Seeking A Permanent Solution

By Easwaran Rutnam

Sunday, July 19, 2015

The upcoming Parliament election will see, possibly for the first time, a division in how
the Tamil votes will go as several political parties and independent groups contest
seats in Parliament.
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has always been the clear winner at past elections
held in the North but this time they are bound to face stiff competition.
The Eelam Peoples Democratic Party (EPDP) led by Douglas Devananda, the
Crusaders for Democracy led by former journalist N. Vidyatharan and the Tamil
National Peoples Front led by Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam are among contenders
seeking seats in Parliament from the North apart from the TNA.
The main focus of all the Tamil political parties contesting the polls will, however, be
one goal, and that is to ensure the Tamils are given a permanent political solution after
nearly three decades of war.
TNA member Suresh Premachandran said that the TNA will be seeking support for
two main issues during the election campaign.
He told The Sunday Leader that a resolution for the Tamil issue is what the Tamils
have been calling for, over a long period of time and that will be one of the key issues
raised at the polls campaign.
Resettling the war displaced, releasing Tamil political prisoners and providing answers
over the hundreds missing during the war will also be focused on during the election
campaign of the TNA.

Asked if the TNA will work with other political parties and independent groups ahead
of the polls, Premachandran said that, since the TNA will be contesting alone it will not
get on stage with any other political party.
However, after the election, if any Tamil political party or group wants to work with
us and accept our policies, they will be more than welcome, he said.
The TNA has often claimed to be the sole representatives of the Tamils but the right to
make that claim has been challenged in the past.
The Eelam Peoples Democratic Party (EPDP) General Secretary and candidate at the
Parliamentary election, Douglas Devananda said that people in some areas in the
North are still seeking solutions to their land issues.
He said that if the EPDP is given the political backing it needs, it will be able to address
most of the outstanding issues faced by the Tamils in the North.
We can assure them a prosperous future, a stable economy in the North and a good
environment, he said.
Devananda and his party have been holding several public meetings in the North,
particularly in the Jaffna District seeking support for their election battle.
A former ally under the Mahinda Rajapaksa Government, the EPDP is contesting the
Parliament election on its own.
Once a strong force in the North, the EPDP lost the strength it had in the North,
despite the TNA administered Northern Provincial Council, after Mahinda Rajapaksa
lost the January Presidential elections.
Devananda said that the Tamils in the North should not be misled by false promises
and they ought not to back poor leaders who will take the country backward.
He said that the EPDP has a solution for the Tamil issue but no solution will go
forward if the people in the North continue to be led astray by those still fighting for an
Eelam State.
He said that, while looking for solutions for the Tamil issue, it is also important that
their security is assured.
He also accused the Tamil National Alliance of failing to address the core issues of the
Tamils and to work on retaining its strength in Parliament.
The opportunities which we had to resolve our issues were never made use of and that
is why the Tamils in the North are still suffering, he said.
The TNA has had several rounds of talks with the Mahinda Rajapaksa Government but

all those talks ended in failure.

Eventually the former Government had decided to continue discussions through
Parliament with all Tamil political parties and not just with the TNA and refused to
recognize the TNA as the sole representatives of the Tamils.
Leader of the Crusaders for Democracy N. Vidyatharan told The Sunday Leaderthat
the Crusaders for Democracy will campaign for the August 17 Parliamentary election
seeking the right to represent the Tamils in Parliament.
He said that they will also seek support to remove military camps in the North and
ensure the rights of the Tamils are protected.
The Crusaders for Democracy consists of former LTTE cadres who have been
rehabilitated and are looking to live an ordinary life.
Vidyatharan said that as former LTTE cadres, the members of the Crusaders for
Democracy know very clearly what the Tamils in the North are facing.
He said that the TNA has always been attempting to represent the Tamils by claiming
to know exactly what they want, but the former LTTE cadres, who fought for the rights
of the Tamils, know better.
Vidyatharans Crusaders for Democracy had initially sought to work with the TNA at
the election, but the TNA had rejected the request.
The TNA leadership accused us of being military intelligence. TNA leader R.
Sampanthan said that the party cannot trust us like they didnt trust Karuna and
Pillayan. But he said he does not believe that. In the same tone, I told him there are
accusations against him but I do not believe them, Vidyatharan said.
He also said that the international community, including the United States, the UK
and India, who have been calling on the LTTE in the past to renounce violence, must
now accept the members of the Crusaders for Democracy as they have renounced
violence and have joined the democratic stream.
Vidyatharan also said that the people in the South should not fear the former LTTE
members and should instead accept them in the same way that they accepted the JVP
after the Marxists entered democratic politics.
In fact, the JVP should have been the first to welcome the former LTTE members,
Vidyatharan added.
He also said that, after the election the Crusaders for Democracy will look to work with
the political parties in the South in a frame of national reconciliation.

That position will not be welcomed by Tamil hardline groups who want the Sri Lankan
Government, the former and the current, held responsible for civilian deaths during
the war.
Over a million people from around the world have already signed on to an appeal to
urge the United Nations to Refer Sri Lanka to the International Criminal Court.
The signature campaign in 15 languages was launched about four months ago by the
Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE), a diaspora group led by former
LTTE member V. Rudrakumaran.
The signature campaign observes that the presence of the former Commander of the
Sri Lankan military in the present Government, and the potential culpability of the
new President, Maithripala Sirisena, will not be conducive to meting out justice in any
manner other than through a referral to the International Criminal Court.
It also notes that, according to the UN Internal Review Report on Sri Lanka, there
were credible estimate of civilian casualties of 70,000 Tamils during the first six
months of 2009. The campaign further states that the current situation in Sri Lanka
constitutes an ongoing threat to the peace under Chapter 7 Article 39 of the UN
Charter, because there has been absolutely no accountability for war crimes, crimes
against humanity, and genocide.
We firmly believe that neither a domestic mechanism nor a hybrid mechanism will
mete out justice to the Tamil people. The call by the new Sri Lankan government for a
domestic or hybrid mechanism to replace any international judicial process is an
attempt to deflect the call for referral to the ICC and to delay other meaningful actions
on accountability. The effort to establish a domestic Truth and Reconciliation
Commission is another diversionary tactic to protect those who committed serious
crimes against Tamils. It is emphasized in the Petition attached to the Campaign that
the crimes against the Tamils on the island of Sri Lanka were perpetrated by the State
itself. The petition also pointed out, as observed by the UN Panel of Experts Report,
that there existed no political environment to mete out justice for Tamils.
It also notes that the promise made by the Sri Lankan Ambassador to the UN following
the 1983 racial pogrom that they will hold an investigation has never been kept.
The Petition is available in Tamil, Sinhala, English, Russian, Chinese, Malay, Bangla,
Urdu, Hindi, French, German, Arabic, Swahili, Turkic and Spanish.
Posted by Thavam