The
North Eastern Province was one of the
provincesIn Sri Lanka, Provinces are the first level administrative division. They were first established by the British rulers of Ceylon in 1833. Over the next century most of the administrative functions were transferred to the districts, the second level administrative division. By the middle of the...
of
Sri LankaSri Lanka , officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka , is an island country in South Asia, located about off the southern coast of India...
. The province was created in September 1988 by merging the
NorthernThe Northern Province is one of the 9 provinces of Sri Lanka. The provinces have existed since the 19th century but they didn't have any legal status until 1987 when the 13th Amendment to the 1978 Constitution of Sri Lanka established provincial councils...
and
EasternThe Eastern Province is one of the 9 provinces of Sri Lanka. The provinces have existed since the 19th century but they didn't have any legal status until 1987 when the 13th Amendment to the 1978 Constitution of Sri Lanka established provincial councils...
provinces. This merger was declared illegal by the
Supreme Court of Sri LankaThe Supreme Court of Sri Lanka is the highest court of the nation of Sri Lanka.-Constitution of the court:The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka was created in 1972 after the adoption of a new Constitution. The Supreme Court is the highest and final superior court of record and is empowered to exercise its...
in 2006. The province was formally demerged into the Northern and Eastern provinces on 1 January 2007. The capital of the province was
TrincomaleeTrincomalee is a port city on the east coast of Sri Lanka, about 110 miles northeast of Kandy. The city is built on a peninsula, which divides the inner and outer harbours. It is one of the main centers of Tamil speaking culture on the island...
.
The
Indo-Lanka AccordThe Indo-Sri Lanka Peace Accord was an accord signed in Colombo on July 29, 1987, between Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and Sri Lankan President J.R. Jayewardene. The accord was expected to resolve the ongoing Sri Lankan civil war...
signed on 29 July 1987 required the
Sri Lankan governmentPolitics of Sri Lanka takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Sri Lanka is both head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both...
to devolve powers to the provinces and, in the
interimInterim is an album by British rock band The Fall, compiled from live and studio material and released in 2004. It features the first officially released versions of "Clasp Hands", "Blindness" and "What About Us?" — all of which were later included on the band's next studio album Fall Heads Roll —...
, to
mergeMerge, merging, or merger may mean:- Concepts :* The combination of two or more organizations, such as cities or corporations, into one; see merger and mergers and acquisitions respectively....
the Northern and Eastern provinces into one
administrative unit| align="right" style="background:transparent;"| |align="right"| |}Administrative divisions are divisions of a political division. In other words, they are designated portions of a country. They are also called subnational entities. They are each granted a certain degree of autonomy, and...
.
The
North Eastern Province was one of the
provincesIn Sri Lanka, Provinces are the first level administrative division. They were first established by the British rulers of Ceylon in 1833. Over the next century most of the administrative functions were transferred to the districts, the second level administrative division. By the middle of the...
of
Sri LankaSri Lanka , officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka , is an island country in South Asia, located about off the southern coast of India...
. The province was created in September 1988 by merging the
NorthernThe Northern Province is one of the 9 provinces of Sri Lanka. The provinces have existed since the 19th century but they didn't have any legal status until 1987 when the 13th Amendment to the 1978 Constitution of Sri Lanka established provincial councils...
and
EasternThe Eastern Province is one of the 9 provinces of Sri Lanka. The provinces have existed since the 19th century but they didn't have any legal status until 1987 when the 13th Amendment to the 1978 Constitution of Sri Lanka established provincial councils...
provinces. This merger was declared illegal by the
Supreme Court of Sri LankaThe Supreme Court of Sri Lanka is the highest court of the nation of Sri Lanka.-Constitution of the court:The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka was created in 1972 after the adoption of a new Constitution. The Supreme Court is the highest and final superior court of record and is empowered to exercise its...
in 2006. The province was formally demerged into the Northern and Eastern provinces on 1 January 2007. The capital of the province was
TrincomaleeTrincomalee is a port city on the east coast of Sri Lanka, about 110 miles northeast of Kandy. The city is built on a peninsula, which divides the inner and outer harbours. It is one of the main centers of Tamil speaking culture on the island...
.
History
The
Indo-Lanka AccordThe Indo-Sri Lanka Peace Accord was an accord signed in Colombo on July 29, 1987, between Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and Sri Lankan President J.R. Jayewardene. The accord was expected to resolve the ongoing Sri Lankan civil war...
signed on 29 July 1987 required the
Sri Lankan governmentPolitics of Sri Lanka takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Sri Lanka is both head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both...
to devolve powers to the provinces and, in the
interimInterim is an album by British rock band The Fall, compiled from live and studio material and released in 2004. It features the first officially released versions of "Clasp Hands", "Blindness" and "What About Us?" — all of which were later included on the band's next studio album Fall Heads Roll —...
, to
mergeMerge, merging, or merger may mean:- Concepts :* The combination of two or more organizations, such as cities or corporations, into one; see merger and mergers and acquisitions respectively....
the Northern and Eastern provinces into one
administrative unit| align="right" style="background:transparent;"| |align="right"| |}Administrative divisions are divisions of a political division. In other words, they are designated portions of a country. They are also called subnational entities. They are each granted a certain degree of autonomy, and...
. The accord required a
referendumA referendum , ballot question, or plebiscite is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal...
to be held by 31 December 1988 in the Eastern Province to decide whether the merger should be
permanentIn linear algebra, the permanent of a square matrix is a function of the matrix similar to the determinant. The permanent, as well as the determinant, is a polynomial in the entries of the matrix...
. Crucially, the accord allowed the
Sri Lankan presidentThe President of Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is the elected head of state and the head of government. The President is a dominant political figure in Sri Lanka. The office was created in 1978 but has grown so powerful there have been calls to restrict or even eliminate its power...
to postpone the referendum at his
discretionDiscretion is a noun in the English language.-Meanings:The word has two main meanings:# to determine guilt or innocence# to determine sentencing."The Art of suiting action to particular circumstances"Lord ScarmanAlso# The quality of being discreet...
On 14 November 1987 the Sri Lankan Parliament passed the 13th
AmendmentA constitutional amendment is a change to the constitution of a nation or a state. In jurisdictions with "rigid" or "entrenched" constitutions, amendments require a special procedure different from that used for enacting ordinary laws.-Referendum:...
to the
1978 Constitution of Sri LankaThe Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is the official document that outlines the fundamental laws and the structure of government in the island nation of Sri Lanka...
and the Provincial Councils Act No 42 of 1987, establishing provincial councils. Nine provincial councils were created by order on 3 February 1988. On September 2 and 8 1988
President JayewardeneJunius Richard Jayewardene , famously abbreviated in Sri Lanka as JR, was the first executive President of Sri Lanka, serving from 1978 till 1989. He was a leader of the nationalist movement in Ceylon who served in a variety of cabinet positions in the decades following independence...
issued proclamations enabling the Northern and Eastern provinces to be one administrative unit administered by one elected Council. The North Eastern Province was born.
The proclamations were only meant to be a
temporaryTemporary is a term that denotes a finite period of time, with a defined beginning and an end. It is derived from the Latin temporarius "of seasonal character, lasting a short time," from tempus "time, season." It is the opposite of permanent...
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.
The merger was bitterly opposed by Sri Lankan nationalists. The combined North Eastern Province occupied one fourth of Sri Lanka. The thought of the
Tamil TigersThe Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam is a separatist organization formerly based in northern Sri Lanka. Founded in May 1976, it waged a violent secessionist campaign that sought to create an independent Tamil state in the north and east of Sri Lanka...
controlling this province, directly or indirectly, alarmed them greatly. On 14 July 2006, after a long campaign against the merger, the
JVPThe Janathā Vimukthi Peramuṇa is a nationalist, Marxist-Leninist, Communist political party in Sri Lanka. The party was involved in two armed uprisings against the ruling governments in 1971 and 1987-89...
filed three separate petitions with the
Supreme Court of Sri LankaThe Supreme Court of Sri Lanka is the highest court of the nation of Sri Lanka.-Constitution of the court:The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka was created in 1972 after the adoption of a new Constitution. The Supreme Court is the highest and final superior court of record and is empowered to exercise its...
requesting a separate Provincial Council for the East. On 16 October 2006 the Supreme Court ruled that the proclamations issued by President Jayewardene were null and void and had no legal effect. 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. Nine provincial councils were created by order on 3 February 1988. The first elections for provincial councils took place on 28 April 1988 in
North CentralNorth Central Province is a province of Sri Lanka. Its capital is Anuradhapura. The province is economically rather backward and not densely populated, as the land tends to be dry tropical woodlands....
,
North WesternNorth Western Province , is a province of Sri Lanka. The districts of Kurunegala and Puttalam formulate Wayamba. Its capital is Kurunegala, which has a population of 28,571. The province is known mainly for its numerous coconut plantations...
,
SabaragamuwaThe Sabaragamuwa Province, is a province of Sri Lanka, and contains two main cities: Ratnapura and Kegalle. Sabaragamuwa University is in Belihuloya...
, and
UvaThe Uva Province is Sri Lanka's second least populated province, with 1,187,335 people, created in 1896. It consists of two districts: Badulla බදුල්ල வதுளை and Moneragala මොනරාගල மூணார்கல். The provincial capital is Badulla. Uva is bordered by Eastern, Southern and Central provinces...
provinces.
ElectionsProvincial Council elections were held on 19 November 1988 to elect members to Sri Lanka’s North Eastern Provincial Council.-Background:The Indo-Lanka Accord signed on 29 July 1987 required the Sri Lankan government to devolve powers to the provinces and, in the interim, to merge the Northern and...
in the newly merged North Eastern Province were scheduled for 19 November 1988. However, the
Indian Peace Keeping ForceIndian Peace Keeping Force was the Indian military contingent performing a peacekeeping operation in Sri Lanka between 1987 and 1990...
(IPKF), which at that time occupied the province, rigged the elections in the north so that the
Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation FrontThe Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front is a political party in Sri Lanka. It was originally formed as a militant, Tamil separatist group, and operated from 1983 to about 1991...
(EPRLF) and Eelam National Democratic Liberation Front (ENDLF), two
IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
n backed
paramilitaryA paramilitary is a force whose function and organization are similar to those of a professional military force, but which is not regarded as having the same status...
groups, won all of the 36 seats in the north uncontested. However, elections did take place for the 35 seats in the east. The
Sri Lanka Muslim CongressThe Sri Lanka Muslim Congress is a political party in Sri Lanka. The party was formed at a meeting held at Kattankudy in 1981 by a small study group of local Eastern Province political leaders....
won 17 seats, EPRLF 12 seats, ENDLF 5 seats and the
United National PartyThe United National Party, often referred to as the UNP Sinhalese: එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂය , Tamil: ஐக்கிய தேசியக் கட்சி), is a leading political party in Sri Lanka....
1 seat. On 10 December 1988 Annamalai Varatharajah Perumal, a former lecturer at the Jaffna University Economics Department, of the EPRLF became the first
Chief MinisterA Chief Minister is the elected head of government of a sub-national state, provinces of Pakistan, notably a state of India, a territory of Australia or a British overseas territory that has attained self-government...
of the North Eastern Provincial Council.
On 1 March 1990, just as the IPKF were preparing to withdraw from Sri Lanka, Permual moved a motion in the North-East Provincial Council
declaraingA declaration of independence is an assertion of the independence of an aspiring state or states. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the territory of another nation or failed nation, or are breakaway territories from within the larger state...
an
independentIndependence is the self-government of a nation, country, or state by its residents and population, or some portion thereof, generally exercising sovereignty....
EelamTamil Eelam is the name given by certain Tamil groups in Sri Lanka to the state which they aspire to create in the north and east of Sri Lanka...
.
President PremadasaRanasinghe Premadasa was the 3rd President of Sri Lanka from January 2, 1989 to May 1, 1993. Before that, he served as the Prime Minister in the government headed by J. R. Jayewardene from February 6, 1978 to January 1, 1989...
reacted to Permual's UDI by dissolving the provincial council and imposing direct rule on the province.
The province was ruled directly from
ColomboColombo is the largest city and commercial capital of Sri Lanka. It is located on the west coast of the island and adjacent to Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, the capital city of Sri Lanka. Colombo is a busy and vibrant city with a mixture of modern life and colonial buildings and ruins and a city...
until May 2008 when
electionsThe Sri Lanka Eastern Provincial Council elections, 2008 was held on May 10, 2008 to elect members to Sri Lanka’s Eastern Provincial Council. Following the successful completion of local government elections in the Batticaloa District, Sri Lanka’s Elections Department announced on March 14 that the...
were held for the demerged Eastern Provincial Council. As yet, no elections have been held for the Northern Provincial Council.
Governors
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:
| No. | |Took Office | Lieutenant General Lieutenant General is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages where the title of Lieutenant General was held by the second in command on the battlefield, who was normally subordinate to a Captain General....
Nalin SeneviratneGeneral Ganegoda Don Granville Nalin Seneviratne, VSV, ndc, SLE was a Sri Lankan Army officer. He was the Commander of the Sri Lankan Army from 1985 to 1988 and first Governor of the North East Province....
| 30 November 1988 |
30 November 1993 |
|---|
| 2 |
Lionel Fernando |
30 November 1993 |
23 August 1994 |
| 3 |
Gamini Fonseka Sembuge Gamini Shelton Fonseka was an award winning Sri Lankan film actor and politician.- Early life :Fonseka was born on March 21, 1936 in Dehiwela the third child of William and Daisy Fonseka. Starting school at a Presbyterian institution, Gamini moved on to St. Thomas College, Mt. Lavinia. As...
|
13 January 1995 |
20 October 1998 |
| 4 |
Major General Major General or Major-General is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of Sergeant Major General. A Major General is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of Lieutenant General and senior to the ranks of Brigadier and Brigadier General...
Ashoka Jayawardene |
13 November 1998 |
30 November 2004 |
| 5 |
Tyronne Fernando Tyronne Fernando, PC was a Sri Lankan politician who served as Foreign Minister from 2001 until 2004.-Early life and education:Fernando was born on August 8, 1941. Fernando was a descendant of Puran Appu...
|
6 December 2004 |
20 January 2006 |
| 6 |
Rear AdmiralRear Admiral is a naval commissioned officer rank above that of a Commodore and Captain, and below that of a Vice Admiral. It is generally regarded as the lowest of the "Admiral" ranks, which are also sometimes referred to as "Flag officers" and/or "Flag ranks"...
Mohan Wijeyawickrema |
21 January 2006 |
31 December 2006 |
External links