Tie aid to ISGA progress, Sampanthan tells Akashi

[TamilNet, Sunday, 16 May 2004, 12:15 GMT]
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentary group leader Mr.R.Sampanthan Sunday told the Japanese special peace envoy Mr.Yasushi Akashi that flow of foreign aid to Sri Lanka should depend on the progress made in establishing the Internal Self Governing Authority (ISGA) in northeast province. Mr.Sampanthan met with Mr. Akashi in the Japanese embassy in Colombo Sunday morning and held more than an hour long discussion on the current political situation in Sri Lanka, TNA sources said.

Foreign aid to Sri Lanka should be used as a leverage to ensure the peace process forward, said Mr.Sampanthan.

“The Tokyo Declaration has clearly suggested for an innovative administrative structure that will promote reconciliation in the north east province. The Sri Lankan government should take up this point for its serious consideration and should come forward to establish an interim self governing authority (ISGA),” Mr.R.Sampanthan told Mr.Akashi.

Mr.Sampanthan added,” The ISGA is urgently needed to restore normalcy in the lives of hundreds of thousands of internally displaced peoples languishing in refugee camps welfare centres unable to return to their lands. IDPs cannot wait indefinitely till a final political solution for the Tamil national question that has been elusive for the last fifty years because of the intransigent chauvinistic policies of the Sinhala political leadership since the country gained independence. Let the process of finding a final political solution should take its normal course. Meanwhile the ISGA should be established without any further delay without waiting for the final solution. The delay in establishing the ISGA should be considered as denial of human and fundamental rights of the IDPs.”

Mr.Sampanthan pointed out to Mr. Akashi that President of Sri Lanka is now in a better position to create an ISGA legally as she and her government are same after the April 2nd. Poll.

Sri Lanka government can obtain a majority in parliament to pass legislation to establish the ISGA in the northeast province if the TNA supported the move.

"LTTE is the creation of the chauvinistic Sinhala political leadership. The LTTE was born when the Sinhala political leadership unleashed violence against innocent Tamil people, colonized their traditional homeland and unilaterally abrogated agreements and pacts signed by moderate Tamil leadership with Sri Lanka governments in power to meet the legitimate aspirations of Tamils. Even now the Sinhala political leadership has not attained maturity to understand the gravity of the Tamils’ problems and their political aspirations," Mr.Sampanthan briefed Mr. Akashi.

Mr.Sampanthan said the LTTE and TNA are very firm in their stand that the legitimate political aspirations of Muslim people, should be accommodated to their satisfaction in the final political solution at the appropriate time.