International   

Polls: LTTE, religious parties playing active role

By V.S. Sambandan

COLOMBO, FEB.18. Organisations representing the two ends of Sri Lanka's political spectrum — the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the Sinhala-Buddhist hardline Jathika Hela Urumaya — hope to be kingmakers in the island's 225-member Parliament after the coming April 2 elections.

The LTTE, which shunned contesting elections or even campaigning directly for any political party in the past, on Tuesday said it would be "actively involved'' in the electioneering in Tamil-majority north-eastern districts.

The polls, its political wing leader, S.P. Tamilchelvan, told journalists in rebel-held Kilinochchi yesterday, would be "converted into an ideological expression of Tamil aspirations."

After a three-hour meeting with leaders of the Tamil National Alliance, which had 15 MPs in the dissolved Parliament, Mr. Tamilchelvan said: "ideologically the LTTE and the TNA are one."

Tamil political parties see a possible minority-consolidation of 21 Tamil seats in the temporarily merged Northeast Province to form a power bloc in Parliament, but plans can go awry with rifts in the Tamil polity, with even the party symbol yet to be decided.

The Buddhist clergy, for its part, hopes to galvanise the majority 69 per cent Sinhala-Buddhists under the "conch-shell" symbol of the Hela Urumaya to "save the country from the minorities."

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

International

News: Front Page | National | Tamil Nadu | Andhra Pradesh | Karnataka | Kerala | New Delhi | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary | Updates: Breaking News |

Stories in this Section

• U.S. closes applications for 2004 H-1B visas
• Musharraf appeals to clergy to eliminate terrorism
• Donors call for early peace talks
• Russia to deploy advanced missiles
• Kerry wins Wisconsin narrowly
• Berlin meet says European Union members' fears are unfounded
• Polls: LTTE, religious parties playing active role
• It's `elephant' versus `betel leaf' in Sri Lanka
• Sri Lankan visit was private: Faleiro
• `Liberal visas' for cricket lovers
• `U.S. supportive of India-Pakistan dialogue'

Copyright © 2004, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu