“Tamils’ votes indispensable to send Mahinda home” - Sampanthan

[TamilNet, Sunday, 24 January 2010, 03:55 GMT]
“The votes of Tamils are of great value in this presidential election,” Tamil National Alliance (TNA) leader, R. Sampanthan said Saturday in a big election campaign meeting held Saturday around 3:00 p.m in Nalloor Chaddanaathar Koayil area, in which nearly four thousand people from various parts of the peninsula participated, sources in Jaffna said. “After considering various pressing issues including the resettlement of Vanni people in their places we decided to offer our support to Sarath Fonseka,” he said. “He agreed to consider our demands favourably while Mahinda was not prepared to give in on any of them and therefore we decided to support Sarath Fonseka in this presidential election,” Sampanthan further said.

TNA parliamentarians Mavai Senathirajah, Selvam Adaikalanathan, Ms. Pathmini Sithamparanathan, Imam, Thurairatnam, Solomon Cyril and Suresh Premachandran were present at the meeting.

“Our decision to support Sarath Fonseka was taken after several deliberations among us and talks with both Mahinda Rajapakse and Sarath Fonseka,” Sampanthan explained.

“We stand firm in our decision to keep North and East undivided and when Sarath Fonseka is elected president we will certainly hold talks with him to unite North and East,” he said.

“Finding a solution to the ethnic issue will be the next topic in the talks with Sarath Fonseka,” he further said.

“We will seek the help of the international countries including the western world in achieving our goals in the talks with Sarath Fonseka,” Sampanthan said.

“These are the reasons for our decision to support Sarath Fonseka and the Tamils of the country should not fail to cast their votes in this election,” he said.

Though some persons said to be Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) supporters tried to disturb the meeting it went on for three without any problem, the sources said.

Though TNA had campaigned for Sarath Fonseka in Vadamaraadchi and Thenmaraadchi areas earlier, this meeting in Nalloor was the first public meeting held by TNA.

This is also the first big election meeting held in Jaffna peninsula after a period of twenty years.