Tamils, Muslims should reject both Mahinda and Sarath - Wickremabahu Karunaratne

[TamilNet, Saturday, 02 January 2010, 04:37 GMT]
Tamils and Muslims should not cast their votes either to Mahinda Rajapakse or Sarath Fonseka in the presidential election so that niether of them poll more than 50% of the votes cast, as a clear message to both, Dr. Wickremabahu Karunaratne, leader of the New Left Front (NLF), contesting the forthcoming presidential election said in a press meet held Friday in Jaffna Bastian Hotel. The defeat of Liberation Tigers has also affected the lives of the poor among the Sinhalese, he said.

The Tamils appear to have no interest in the presidential election. Both Mahinda Rajapakse and Sarath Fonseka have been the primary persons in the destruction of the Tamil lives, their property, and culture, Karunaratne said.

I continue to support Tamils' demand for their right to self-determination, and now that they have an opportunity to express their sentiments, they should not fail to vote in the presidential election, he further said.

Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian Sivajilingam who participated in the press meet said that he chose to contest as TNA had failed to field a candidate.

Sivajilingam, however, extended a public request to all Tamils to vote for Wickremabahu Karunaratne.

Karunaratne appealed to the Tamils, Muslims and the workers to cast their votes wisely.

The downtrodden Sinhalese people have been furhter pushed into a state of no redemption, Karunaratne said during the press meet.