The serious internal differences in the largest Tamil party – Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK) are becoming more and more evident with just days left for the Presidential poll on 21 September.
Now, the party’s president ‘Maavai’ Senathiraja has told incumbent Ranil Wickremesinghe that he wishes him to be the President. He was speaking to the local media persons after President Wickremesinghe visited him in what was described as a ‘courtesy call’.
“He came home to meet me. I agreed to meet him as he is the president and a presidential candidate. What I said was, at the end of the election, you should win. I believe, expect, and hope that you will become the President of Federal Sri Lanka to take steps to solve the ethnic problem by creating a new constitution within a period of three months," he said.
Adding further, ‘Maavai’ Senathiraja said that neither he nor President Wickremesinghe spoke about the decision taken at the ITAK CC to support Sajith Premadasa.
According to him, the President shared his thoughts on the development of the North and East.
“He spoke mostly about the economic development plans in our areas. I replied by saying after the elections are over and when he gets elected president, which we hope, greeting him is not a problem. Our wish and expectation is that you will create a new constitution as the federal president and find a solution to the ethnic issue within three months”.
ITAK is clearly a divided house. Senathiraja had said on the day the CC of the party decided to support that it was a decision by a few and not the ‘official decision’ of the party.
The crucial meeting was held under the leadership of the party’s senior Vice-President. Subsequently, C.V.K. Sivagnanam, who chaired the CC since ‘Maavai’ was unwell and intimated his inability to attend the same, told media people a resolution was passed to support Sajith Premadasa in the Presidential election with a majority.
Siritharan was in London seeking support for the common Tamil candidate while the CC was held and even before his trip he had written clearly indicating his views. In his letter to the party general secretary explaining his view on the ensuring presidential poll.
“I reiterate my views as continuously pointed out by our late leader R.Sampanthan, we could consider supporting a candidate from the south provided they agreed to the ‘Oslo Declaration’ which guarantees a combined North and East and promises the ‘Right to self-determination’ in a federal set up not under a ‘Unitary State’. If such a commitment is not offered by the Sinhala candidates, then we should consider supporting a common Tamil candidate. As stated in earlier meetings, I reaffirm my support to the common Tamil candidate”.
The Killinochi and Trincomalee branches of the ITAK have decided to support the common Tamil candidate, says Nilanthan, senior journalist and one of the prime movers of such a proposal.
“The purpose of the common Tamil candidate is to consolidate the Tamil votes thereby sending a strong message and not winning in the elections, which we know is impossible," he added.
Meanwhile, at an informal meeting in Jaffna with select Tamil editors of the media outlets from the North, Sajith Premadasa is said to have assured full implementation of the 13th Amendment to the constitution which forms the basis of power devolution.
Replying to the query if ‘it includes police and land powers’, Sajith is said to have replied, ‘Well that is in the amendment’.
While ITAK officially supports Sajith as confirmed by the party spokesman Sumanthiran after the Vavuniya meeting, he has defended another contender Anura Kumara Dissanayake saying no chauvinistic statements were made by the leader of the National People’s Power and has pledged to collaborate with the NPP for social reforms.
While there is a sharp difference of opinion within the ITAK on support to the presidential candidate, the other leading Tamil party in the North and East, Tamil People’s National Front has called for a boycott of this election saying, they have lost faith in Sinhala Presidents who in the past have done nothing to solve the Tamils ethnic issue despite assuring to do so during their campaign.
