Why Tamil speaking people should vote for the Common
Opposition Candidate Mr.M.Srisena?
1) The main political goals of the present Tamil leadership
(i.e.TNA) are broadly to seek maximum possible devolution within a united Sri
Lanka, using soft power that includes lobbying, discussions and persuasion,
legal challenges both within and outside Sri Lanka, etc; and to bring about
relief to those seriously affected by the War. To achieve these goals needs
allies most importantly within the South of the country and our Parliament. By
standing with the opposition in this election, it is possible to gain new
allies who may offer conditional support to the Tamils in their struggle.
2) The proposals of the opposition to promote a more
democratic parliament, an independent judiciary and a less corrupt
administration are not without considerable significance to Tamils. Consider
the judiciary. Key decisions of the Judiciary in the past have gone against the
aspirations of the Tamils. The verdicts to separate the North and East under
provincial administration, and to concentrate regional land management powers
in the Colombo administration are two important issues in this context. The Judiciary’s
failure to lend a hand to defend the Tamils against needless mass killings
especially in the final phase of the war, disappearances, illegal and
undocumented imprisonment, torture , rape and killing of detainees etc have
seriously hurt the Tamils. It is reasonable to expect a fully independent
judiciary not to succumb to political and chauvinist pressures.
3) Consider corruption. Large scale state sector corruption
in the nation affects all people including ordinary people in the North and
East. Nearly a third of all funds allocated for projects to the North are being
lost due to wastage and/or corruption. In the recent period, losses due to
corruption in the North amount to billions of rupees that represent several
times the annual development budget of the Northern Provincial Council. Even
with the limited self governance and greatly restricted political freedom,
Jaffna would receive greater economic benefits from comparable funds allocated
under a clean administration in Colombo.
4) The Tamil voters are obliged to examine the suitability
of each candidate before deciding to vote or abstain. Several issues reflect
adversely on the incumbent. There was broad consensus especially among the
majority Sinhala community that the LTTE should be militarily crushed. The
Government could have won the war with minimal civilian casualties. The
civilian President as the Supreme Commander of the armed force was required to
ensure unarmed civilians are protected from collateral damage as much as
possible. He did not. Where collateral civilian deaths should have been limited
to the thousands, actual loss of life ended up in tens of thousands due to the
President’s personal failure.
5) The post war treatment of the captured combatants and
non-armed civilian employees of the LTTE who surrendered to the Army after the
end of the war, including murder and rape, detention beyond reasonable periods,
refusal to release information on persons detained, and whether named persons
were alive or dead , are all serious crimes; these were committed not to ensure
security of the state but as dictated by a political agenda, ultimately focused
on personal and family gains, and nothing less. The incumbent president should
have given instructions to protect the dignity and rights of individuals who
were under his sanctuary. He did not. Considering all the above, the Tamils are
obliged to vote him out by supporting the main opposition candidate. They
cannot abstain.
6) It is important to recognise that a majority of Muslim
leaders were with the Government in recent years, some holding cabinet
positions, and others receiving various perks. Yet ordinary Muslim people
including women and children were subjected to abuse in various forms, physical
threats and violence, and forced to live in fear and in indignity for short
periods repeatedly. Probably there were some powerful people within the
Government who condoned anti-Muslim behaviour. The Muslims should take whatever
steps required to eliminate this threat from becoming permanent. As one of the
necessary steps, they have to vote out the incumbent President.
7) In order to pursue a single country political solution
and permanent reconciliation with the majority using soft power approaches, the
Tamil speaking people need to gain the appreciation and support of leaders
within the majority community. The incumbent President did have a period of
over five years to negotiate with the minorities, work out a settlement and
mobilise the support of the Sinhala people for such a settlement. Instead, his
Government pursued largely a racist agenda, ignoring the 13th Amendment,
recommendations of the LLRC, the Tissa Vitharane Majority Report, and the
stated wishes of the regional and international communities. However, many of
his political associates focused on making gains perpetuating and exploiting
the racial divisions in the country. The Common Opposition has one or two
leaders, though they too fought the LTTE with heavy weapons and caused much
civilian death and damage, yet, they had at some times in their past, e.g. in
1994 or 2002, argued forcefully and converted a majority of the Sinhala people
to accommodate minority grievances. There is little evidence that the present
incumbent will ever mobilise the majority community for genuine national
reconciliation and to satisfy the minorities.
8) The incumbent had an opportunity to work towards genuine
reconciliation by accommodating at least some of the requests of the Chief
Minister of the Northern Provincial Council (NPC). He promised some positive
measures but none were implemented. Apparently these measures were blocked by
the supporters of the President’s in the North who were totally rejected by the
people at the last provincial elections. The present administration in Colombo
is an obstacle to higher level functioning of the NPC. Th e present impasse
inhibits large private capital inflow into the North from other parts of Sri
Lanka, foreign countries and the Sri Lankan Diaspora. The majority of the
population in the North remain economically disadvantaged.
9) The Tamil speaking minorities should recognise that
working towards a devolution based solution within a united Sri Lanka is not
best served by isolating and focusing on this single race based issue. The
Tamil leadership should actively engage in all crucial national issues that are
common to all our people. The current Presidential election is one such
challenge. The Rajapakse administration can indeed claim credit on several
fronts. Among these are their refusal to accept traditional IMF sponsored austerity
measures, a minimum commitment to welfare measures, active promotion of foreign
employment and infrastructure development with foreign assistance Yet overall,
corruption and systemic exploitation of race for political gains, ignoring the
huge economic losses from continuing racial conflicts, have wiped out any net
flow of benefits to ordinary people. Unprecedented corruption has damaged the
economic foundation for stabilising prices and pushed up the cost of living
beyond endurance levels. The prospects of sharp rises in per capita incomes
would be held back by the punitive national debt linked in part to corruption.
The minority communities should look beyond the immediate problems of their
communities, and consider national issues as well. It will be very clear that
they should vote out the incumbent by casting their ballot for the Common
Opposition Candidate.
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