APRC Report on Political Solution by 11 persons in the APRC was presented to the President:MR and was gathering dust...!!!

TNA backs Fonseka

by Zacki Jabbar


The Tamil National Alliance yesterday asked the Tamil people to vote for General (Rtd) Sarath Fonseka at this months Presidential Election, because President Mahinda Rajapaksa has been bluffing them, for the last four years.

Parliamentary Group leader of the TNA, R. Sambandan, flanked by heads of the ITK, ACTC, EPRLF and TELO, said at a news conference in Colombo, that they have lost confidence in Rajapaksa because he has been engaged in a time buying exercise and did nothing to resolve the problems and grievances of the Tamils.

Asked if Fonseka had given them any written gurantees, he replied in the negative.

Sambandan said that before deciding to support Fonseka, they had spoken to Rajapaksa on several occasions, but his replies convinced them that he was not serious about easing the sufferings of the Tamils, nor offering them a political solution.

Questioned, if that meant that they trusted Fonseka to implement his promises, Sambandan said, "Let’s put it this way. General Fonseka understands the ground situation and has acknowledged the need for a political solution to restore normalcy and permanent peace in the country. In contrast, the President has been saying, we will see, for far too long."Citing an example, he said that Fonseka had agreed to dismantle the High Security Zones in the North and speedily resettle the IDPs without jeopardizing national security, but Rajapaksa in contrast was saying nothing.

"The HSZs were established because of artillery fire from the LTTE. There is now no need to retain such zones, because the war is over," he said.

"100,000 Jaffna Tamils have been shut out of their villages because of the HSZs. One of our parliamentarians has not been able to visit his birth place for the last 20 years. In Trincomalee about 1,500 families are unable to return to their homes. When I told President Rajapaksa this, he treated it very lightly," he said.

The APRC, he said, was another farce being enacted by Rajapaksa after excluding the TNA, which has 22 members in Parliament. A report by 11 persons in the APRC was presented to the President and was gathering dust.


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Mahinda has insulted Tamils and Muslims–Sambandan
...by forcefully introducing demographic changes

by Zacki Jabbar


President Mahinda Rajapaksa has insulted the Tamils and Muslims by acting in a manner detrimental to their cultural and linguistic identities, the TNA said yesterday.

Parliamentary Group leader of the TNA, R. Sambandan told a press conference, at the Parliamentary complex, that the demographic changes introduced forcefully in the North and East, had gravely harmed the interests of the Tamils and Muslims, in a manner prejudcial to the peaceful resolution of the National Question.

"Three TNA MP’s were killed by forces aligned to the government, but President Rajapaksa’s attitude was one of callous indifference," he alleged. "The same forces also prevented TNA Batticaloa Parliamentarians from voting on the Appropriation Bills, twice."

Rajapaksa’s record on human rights and humanitarian issues was appaling. Extra judcial killings have been common and the worst affected were the Tamil people. The Constitution has been violated with impunity and enforcement of law and order has collapsed. In addition, there was unprecedented corruption within government ranks. Taking into consideration all these factors, the TNA cannot endorse another term for Rajapaksa, he added.


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