P. Sathiyalingam

Pathmanathan Sathiyalingam (Tamil: பத்மநாதன் சத்தியலிங்கம்) is a Sri Lankan Tamil physician, politician and former provincial minister.

Honourable

P. Sathiyalingam

MPC
பி. சத்தியலிங்கம்
Sathiyalingam in August 2013
Minister of Health and Indigenous Medicine, Northern Province
In office
11 October 2013 – 7 August 2017
Succeeded byG. Gunaseelan
Member of the Northern Provincial Council for Vavuniya District
Assumed office
11 October 2013
Personal details
Political partyIllankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi
Other political
affiliations		Tamil National Alliance
ProfessionPhysician
EthnicitySri Lankan Tamil

Early life and family

Sathiyalingam is the son of S. Pathmanathan, a communist who contested the 1970 parliamentary election in Vavuniya.[1]

Career

Sathiyalingam was Medical Officer of Health (MOH) for Vavuniya.[2][3][4] He is chairman of the Vavuniya branch of the Sri Lanka Red Cross Society.[5][6]

Pathmanathan contested the 2013 provincial council election as one of the Tamil National Alliance's candidates in Vavuniya District and was elected to the Northern Provincial Council.[7][8] After the election he was appointed Minister of Health and Indigenous Medicine.[9][10] He took his oath as minister and provincial councillor in front of Chief Minister C. V. Vigneswaran at Veerasingam Hall on 11 October 2013.[11][12]

Resignation

Starting in late 2016, several charges of irregular practices were levelled against the four provincial ministers for Northern Province.[13] Chief Minister Vigneswaran appointed a three-member committee consisting of retired judge S. Thiyakenthiran (chair), retired judge S. Paramarajah and retired District Secretary S. Patmanathan to investigate the charges.[14][15] In June 2017 the NPC was plunged into chaos after Chief Minister Vigneswaran asked P. Ayngaranesan and T. Kurukularajah to resign after the three-member committee found evidence to substantiate charges of corruption, abuse of power and misuse of funds levelled against the two ministers.[16][17] Vigneswaran also requested that the two other ministers, B. Deniswaran and Sathiyalingam, who had been exonerated by the committee, to go on leave.[18][19]

On 14 June 2017 a motion of no confidence against Vigneswaran was handed to Governor Reginald Cooray by several ITAK and opposition members of the NPC.[20][21] This resulted in the Tamil People's Council, led by Vigneswaran, organising hartals across Northern Province in support of Vigneswaran.[22][23] Following mediation by religious leaders a compromise was agreed between Vigneswaran and the ITAK/TNA leadership on 19 June 2017 whereby Vigneswaran would withdraw the request for Deniswaran and Sathiyalingam to go on leave and in return ITAK would withdraw the motion of no confidence against Vigneswaran.[24][25][26] ITAK provincial councillors met on 6 August 2017 and decided not to take any ministerial positions in Vigneswaran's administration.[27][28] Sathiyalingam resigned on 7 August 2017.[29][30]

References
  1. Jeyaraj, D. B. S. (5 October 2013). "TNA's Tussle Over Provincial Ministry Posts in North". The Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka).
  2. Jayasuriya, Srinath Prasanna (24 September 2003). "Get back: LTTE orders striking health workers in North East". The Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka). Archived from the original on 13 October 2013. Retrieved 13 October 2013.
  3. "District Tobacco Control Cell – Vavuniya". Regional Director of Health Services - Vavuniya. Archived from the original on 13 October 2013. Retrieved 13 October 2013.
  4. "Tamil Civil Society Memo to the TNA regarding the Eastern Provincial Council Elections". Tamil Guardian. 29 July 2012.
  5. "Sri Lanka Red Cross Regional Operation and Coordinating Office ( ROCO) opened in Vavuniya". Sri Lanka Red Cross Society. Archived from the original on 13 October 2013. Retrieved 13 October 2013.
  6. "Contact Directory Northern Province" (PDF). United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. 18 September 2013. p. 157. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 October 2013.
  7. "PART I : SECTION (I) — GENERAL Government Notifications PROVINCIAL COUNCILS ELECTIONS ACT, No. 2 OF 1988 Northern Province Provincial Council" (PDF). The Gazette of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka Extraordinary. 1829/33. 25 September 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 December 2013.
  8. "PROVINCIAL COUNCIL ELECTIONS 2013 – Results and preferential votes: Northern Province". The Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka). 26 September 2013.
  9. "ITAK announces NPC ministers, EPRLF challenges". TamilNet. 10 October 2013.
  10. "Sri Lanka's first Tamil CM announces Cabinet". The New Indian Express/Press Trust of India. 10 October 2013.
  11. "NPC members take oath in Jaffna after honouring fallen Tamil Heroes". TamilNet. 11 October 2013.
  12. "Northern Provincial Council TNA members take oaths". The Sunday Times (Sri Lanka). 11 October 2013. Archived from the original on 14 October 2013.
  13. Balachandran, P. K. (14 June 2017). "Charges against Northern Province Ministers signal shift in Sri Lankan Tamil politics". NewsIn.Asia. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
  14. Ayub, M. S. M. (16 June 2017). "Wigneswaran 's anti-corruption drive eclipsed by sectarian politics". The Daily Mirror. Colombo, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
  15. "Heads to Roll at NPC?". The Nation. Colombo, Sri Lanka. 10 June 2017. Archived from the original on 28 August 2017. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
  16. "No confidence motion against Sri Lanka's Northern province CM". The New Indian Express/Press Trust of India. Chennai, India. 15 June 2017. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
  17. Thangarasa, Sumithi (14 June 2017). "Wigneswaran calls for the resignation of two Provincial Ministers". Daily News. Colombo, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
  18. Srinivasan, Meera (15 June 2017). "'No confidence' in CM Wigneswaran". The Hindu. Chennai, India. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
  19. Kamalendran, Chris (18 June 2017). "TNA, Wigneswaran in battle for North". The Sunday Times. Colombo, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
  20. Thangarasa, Sumithi (15 June 2017). "No Confidence Motion against Wigneswaran". Daily News. Colombo, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
  21. "21 Northern Provincial councillors declare no-confidence in Chief Minister". Tamil Guardian. 14 June 2017. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
  22. "Hartal in Jaffna in protest of attempts to oust Chief Minister Wigneswaran". Tamil Guardian. 16 June 2017. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
  23. Imtiaz, Zahrah (17 June 2017). "Confidence on Wiggie: TNA split". Daily News. Colombo, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
  24. Srinivasan, Meera (19 June 2017). "Uncertainty ends in Sri Lanka's Northern Province". The Hindu. Chennai, India. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
  25. "NPC cools down". The Island. Colombo, Sri Lanka. 20 June 2017. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
  26. Imtiaz, Zahrah (20 June 2017). "ITAK withdraws petition of no-confidence Wiggie and Sam call it even". Daily News. Colombo, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
  27. "Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchi opts out of ministerial posts in Lanka's Northern Province". NewsIn.Asia. 7 August 2017. Retrieved 27 August 2017.
  28. "Following revenging acts by CM & ITAK will decline Minister Posts". Tamil Diplomat. 7 August 2017. Retrieved 27 August 2017.
  29. Chaturanga, Sithum (7 August 2017). "NPC minister resigns". The Daily Mirror. Colombo, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 27 August 2017.
  30. "Northern Provincial Council health minister resigns". Tamil Guardian. 7 August 2017. Retrieved 27 August 2017.
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