Call for united vote to TNA in Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Sunday, 22 February 2004, 00:05 GMT]
The Federation of People’s Organizations (FPO) in Vavuniya, in a statement last week, has asked the public to vote for the policies of the Tamil National Alliance in order to gain maximum parliamentary representation for the Tamil people, to show the international community that the people are behind the TNA’s policies, and ultimately to find a lasting solution to the Tamil national question.

The FPO asked the voters not to support candidates from other parties and not to nominate candidates other than those from the TNA for the elections.

The full text of the FPO statement to the public follows:

“You are aware that general elections will be held on April 2. Normally, the elections should come only every five years. The forces in the South opposed to the peace process have brought about a snap election within a short period. We are facing the fourth election in the past 5 years.

“During the last general elections, at a time when 20 years of war had inflicted on the Tamil people great hardships—loss of thousands of lives, homes and property--and made many people destitute refugees, the wishes of the people led to the formation of the Tamil national Alliance, and the people overwhelmingly elected the alliance. The battlefield successes of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the election of the TNA forced the government in power in Sri Lanka to sue for peace [with the LTTE].

“When the peace talks held with the facilitation of the international community was progressing toward a permanent solution to the Tamil national question with the handing over of the Interim Self Governing Authority proposals by the LTTE, the chauvinist forces in the South could not stomach it, and today the country is being severely tested by the actions of these forces.

“The Tamil speaking people are at a decisive stage. The TNA is planning to contest elections in the whole of Tamil speaking areas. At such a decisive stage, we are saddened by the efforts by some to nominate members from other parties and paramilitary groups that had cooperated with the Sri Lanka Army during the long war and split the community’s votes.

“Everyone with a consciousness of the Tamil people’s struggle for freedom should avoid nominating members for these parties or voting for them. The strength of the Tamil people behind the struggle for freedom could be shown to the government of Sri Lanka and the international community by voting for the TNA with determination, without splitting the votes, thus obtaining the maximum parliamentary representation. Such an action would contribute to the permanent solution to the Tamil national question and peace.”