'Heavy international pressure forced NPC election says GTF'
Saturday, July 20, 2013
In The Island, GTF Spokesperson, Suren Surendiran, discusses issues surrounding the forthcoming Northern Provincial Council (NPC) election.
http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=84029
The UK headquartered Global Tamil Forum (GTF) yesterday declared that the 13th Amendment to the Constitution couldn’t be an interim or a final political solution to the Tamil national question.
GTF spokesperson Suren Surendiran told The Sunday Island that the grouping was very grateful to the government of India, the Tamil Nadu legislature, its Chief Minister as well as the Opposition for their stand that a just long term political solution had to be found.
Surendiran alleged that President Mahinda Rajapaksa would never have had called for Northern Provincial Council polls if not for heavy international pressure by way of two resolutions passed at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) sessions in two consecutive years and a bit of arms twisting by the very powerful neighbor, India. The government should be ashamed that the international community had to intervene to ensure polls for recognized body in accordance with the Constitution, the GTF official said.
Surendiran said that President Rajapaksa had won the war but failed to win peace. He could be also credited for uniting the country but divided people, Surendiran asserted.
Throwing GTF’s weight behind the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), Surendiran asserted that there couldn’t have been a better person than former Supreme Court judge C.V. Wigneswaran to spearhead the northern campaign as the TNA’s chief ministerial candidate under the current political circumstances.
"Wigneswaran has the strength to take up the challenging task of being the first Chief Minister of the Northern Province. With his legal mind, his expertise of the constitutional and legal processes, his ability to articulate issues logically, his command of languages and the leadership qualities combined with the ability to mobilize people, Wigneswaran can provide the required leadership," he said.
Asked whether the Tamil community here as well as those living overseas were solidly behind the TNA’s endeavor, Surendiran said: "Some of those who could play a significant role remain aloof as they believe the entire process is a farce."
He said that it would be important to examine the circumstances under which President Rajapaksa declared elections for the Northern Provincial Council.
"The de-mining exercise has been successful to a large extent, the majority of the displaced had been resettled as defined by the government, most former LTTE cadres rehabilitated and pardoned to be part of the wider community, major Infrastructure development programmes initiated, the highest percentage investment compared to any part of Sri Lanka, the military helps local communities by help build roads, bridges etc…and the list is never ending as far as the government is concerned.
`With such a remarkable record as the President claims, under normal circumstances President Rajapaksa’s party or coalition partners should win an overwhelming majority in the forthcoming polls.
"However the reality will certainly be the opposite, if a true and fair election is conducted,’’ he said.
Surendiran pointed out that those now wanting to do away with the 13th Amendment have never voiced their concerns though Provincial Councils were in existence since 1988.
"Various provincial councils have had elections and have been functioning for many years in largely the Sinhala majority areas and since recently in the east as well, where the Tamils along with the Muslims are the majority. No one ever cared about what powers or which powers have been practically devolved and practiced in those provincial councils until, this decision to hold elections in the Tamil majority part of the island," he said.
"Even the Sinhala Buddhist religious leaders including the most respected prelates of the Asgiriya and Malwatte Chapters, some of the government ministers, coalition partners, powerful siblings of the President, some of the academia in the south, majority of the State media and large portion of the wider Sinhala Nation has raised fears and objections. "
Surendiran said that the government should explain its position as regards the sudden eruption of anti-13 Amendment protests as well as the decision to sustain a massive military presence of over 100,000 military personnel in the Northern Province alone though the war ended in May 2009.
Asked whether the GTF was only concerned about calls to do away with the 13th Amendment and heavy military presence in the Northern Province, he said the Tamil community was gravely concerned over handing over of large portions of state land in the Northern and Eastern Provinces to the Sinhalese, grabbing of private land owned by Tamil speaking people and building up Buddhist religious places though Sinhalese didn’t live there.
The GTF also alleged that the assertion that all parts of the country should be accessible for all people was nothing but a ruse to colonize the Northern and eastern parts of the country.