Sri Lanka army donates wheelchairs to Jaffna disabled

[TamilNet, Friday, 27 February 2004, 11:40 GMT]
The Sri Lanka army’s 52-4 Brigade in Pt. Pedro Friday donated eleven wheelchairs to disabled persons in Jaffna. The SLA held a special function at the Vallipuram Temple near Pt. Pedro on Friday morning to mark the occasion. Addressing the function after donating the wheelchairs, Commander of the SLA’s 52-4 Brigade, Col. K. S Ratnayaka, said it was a goodwill gesture by the Sri Lankan military to foster better relations with the Tamil people.


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Tigers will campaign for TNA- Elilan

[TamilNet, Friday, 27 February 2004, 00:02 GMT]
"The Liberation Tigers decided today to campaign for the victory of the Tamil National Alliance. We felt that the 2004 election is a unique opportunity for the Tamil speaking people to express their political aspirations," said Mr. S. Elilan, the head of LTTE's political divison for Vavuniya, addressing the first campaign meeting of the TNA in the northern border town Thursday.
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International community should protect Tamils right to vote - TNA

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 25 February 2004, 15:36 GMT]
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) will appeal to the international community to exert pressure on the Sri Lankan government to ensure voters in the Liberation Tigers controlled areas in the northeast province to exercise their franchise in the forthcoming general election without any interruption, TNA's leader and former parliamentarian Mr. R.Sampanthan said in a meeting of TNA candidates in Trincomalee, sources said. Mr.Tilak, LTTE Trincomalee district political head also participated in the meeting.
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TNA, LTTE begin deliberations on manifesto

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 25 February 2004, 12:00 GMT]
Party leaders of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and the Liberation Tigers began deliberations on drafting the election manifesto of the TNA in Kilinochchi Tuesday. The meeting was adjourned in the afternoon for lunch. LTTE and TNA leaders said that the deliberation would continue later in the day and on Thursday.


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Protest against attack by Indian poachers

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 24 February 2004, 16:58 GMT]
Fishermen of Vadamaradchchi division in Jaffna district Tuesday did not go fishing in protest to the attack by a group of Indian poachers on local fishermen. Vadamaradchchi north fisheries federation sources said that it is organizing a mass protest against the attack on local fishermen by Indian poachers Wednesday..


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171 candidates vie for six Vanni seats

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 24 February 2004, 11:28 GMT]
Ten different registered parties and nine independent groups are presenting 171 candidates for the forthcoming elections in the Vanni district for six seats. In the last elections held in 2001, 207 candidates from 23 groups competed in Vanni, according to Vanni election offiicials.
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"Elections will strengthen LTTE's position" - Sampanthan

[TamilNet, Monday, 23 February 2004, 21:55 GMT]
"We openly state that the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) is contesting the forthcoming general election on behalf of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)," said Tamil National Alliance lead candidate in Trincomalee district, Mr.R.Sampanthan, Monday evening when he addressed the first election seminar held at Hindu Cultural hall in the east port town, sources in Trincomalee said.


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Pt.Pedro fisherman attacked by Indian poachers, missing

[TamilNet, Monday, 23 February 2004, 18:32 GMT]
Kanagaretnam Ratnam Sivanandam (31), one of the three Jaffna fishermen who were alleged to have been attacked by a group of Indian poachers with swords in the northern sea Monday morning is reported to be missing. Two other fishermen, Sellathurai Selvarajah (41) and his son Selvarasa Selvamohan (17), have been admitted to the Point Pedro base hospital, fisheries sources said.


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Ten groups compete in elections for Vanni district

[TamilNet, Monday, 23 February 2004, 10:26 GMT]
Vavuniya Government Agent (GA) and Vavuniya election officer, K.Ganesh, accepted nominations papers from three independent groups and seven different political parties for the Vanni electoral district comprising Vavuniya, Mannar and Mullaitivu districts, sources in Vavuniya said.
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TNA submits nomination lists for NE electoral districts

[TamilNet, Monday, 23 February 2004, 08:42 GMT]
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Monday noon submitted its nominations for the five electoral districts, Jaffna, Vanni, Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Amparai, in the Tamil dominated northeast province. TNA fielded its candidates in the name of the Ilankai Thamil Arasu Katchchi (ITAK) and its election symbol "HOUSE". The ITAK last contested in the 1970 elections under the leadership of late Tamil leader Mr.S.J.V.Chelvanayakam ("Thanthai Chelva"), political sources said.
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Sri Lanka Elections: News Brief

[TamilNet, Sunday, 22 February 2004, 12:06 GMT]
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) plans to submit nomination papers in the districts of NorthEast at the same time Monday noon, Sri Lanka Muslim Congress is to compete in Jaffna alone, Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission is exploring ways to help people in LTTE controlled areas to exercise their right to vote, EPDP and EPRLF (Varather faction) to contest jointly in Jaffna, and in Nuwara Eliya district Hill country Tamils to fight the elections in four fronts, popular Jaffna dailies Uthayan and Veerakesari reported in their Sunday Edition.
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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.
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Maheswaran nominated UNP candidate in Colombo

[TamilNet, Saturday, 21 February 2004, 14:06 GMT]
Mr. Thiyagarajah Maheswaran, former minister for Hindu Affairs and ex MP for Jaffna, will contest in Colombo as a candidate of the United National Party, sources said. UNP officials said that the ex minister was expected to sign nomination papers for the electoral district of Colombo Saturday evening. Mr. Maheswaran announced last week that he was not contesting the April elections to Sri Lanka’s Parliament in Jaffna and was retiring from politics.
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Sampanthan warns of forces against TNA

[TamilNet, Friday, 20 February 2004, 14:01 GMT]
"Some powerful political forces are working hard to sabotage the attempt of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) to win more parliamentary seats in the northeast province. Tamils should be vigilant, identify these elements and foil their actions," said TNA ex-parliamentary group leader Mr.R.Sampanthan speaking at a meeting held Thursday night in Trincomalee, which was attended by Trincomalee district political head of the Liberation Tigers Mr.S.Thilak.


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Tribalist irrationality permeates Sinhala political rhetoric - Uyangoda

[TamilNet, Friday, 20 February 2004, 03:31 GMT]
Unless extremely prudently handled, developments surrounding the forthcoming election may set in a new political process in which "Sri Lanka's future as a nation-state unit might be at a great risk" warns Professor Uyangoda, in a sobering analysis of the political campaign which he says is "likely to be full of rhetoric of the retrograde kind," in an opinion column that appears in the Friday edition of the Daily Mirror.


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TNA candidates for Trincomalee district announced

[TamilNet, Thursday, 19 February 2004, 18:32 GMT]
Tamil National Alliance ex-parliamentary group leader Mr.R.Sampanthan is to lead the TNA list of candidates in the Trincomalee district at the forthcoming general election. This was announced at a meeting of local leaders of four Tamil political parties, constituents of the TNA held Thursday night in Trincomalee town with the participation of the Trincomalee district political head of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam Mr.S.Thilak.


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Last ditch attempt to get 'rising sun' for TNA fails

[TamilNet, Thursday, 19 February 2004, 08:18 GMT]
A last ditch attempt by the Tamil United Liberation Front to secure the rising sun symbol for the Tamil National Alliance failed when the Court of Appeal Thursday directed the party's secretary general and senior vice president to make written submissions regarding their appeal to set aside the interim injunction of the Colombo district court preventing them from convening party meetings without the written permission of Mr. V. Ananandasangaree, president of the TULF on 24 February, the last day of nominations for Sri Lanka's general elections in April.
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Legal wrangle forces TNA to choose "HOUSE" as election symbol

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 18 February 2004, 15:30 GMT]
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has made alternate arrangements to hand over nomination papers on the Federal Party ticket with election symbol "HOUSE" if the court order against the Secretary General and Senior Vice President of the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) in a law suit filed by the party president Mr.V. Anandasangaree continued beyond Thursday, TNA sources said.


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Chandrasekaran meets Thamilchelvan in Kilinochchi

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 18 February 2004, 12:53 GMT]
Upcountry People's Front (UPF) leader and Minister in the United National Front (UNF) government, Mr.P.Chandrasekaran, met with Head of LTTE's Political Wing, S.P.Thamilchelvan, in Kilinochchi Wednesday morning and had discussions on ways UPF can forge a common agenda with the NorthEast Tamil parties at the forthcoming elections, sources in Kilinochchi said.


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TNA leaders meet to finalize election strategy

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 17 February 2004, 20:22 GMT]
The central working committee of the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) and the nomination board of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) are planning to meet Wednesday (February 18) morning at the headquarters of the TULF in Colombo, party sources said.


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