Elections to the provincial council of the newly constituted Northeastern Province in Sri Lanka were conducted on 19 November 1988. An alliance of the Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Organization (EPRLF), the Eelam National Democratic Liberation Front (ENDLF), and the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization (TELO) came to an agreement about the distribution of electoral seats, resulting in a walk-over in 36 seats in the northern district. [ "Gearing for a Showdown," in Asiaweek,(Hong Kong: 28 October 1988), p. 34.] In the eastern district, 65% of the electorate voted, while in the Tamil dominated town of Batticaloa voter turn-out was 79%, despite a call for a boycott by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). [ "Tamils Defy the Tigers," in The Economist, (London, 26 November 1988), p. 32.] The composition of the 71 seat provincial council is as follows ["Vote for Peace," in Asiaweek, (2 December 1988), p. 30.]:
Party Seats
EPRLF 41
ENDLF 12
Sri Lankan Muslim Congress 17
United National Party 1
The Chief Minister of the Northeastern Province is Varadharaja Perumal. He is not actually an EPRLF member, but has been associated with the organization since its inception. He was active in student politics in the late 1970's and was detained under the Prevention of Terrorism Act. Consequently, he does have a following in the Jaffna region. The LTTE did attempt to enforce a boycott in the eastern district, but the EPRLF-ENDLF-TELO alliance engaged them in battle, killing 86 LTTE combatants. [ "Peace," Asiaweek, p. 30.]
See Attachments

"A Vote for Peace," in Asiaweek. Hong Kong: 2 December 1988.

"Gearing for a Showdown," in Asiaweek. 28 October 1988.

" The Tamils Defy the Tigers," in The Economist. London: 26
November 1988. de Silva, Manik. "Merged for Now." Far Eastern Economic Review. Hong Kong: Review Publishing Co. Ltd., 10 December 1988.
Endnotes