Post Election Press Release
Independent candidate Jan Jananayagam cherishes unprecedented result for last minute campaign
Jan Jananayagam, an independent MEP candidate for the London Region, thanked her supporters for helping her achieve an unprecedented number of votes in the 4 June 2009 European Parliamentary election.
With 50,014 votes, she received over 10 times as many votes as the next independent candidate, coming eighth overall in the London region and amassed more than all other independent candidates across the country combined. A result of this magnitude has not been achieved before by any independent candidate with no past affiliation with a major political party.
Jan’s result is all the more astounding considering her decision to run was made just days before the deadline for nomination and barely a month before election day.
She offers her profuse gratitude to the many people who stepped forward to dedicate their time, energy, ideas and sheer hard work to collectively achieve this impressive result.
Jan campaigned on the themes of civil rights, financial transparency, diversity, ethical foreign policy and support for small businesses.
Jan, a Tamil born in Sri Lanka , felt compelled to stand for election after seeing the inaction of governments and international bodies in the face of the ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity, in Sri Lanka and in other countries.
She also keenly feels the need to do more to end the continuing intolerance and discrimination against minorities of all kinds, underlined by the rise of racist parties across Europe, and to stop the blanket criminalisation of communities through anti-terrorism legislation.
Jan’s genocide centred campaign drew enthusiastic support from the Tamil community in London, as well as from the many other communities seeking to strengthen international protection for human rights, civil liberties and political freedoms, both abroad and within Europe.
The cause was also taken up by many students and volunteers, who were indefatigable in publicising the campaign’s themes through leafleting, numerous meetings and social networking sites.
The endorsement by internationally renowned hip hop artist, M.I.A., helped Jan’s stop-genocide campaign to reach important audiences that might otherwise have been inaccessible.
Jan and those who came forward to campaign for her hope to build on this success in future elections and give a voice to the many Londoners whose concerns are un-represented by the main political parties.
Her achievement has attracted praise from several London, UK and European press statements and she has received numerous requestsed for interviews.
She and the volunteers who did so much in just one month are dedicating themselves to take forward the important themes they have been highlighting. They urge everyone concerned by the persecution of peoples, the erosion of civil liberties, the corruption and unconcern for suffering in the corridors of power as well as unethical foreign policy decisions by EU member states, to support their work.
Jan’s background:
Jan Jananayagam has been a human rights activist since 1995 and is UK spokesperson for “Tamils Against Genocide”. She is also a Director of a Law Foundation focusing on public and international humanitarian law.
Comments (19)
பாரதி க்ண்ட புதுமைப்பெண் வாழ்க!! வெல்க!!
வணக்கம் அக்கா!
தமிழீழமக்களின் துன்பதுயரங்களை வென்றெடுப்பதற்காக தாங்கள் வெற்றிபெறுவது நிச்சயம். இறைஆசீர் வேண்டி வாழ்த்துகின்றேன்
வணக்கம்
i am from chennai
i called your office to wish for your debut political step
was thrilled while speaking to your officer
MAY YOUR CLONE PROLIFERATE GLOBALLY TO SAVE OUR TAMIZHS
cordially
ranga
Janani,
Tamil Eelam jananikka, jananayaga vazhiyil poraada en
vazhthukkal!
-karthi
Congratulations on doing so well, I am not a London resident so could not show my support and actually only found your campaign by accident; very glad you did so well and gained coverage for everything you believe in.
50000+ vote… good one for the first time…
Good showing even if you did not win! I am a SL Tamil from Singapore and was hoping for you to win. Please consider joining a major British party next time. Also, continue your brave, good work! Let not the SL Tamil plight be erased from memory.
Good Job! Dont give up! Go on!
Excellent results for a first time without big preparations.
Keep doing your great job.
Tamils should keep supporting peopel like Jan.
Thanks
Hi Jan
Congratulations on winning so much of the vote. 50K+ is amazing!
Just a note here - yours was the only campaign leaflet I received. Decided to vote for you on the strength of it.
Well done again
Janani, this is the first step towards the path of your successful political career. Keep on rocking. Think about a larger global movement that can work for Tamil issues worldwide including the immediate sufferings of Ealem Tamils
Our Dear Jan,
50,000 real humans are behind you. Multiply this by 4 you will be an MP in the next UK parliament election.
“Winston Churchill failed sixth grade. He was subsequently defeated in every election for public office until he became Prime Minister at the age of 62. He later wrote, “Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never - in nothing, great or small, large or petty - never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never, Never, Never, Never give up.”
ஆக 50 ஆயிரம் தமிழ் மக்கள் தான் வாக்களிக்கத் தகுதியானவர்களா??? 2ஆயிரம் வாக்குகள் வேற்றினத்தவர் என்று வைத்துக் கொண்டாலும் 48 ஆயிரம் வருகிறது. நான் நினைக்கிறேன் பெரும்பாலான தமிழர்கள் தங்களை வாக்காளர்களாக பதிவு செய்யவில்லை என்பதே உண்மை.இருந்த போதிலும் இதன் மூலம் அரசியல் கடசிகளுக்கு ஒரு செய்தி சொல்லப் பட்டுள்ளது. பொதுவாக முன்பு தமிழர்களின் வாக்குகள் பெருமளவில் தொழிற் கட்சிக்கே கிடைத்துள்ளது. இந்த முறை தொழிற் கட்சி பெரிய சரிவைச் சந்தித்துள்ளது. தமிழர்கள் இந்த முடிவை வைத்து அமைப்பு ரீதியாக இயங்கி கட்சிகளுடன் பேரம் பேசும் வாய்ப்பு கிடைத்துள்ளது. அப்படி அமைப்பு உருவாக்கப் படும் சந்தர்ப்பத்தில் முழுக்க இளைய சமுதாயமே களத்தில் வேட்பாளர்களாக இறங்க வேண்டும்.பெரியவர்கள் அவர்களுக்கு ஆதரவாக இருந்தால் போதும்.இப்பொழுதே அனைத்துத் தமிழர்களும் வாக்காளர்களாக பதிவு செய்து கொள்ளுங்கள். தபால் மூல வாக்காளர்களாக பதிவு செய்தால் மறதி பங்சி போன்றவை இருந்தாலும் வாக்களிக்காமல் இருக்கம் சந்தர்பங்கள் குறைவாக இருக்கும்
adutha murai nichayam velvom
This is not a defeat. This is a big victory. As you have said, you have made good new contacts. More people now realize the injustice meted to your brothers and sisters. You should take all those who trusted you behind you all the time. Good luck for much bigger success’s all through your life.
Failures are the pillars of success in achieving desired aim. Keep it up, God bless you.
jan,
Unit all tamil organizations and form a single tamil body with a common goal. every school unversity and city should have tamil unit
50 thousand votes for an independent candidate is a superb performance. Jan and her supporters should be proud of this achievement. Next step is to sign up to a major political party for a winnable seat in the next British general elections. Jan needs to keep her grassroots support intact if she wants to have another shot at representative politics. The recent elections ought to be considered as mere warm up for a long career in politics for Jan. Migrant communities in UK and Europe won’t find a finer representative than this bright, brave lady.
Vannakkam Janany,
Lets look at the bright side of first ever independent candidate gained the MOST votes in the UK history. So, Janani and Tamils made the history and lets work for the forthcoming general election by creating a database of our all Tamils in each places to target our votes to acheive even a single MP in the UK parliament and PM Gordon Brown MIGHT introduce PR system(like the EU Election system) as he proposed due to his fear of losing election to Tories.
Please work towards a THINK TANK or many Think Tanks like othjer races in the world to ACHIEVE our goals instead of Putting all EGGS into One basket as we did to put all one one and lost all now.
Srilanka- with the help of India and China and if TORY party comes to govt- will do everything to SHUT US up by using the same old LTTE PAINT to tarnish us all, So before that, we Tamils MUST create an organistation such as Eelam Tamils against Terrorism or Global Tamils against Terrorism because the WORD TERRORISM was made by the WORLD as NUMBER ONE ENEMY and Srilanka CLEAVERLY used to the FULL to destroy the freedom fighters.
Therefore, in future we have to use our brains to PUT the SRILANKAN ON THE DEFENSIVE SIDE all the TIME by UNMASKING the REAL NAZI FACE of SinHella Fundamentalist Terrorist Srilanka and the Srilankan INSTITUTIONALISED RACIST SO CALLED SRILANKA JUDICERY as Srilanka trying to fool the world by urging the UN to allow Srilanka to hold the investigations against those alleged war crimes like the HITLER’s NAZIS investigating the ATROCITIES against JEWISH PEOPLE.