The Hindu : LTTE seeks votes for Tamil National Alliance

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Feb 28, 2004

International

International

LTTE seeks votes for Tamil National Alliance

By V.S. Sambandan

COLOMBO, FEB. 27. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam formally entered the election campaign in Sri Lanka on Thursday seeking votes for the four-party Tamil National Alliance. The ruling United National Front and the Opposition United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) also began their campaigns on Thursday with both promising resumption of negotiations with the Tigers.

This is the LTTE's first foray into the electoral arena, though not as a contestant, after decades of fighting. The Tigers came out in support of the four-party TNA at a rally in the northern Government-held Tamil majority town of Vavuniya. The TNA — comprising the Federal Party (FP), the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation, the All-Ceylon Tamil Congress and a wing of the Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front — is contesting the elections on the plank that the LTTE is the sole representative of the "Tamil-speaking people."

Addressing the rally, the head of the LTTE's Vavuniya political division, S. Ezhilan, reportedly said: "Other political parties are telling you that they will give you many benefits if you vote for them. We, the Tigers, give our lives for the good of our people."

The LTTE publicly taking part in election campaigns marks a difference from the past when it stayed away from any direct role in the country's election process, and gave broad indications as to whom the Tamils in the northern and eastern districts should support.

For the LTTE, the coming polls are primarily seen as a message to the international community on the "aspirations of the Tamil-speaking people." As the campaign picks up, it is also likely that the LTTE's proposals for an interim self-governing authority are made a key issue and a mandate for the TNA sought on that basis.

The Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF), whose president, V. Anandasangaree, refused to accept the LTTE as the sole representative of the Tamils, the Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP) and the People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) are the other Tamil parties contesting in the elections in the five north-eastern electoral districts — Jaffna, Vanni, Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Amparai.

The TNA contested the 2001 elections under the TULF's `rising sun' symbol, but after an internal feud over the issue of the LTTE being the sole representative, froze the symbol. The TNA will now contest the polls under the FP's `house' symbol.

The TNA had 15 MPs in the dissolved Parliament. A total of 31 MPs are returned from the five north-eastern electoral districts and the TNA is confident of emerging as a major bloc in the 225-member Parliament to "effectively decide" the formation of the next government.

More than 6,000 candidates are in the fray in the 22 electoral districts that go to the polls on April 2 to elect directly 196 MPs under Sri Lanka's Proportionate Representation system.

An additional 29 MPs would be chosen from the National Lists of the political parties depending on the island-wide poll performance.

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LTTE seeks votes for Tamil National Alliance

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