JMC election feared to be violence-filled - TNA

[TamilNet, Thursday, 25 June 2009, 11:03 GMT]
”The first election related violence of the burning of Tamil dailies in Jaffna Thursday morning heralds similar violence to be faced in the Jaffna Municipal Council (JMC) election,” Mavai Senathirajah and Suresh Premachandran, Jaffna district parliamentarians, said to the media after submitting Tamil National Alliance (TNA) nomination list Thursday to the election officer at Jaffna Secretariat. The forthcoming JMC election is not going to be free of violence but a fake election like the one the government staged for the Eastern Provincial Council, the parliamentarians told the media.

“The burning of the Tamil dailies has taken place when a Sri Lanka minister is present in Jaffna while another had only left the peninsula the previous day; the government must take the responsibility for the violent acts committed against the media,” Suresh Premachandran said.

“TNA strongly condemns the violence against the media; media persons being killed and intimidated continue unchecked in the country; this is an opportunity for the international community to raise its voice against this violence, in unison,” he said.

“We do not believe this election will take place in an atmosphere free of violence; we will study the situation and submit a detailed report to the Commissioner of Election soon,” he added.

Meanwhile, both parliamentarians said that there were no splits in the TNA, on being asked by the reporters.

“The statements of certain weak persons are being bloated by the media to tarnish the image of TNA; the Central Committee will meet soon to address this issue,” Premachandran said.

“Liberation struggles have been never defeated in the history of the world; TNA shoulders the responsibility of bringing people together to struggle for their rights using democratic means and we are to decide on this issue soon in consultation with all concerned parties,” he added.

“TNA has put forward three proposals in the JMC election. The first is to address the humanitarian catastrophe caused by the war; the second is to find a political solution to the Tamil issue without war; the third is to rebuild Jaffna town,” Premachandran said.

“The government, faced with a severe financial crisis, is trying to go with the begging bowl to the international community at the expense of the Tamils; people in the peninsula should come forward to expose this duplicity to the world by strengthening TNA,” he further said.

TNA nomination list consists of a Muslim and four women contestants among the others.