He had been ill for a long time and had been absent from the present session of Parliament for a long time.
 "Veteran Sri Lankan politician and Tamil leader Sampanthan dies aged 91")
Veteran Sri Lankan politician and moderate Tamil leader R. Sampanthan passed away last night while undergoing treatment in hospital. Image: X@R_SampanthanPress Trust of India Colombo
Veteran Sri Lankan politician and moderate Tamil leader R. Sampanthan died last night while undergoing treatment in hospital, the Tamil National Union announced.
Sampanthan, 91, has led the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) since 2004, becoming only the second Tamil to become a major opposition leader in the Sinhalese-majority country.
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He had been ill for a long time and had been absent from the present session of Parliament for a long time.
He was a moderate Tamil and led a political movement to achieve a negotiated political settlement to the Tamil demand for political autonomy.
Tamils have been demanding autonomy since gaining independence from Britain in 1948, but the conflict has escalated into a bloody armed conflict since the mid-1970s.
He became Leader of the Opposition in 2015 and was actively involved in the process of drafting a new constitution until 2019.
A accomplished lawyer, Sampanthan was first elected Member of Parliament from Trincomalee East Harbour constituency in 1977.
