CA Chandraprema in Sunday Observer 13/10/19
The TNA is facing an existential conundrum at this election. In 2015, they went all out to make the common candidate win and gave all kinds of unrealistic pledges to the Tamil people of the north and east as to what can be expected by making Maithripala Sirisena President. But after he was elected, the Tamil people got nothing of what was promised and instead lost even what they had in the form of all the work that the Rajapaksa government had done or were in the process of doing in the north and east. Understandably, the people of the area are holding the TNA responsible and between the parliamentary election of 2015 and the local government elections of 2018, the TNA’s votes in the Jaffna and Batticaloia districts went down drastically.
This is why the TNA cannot afford to take any risks at this election. They will have to get a written pledge from the candidate they back at this election or not support anyone at all.
By publicly announcing the fact that they want a written pledge from whoever they are going to back at this election, the TNA has made it virtually impossible for anybody to give that pledge. The moment the TNA announces that they have entered into a written agreement with a candidate, that candidate is going to lose votes in the South. The demands made by the TNA are toxic. What they want is a separate state without the name. If there is no written pledge, the best they can do is to ask their constituents to vote for whoever catches their fancy. Whether that will be good enough for the UNP which has been banking heavily on the northern and eastern Tamil vote, is yet to be seen.
ALSO NOTE
Tamil Peoples’ Liberation Tigers back Gotabaya
Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP) or Tamil Peoples’ Liberation Tigers holding a press conference yesterday, declared their support to the Sri Lanka Podujana Permuna (SLPP) candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa in the presidential election. Leader of the TMVP, former Eastern Province Chief Minister Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias Pilleyan, a former LTTE member and four suspects allegedly involved in the murder of Batticaloa District TNA parliamentarian Joseph Pararajasingam have been in remand custody since 2015…… Sunday Observer 13/10/19
JVP hopeful of getting TELO, PLOTE support:
JVP MP Vijitha Herath said yesterday there had been several unofficial discussions between the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) and constituent parties of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) to garner their support to Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who was fielded as the presidential candidate of the National Peoples’ Power (NPP). He said they had discussions with the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation (TELO) and the People’s Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) which are constituent parties of the TNA……………………………………….Daily Mirror 12/10/19
