The Norwegian Council of Eelam Tamils (NCET) attracted enough number of participants in the poll that took place Sunday November 15 in 16 centres of the different regions of
Noticeable of the results was Mr. Bjønar Moxnes topping the national list polling 1864 votes. Mr. Vijayshankar from Tamil Nadu is elected to the Council topping the list of Western Region.
Considering the electoral history of Eelam Tamils, who have hitherto been imposed with constitutions and were voting in elections conducted by others, this is their first ever country-wide elections, conducted by them on their own, to form a political body of their own, based on their own constitution. The eight-member Election Commission performed the task with professional perfection, observers said.
The five members elected under the national list were Bjønar Moxnes with 1864 votes, Panchakulasingam Kandiah with 1767 votes, Jeyasri Balasubramaniam with 1483 votes, Athithan Kumarasamy with 1287votes and Tharmaseelan Tharmalingam with 1243 votes.
Under the regional list, the ten members elected were Sivaganesh Vadivelu, Rajendhram Ponnuthurai, Sivarajah Vallipuram, Kannan Nagendram, Mary Florida Judin Francis, Rajaratnam Veluppillai, Rasakumar Kumarasamy, Vijayshankar Asokan, D. Reggie and Ruben Ayathurai.
Participation of non Eelam Tamils in the elections for the cause of Eelam Tamils is an encouraging phenomenon, as any democratic struggle addressing ‘state fundamentalism’ has to be waged internationally, inside each and every state of today, commented Tamil circles in Norway.
Meanwhile, institutions of Eelam Tamils functioning in
The constitution requires minimum 30 percent Eelam-Tamil voter turnout for any decisions on it, which has been accomplished in the present elections. The number of voters of the origin of the
The estimation is that the polling centres roughly covered 74 percent of the voting population, i.e., 6512 voters and the voter turn out was roughly 43 percent.
In a press statement released before the polls, Prof. Ilango Balasingam, a member of the Election Commission, said that it is the first time a Tamil diaspora body is being formed through country-wide democratic elections and he was hopeful that the efforts would set an example for the global organisation of Eelam Tamil polity.
Nine candidates contested for the five seats of the national list and 28 candidates entered the fray for the 10 seats under the regional list. Three native Norwegians and one Tamil of Tamil Nadu were among those who contested for the seats.
The NCET constitution, while permitting vote only to people of Eelam Tamil descent above 16, allows even others to be elected provided they accept the principle of the Council advocating independent and sovereign Tamil Eelam in the
Another feature of the candidates list was that many of them are highly educated professionals in various walks of life. Seven on the list were women, eight were under 35 and two over 60.
5574 voters said yes to Vaddukkoaddai Resolution in May 2009. The Council is now formed based on the principle of this resolution. Roughly 50 percent of the number that stood for the principle now participated in the electoral process.
More than 50 percent of the number of voters, who said yes to the Vaddukkoaddai Resolution have participated in the formation of NCET in all the regions of
While the historic exercise of the election goes on record and the Council has now come into effect through a totally peaceful ballot, the reactions the efforts faced directly and indirectly, from inside and outside of the society, also go on record.
Eelam Tamil diaspora all over the world, aspiring organisation of its own polity, has to carefully make its own judgements by deducing motives behind personalities, sections of media operating in the diaspora and imperceptible approaches of powers to certain exerting sections of the society - all that caused a political discourse in the last couple of months about the formation of the Council, commented political observers.
