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Sri Lanka Presidential Election of 1982
TULF decided to boycott the 1982 presidential elections,
partly in reaction to the harsh Prevention of Terrorism Act and
partly in response to pressures exerted by Tamil extremists. Only
46 percent of the voters in Jaffna District turned out. In
Sinhalese districts, 85 percent of voters turned out. Increasing
violence by Tamil youths in the north and east of the island
accompanied the call for a Tamil Eelam. The rising level of
violence in 1983 led the government to pass a sixth amendment to
the Constitution, which specifically banned talk of separatism.
All sixteen TULF members of parliament were expelled for refusing
to recite a loyalty oath, thus removing a critical channel for
mediation.
Data as of October 1988
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