TNA delegation meets UK envoy

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 24 August 2005, 15:48 GMT]
A Tamil National Alliance parliamentary delegation Wednesday morning met with Mr. Stephen Evans, British High Commissioner in Colombo and exchanged views on the proposed talks between the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) regarding the implementation of the ceasefire agreement to its word, current position of the P-TOMS following the Supreme Court's interim order, the urgency of establishing the Interim Self Governing Authority (ISGA) and the future political scenario in the south which is expected to be followed with the order of the Supreme Court on the presidential election date controversy on Friday, TNA sources said.
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UN Sub-Commission urged to promote and protect Human Rights in Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Saturday, 06 August 2005, 10:42 GMT]
There has been no proper investigation or punishment of culprits in the many cases of murders of human rights defenders and journalists in Sri Lanka, noted Ms. Deirdre McConnell in an oral intervention on the agenda item 3, "Administration of Justice, Rule of Law And Democracy," at the 57th session of UN Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human rights on Tuesday. "There has been no progress on the case of the assassination of Mr Kumar Ponnambalam on 5th January 2000, despite ample evidence regarding the alleged perpetrators of the crime," she said citing a number of instances that evidenced "pattern of bias" in the Sri Lankan judicial system.
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TNA seeks govt. stand on Trinco Buddha statue issue

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 20 July 2005, 06:06 GMT]
Mr.R.Sampanthan, Tamil National Alliance ( TNA ) parliamentary group leader and Trincomalee district parliamentarian made a statement in parliament Wednesday morning seeking the Government to reveal its stand on the Trincomalee Buddha statue issue following the withdrawal of the case filed by the Attorney General in the Trincomalee District Court for the removal of the statue.
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TNA, UNP discuss aid deal

[TamilNet, Sunday, 19 June 2005, 17:15 GMT]
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Sunday appealed to the main opposition United National Party (UNP) to openly declare its full support to the joint mechanism proposal and to insist that the Sri Lanka Government sign the agreement before tabling it in the parliament. TNA parliamentary delegation led by its leader Mr.R.Sampanthan met with Opposition Leader Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe, Sunday afternoon and held discussions regarding the current political crisis following the withdrawal of the Sinhala Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) from the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government, TNA sources said.
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NorthEast to shutdown as Colombo fails to withdraw troops from Trinco

[TamilNet, Thursday, 02 June 2005, 19:16 GMT]
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarians, Representatives of Trincomalee District Tamil People's Forum (TDTPF) and other Tamil civil groups, in a meeting held Thursday, decided to hold a one-day general shut down in NorthEast protesting the continued presence of Sri Lanka troops in Trincomalee town despite the assurance given by the Ministerial team that troops will be withdrawn by Thursday, TNA sources said.
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Meetings with US officials cordial, constructive and positive- Gajendrakumar

[TamilNet, Sunday, 29 May 2005, 15:15 GMT]
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Member of Parliament (MP) for Jaffna district, Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam, who concluded Saturday his three week tour of the United States meeting several officials of the United States Government and Think Tanks, said he was pleased with the exchanges, and the meetings were "cordial, constructive and positive."
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Tamil scepticism mounts as aid deal drifts

[TamilNet, Monday, 09 May 2005, 18:20 GMT]
As the proposed joint mechanism for aid distribution urged by international donors between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers remains mired in Sinhala political manoeuvring, deep scepticism has replaced early optimism amongst the Tamils. More ominously, a belief is rapidly taking root that Colombo is playing for time and keeping the Northeast in the economic and social doldrums whilst developing the Sri Lankan military for a new war.
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Editor seeks protection after JVP threats

[TamilNet, Friday, 06 May 2005, 11:07 GMT]
Mr. Lasantha Wickramatunga, Editor of Colombo based newspaper Sunday Leader, informed of imminent risk to his life and sought protection from Inspector General of Police, Mr Chandra Fernado, after threatening statements were made by Mr Wimal Weerawansa, a government-party MP and leader of the parliamentary group of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) during a meeting held at Maharagama by JVP's front, the ultra-nationalist Patriotic National Movement (PNM).
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Peace Process has brought nothing tangible, TNA tells India's Foreign Secretary

[TamilNet, Monday, 02 May 2005, 13:42 GMT]
Tamil National Alliance (TNA)MPs told India's Foreign Secretary Mr. Shyam Saran during a meeting in Colombo that nothing tangible had occurred to further the Peace Process, that even the post Tsunami Mechanism had not reached fruition, and that the situation of drift and stalemate was very harmful, said a press release issued by the TNA in Colombo Monday.
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Sri Lanka President must be answerable for the murder - IFT

[TamilNet, Saturday, 30 April 2005, 07:14 GMT]
International Federation of Tamils (IFT) The purported murder was committed in a High Security Zone which is under the constant and vigilant protection of the Security Forces of the Sri Lankan government. As supreme commander of the armed forces, the Executive President of Sri Lanka, Chandrika Bandaranaiake Kumaratunge should be held responsible and made answerable for the murder. Several Tamil journalists and human rights activists, including Nimal Rajan in Jaffna, G.Nadesan in Batticaloa, Kumar Ponnambalam in Colombo and Chandra Nehru in Batticaloa, have been murdered, all in High Security Zones, during the present President’s tenure.
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‘SLFP campaign a time buying tactic’ – Gajendrakumar

[TamilNet, Monday, 25 April 2005, 13:09 GMT]
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Monday dismissed the ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) campaign to explain the Joint Mechanism for distributing Tsunami aid in the northeast as “a time buying tactic to gloss over the fact that it cannot overcome JVP’s strident opposition”. SLFP General Secretary Mr. Maithripala Sirisena said this weekend his party will hold a series of seminars to educate its membership about the proposed joint mechanism. “These seminars are the way out for the SLFP leadership which wants to show donor countries that it is committed to a joint mechanism with the Tamils while saving its alliance with the JVP”, Mr. Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam TNA MP for Jaffna told TamilNet.
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Rocca assures TNA delegation US support for Joint Mechanism

[TamilNet, Thursday, 21 April 2005, 06:30 GMT]
Ms Christina Rocca, US Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia, Wednesday assured the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentary delegation that the US Government would support the establishment of the Joint Mechanism in disbursing foreign aid to tsunami-hit coastal areas in the northeast province, TNA sources said. TNA delegation that comprised Mr.R.Sampanthan and Mr.Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam met with Ms Christina Rocca Wednesday at the US Embassy in Colombo.
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Big demo, march in Pt. Pedro

[TamilNet, Monday, 28 March 2005, 10:08 GMT]
More than two thousand Internally displaced persons (IDP) and fisherman of Jaffna's Vadamaradchi region marched and demonstrated in Pt. Pedro Monday demanding that the Sri Lanka army (SLA) leave schools, villages and farm lands it has garrisioned and that the SLA should lift restrictions on fishing. The march was organised by the Federation of Vadamaradchi Public Organisations.
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Woman MP leads Jaffna rape protest

[TamilNet, Monday, 14 March 2005, 12:24 GMT]
Ms Pathmini Sithamparanathan, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) sole woman parliamentarian in the Jaffna district led protest march held in Jaffna town Monday condemning the attempt to rape a sixty three year old Tamil woman of Neerveli on Thursday by a soldier of the Sri Lanka Army on Thursday when she was alone in her home. The protest march began Monday morning from Nallur Kandasamy Temple area and concluded in front of the Jaffna office of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), sources said.
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TNA meets with German Minister

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 February 2005, 17:34 GMT]
A delegation of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) compring TNA Parliamentary Group Leader, Mr. R.Sampathan, and parliamentarians Mr. Joseph Pararajasingham, Mr. Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam, and Mrs. Padmini Sithambaranathan, met with German Economic Cooperation and Development Minister Ms. Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul at the German Embassy in Colombo, Monday, political sources in Colombo said.
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Violence endangering CFA stability, TNA tells Akashi

[TamilNet, Friday, 11 February 2005, 15:10 GMT]
"The violence unleashed against senior LTTE cadres and others on Monday the 7th in government controlled territory situated between two Army Camps, and in an area which has a strong armed forces presence, has raised grave questions in regard to the continued stability of the ceasefire," the Tamil National Alliance delegation led by its parliamentary group leader Mr Sampanthan told Mr Yasushi Akashi, the special envoy of the Japanese Government, when they met him Friday, a press release issued by the TNA in Colombo said.
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A question of land

[TamilNet, Monday, 07 February 2005, 03:04 GMT]
“We appealed to the President, we appealed to the Special Task Force, we wrote to the Government Agent and we wrote to several ministers in the government. We pleaded with all of them to find us suitable land to restart our lives. We explained to them why we wanted to leave the camp for Tsunami refugees in Akkaraipattu. But no one responded. That’s why we packed our belongings and came here when we heard of this opportunity”, Ms. Pathmanathan Seetha, told TamilNet, explaining her decision to move to Kavudaapuddi, a mound overlooking the lagoon behind her Tsunami destroyed village on Sri Lanka’s remote southeast coast.
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Radical decentralization of relief work needed, TNA tells Dutch FM

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 February 2005, 12:49 GMT]
A delegation of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) told the Foreign Minister of the Netherlands, Mr. Bernard Bot, when they met him Thursday that Colombo's attempt to centralize the rehabilitation work has not worked as experience from the last six six weeks clearly show that hardly any progress has been made in the restoration of the lives of the affected people. "The continuance of the present method of functioning could only result in further deterioration, and that it was imperative that the government urgently set up the required mechanism in the Northeast." the TNA delegation further told the visiting Netherland FM.


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Canadian PM meets with TNA, TRO delegations

[TamilNet, Monday, 17 January 2005, 14:30 GMT]
Mr. Paul Martin, Prime Minister of Canada, met with delegations of Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and Tamils Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO) Monday at Colombo Hilton Hotel at 2.30 PM. The TNA delegation urged that all international aid, including Canadian aid, to be channeled through International Non-Governmental Organizations till a proper mechanism is set up to deal with the post Tsunami situation in the Northeast. The TNA told the Canadian Prime Minister that there was total centralization of all rehabilitation, resettlement, reconstruction and development activities in Colombo, and that this was totally inconsistent with the wishes expressed by the people of Northeast.
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Centralization, control by armed forces, and equitable aid are incompatible, TNA tells ADB president

[TamilNet, Sunday, 16 January 2005, 06:58 GMT]
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) delegation met the president of Asia Development Bank (ADB), Mr. Tadao Chino, on Sunday and highlighted the context and the developments in the country that are detrimental to the equitable distribution of tsunami relief. The TNA, which has 22 of the 31 parliamentary seats from the northeast, told the president of ADB that the present activities of the government did not represent the democratic will of the people of the northeast and urged the ADB president to ensure that international aid was equitably distributed.
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