} {{Dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBot}}</ref>

On 14 November 1987 the [[Sri Lankan Parliament]] passed the [[13th Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka|13th Amendment]] to the [[Constitution of Sri Lanka|1978 Constitution of Sri Lanka]] and the Provincial Councils Act No 42 of 1987, establishing provincial councils.<ref name="pc">{{cite web|url=http://www.priu.gov.lk/ProvCouncils/ProvicialCouncils.html|title=Provincial Councils|publisher=The Official Website of the Government of Sri Lanka|access-date=22 August 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090707214924/http://www.priu.gov.lk/ProvCouncils/ProvicialCouncils.html|archive-date=7 July 2009|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref name="cons">{{cite web|url=http://www.priu.gov.lk/Cons/1978Constitution/AMENDMENTS.html|title=The Constitution|publisher=The Official Website of the Government of Sri Lanka|access-date=22 August 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090817113810/http://www.priu.gov.lk/Cons/1978Constitution/AMENDMENTS.html|archive-date=17 August 2009|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref> Nine provincial councils were created by order on 3 February 1988.<ref name="lnp"/> On 2 and 8 September 1988 [[Junius Richard Jayewardene|President Jayewardene]] issued [[proclamations]] enabling the Northern and Eastern provinces to be one administrative unit administered by one elected Council.<ref name="lnp"/> The North Eastern Province was born.

The proclamations were only meant to be a temporary measure until a referendum was held in the Eastern Province on a permanent merger between the two provinces. However, the referendum was never held and successive Sri Lankan presidents have issued proclamations annually extending the life of the "temporary" entity.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/2003/11/14/stories/2003111411881500.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040225085959/http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/2003/11/14/stories/2003111411881500.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=25 February 2004|title=Sri Lanka's North-East to remain united for another year|last=Sambandan|first=V.S.|date=14 November 2003|access-date=22 August 2009|work=[[The Hindu]]|location=Chennai, India}}</ref>

The merger was bitterly opposed by [[Sinhalese nationalists]]. The combined North Eastern Province occupied one fourth of Sri Lanka. The thought of the [[Sri Lankan Tamils|Tamil people]] controlling this province, directly or indirectly, alarmed them greatly. On 14 July 2006, after a long campaign against the merger, the [[Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna|JVP]] filed three separate [[petitions]] with the [[Supreme Court of Sri Lanka]] requesting a separate Provincial Council for the East.<ref name="lnp"/> On 16 October 2006 the Supreme Court ruled that the proclamations issued by President Jayewardene were null and void and had no legal effect.<ref name="lnp"/> The North Eastern Province was formally demerged into the Northern and Eastern provinces on 1 January 2007.

==Provincial Council==
The 13th Amendment to the 1978 Constitution of Sri Lanka and the Provincial Councils Act No 42 of 1987 established provincial councils.<ref name="pc"/><ref name="cons"/> Nine provincial councils were created by order on 3 February 1988.<ref name="lnp"/> The first [[elections]] for provincial councils took place on 28 April 1988 in [[North Central Province, Sri Lanka|North Central]], [[North Western Province, Sri Lanka|North Western]], [[Sabaragamuwa Province|Sabaragamuwa]], and [[Uva Province|Uva]] provinces.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ices.lk/sl_database/ethnic_conflict/time_line.shtml |title=Ethnic Conflict of Sri Lanka: Time Line – From Independence to 1999 |publisher=International Centre for Ethnic Studies |access-date=22 August 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091212123102/http://www.ices.lk/sl_database/ethnic_conflict/time_line.shtml |archive-date=12 December 2009 |df=dmy }}</ref>

[[November 1988 Sri Lankan Provincial Council elections|Elections]] in the newly merged North Eastern Province were scheduled for 19 November 1988. However, the [[Indian Peace Keeping Force]] (IPKF), which at that time occupied the province, rigged the elections in the north so that the [[Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front]] (EPRLF) and [[Eelam National Democratic Liberation Front]] (ENDLF), two Indian backed paramilitary groups, won all of the 36 seats in the north uncontested.<ref name="at">{{cite web|url=http://www.atimes.com/ind-pak/DD20Df03.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20020427122344/http://www.atimes.com/ind-pak/DD20Df03.html|url-status=unfit|archive-date=27 April 2002|title=Chapter 36: Indians rule the roost |last=Rajasingham |first=K.T.|date=20 April 2002|work=Sri Lanka: The Untold Story|publisher=Asia Times|access-date=22 August 2009}}</ref> However, elections did take place for the 35 seats in the east. The [[Sri Lanka Muslim Congress]] won 17 seats, EPRLF 12 seats, ENDLF 5 seats and the [[United National Party]] 1 seat. On 10 December 1988 [[Annamalai Varadaraja Perumal]], a former lecturer at the [[Jaffna University]] Economics Department, of the EPRLF became the first [[Chief Minister]] of the North Eastern Provincial Council.<ref name="at"/>

On 1 March 1990, just as the IPKF were preparing to withdraw from Sri Lanka, Perumal moved a motion in the North-East Provincial Council [[Declaration of independence|declaring]] an [[Independence|independent]] [[Tamil Eelam|Eelam]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.priu.gov.lk/news_update/features/20000912no_traitor.htm|title=I'm no traitor, says Perumal|last=Ferdinando|first=Shamindra|date=10 September 2000|publisher=Sunday Island|access-date=22 August 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090501173226/http://www.priu.gov.lk/news_update/features/20000912no_traitor.htm|archive-date=1 May 2009|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref> [[Ranasinghe Premadasa|President Premadasa]] reacted to Perumal's UDI by dissolving the provincial council and imposing direct rule on the province.

The province was ruled directly from [[Colombo]] until May 2008 when [[2008 Sri Lanka Eastern Provincial Council elections|elections]] were held for the demerged Eastern Provincial Council. The first consecutive [[Northern Provincial Council]] elections took place in 2013, with [[Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi|ITAK]] securing a majority of votes. [[C. V. Vigneswaran]] was appointed as the 1st Chief Minister of Northern Province following the results.

==Governors==
{{Main|Provincial Governors of Sri Lanka}}
The governors of the Sri Lankan provinces tend to be mostly retired politicians, judges and military officers. The North Eastern Province had six governors in its 18 years of existence:<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=16949|title=Retired Navy Chief of Staff appointed NorthEast Governor|date=21 January 2006|publisher=[[TamilNet]]|access-date=22 August 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Sri_Lanka_prov.html|title=Sri Lankan Provinces from 1988 |publisher=WorldStatesmen.org|access-date=22 August 2009}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! width="30"|No. !! width="250"|Name !! width="150"|Took Office !! width="150"|Left Office
|-
| 1 || align=left|[[Lieutenant General]] [[Nalin Seneviratne]] || 30 November 1988 || 30 November 1993
|-
| 2 || align=left|[[Lionel Fernando]] || 30 November 1993 || 23 August 1994
|-
| 3 || align=left|[[Gamini Fonseka]] || 13 January 1995 || 20 October 1998
|-
| 4 || align=left|[[Major General]] [[Ashoka Jayawardene]] || 13 November 1998 || 30 November 2004
|-
| 5 || align=left|[[Tyronne Fernando]] || 6 December 2004 || 20 January 2006
|-
| 6 || align=left|[[Rear Admiral]] [[Mohan Wijewickrama]] || 21 January 2006 || 31 December 2006
|}

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

== External links ==
* {{statoids|id=ulk|title=Provinces of Sri Lanka}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2014}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Provinces of Sri Lanka]]
[[Category:History of Eastern Province, Sri Lanka|.]]
[[Category:History of Northern Province, Sri Lanka|.]]
[[Category:1988 establishments in Sri Lanka]]
[[Category:2006 disestablishments in Sri Lanka]]
[[Category:States and territories established in 1998]]
[[Category:States and territories disestablished in 2006]]
[[Category:Foreign intervention in the Sri Lankan Civil War]]
[[Category:Indian Peace Keeping Force]]

North Eastern Province, Sri Lanka - Revision history

Bot: robot: Create/update articles. If there is a mistake please report on my talk page.