While condemning the ongoing crackdown on the protestors, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has assured support for the all-party government (APC) proposed by the president.
“We too, have been invited by president Ranil Wickremesinghe to a meeting on the formation of an all-party government. We will not only attend that meeting, but will also support the all-party government,” said TNA leader R. Sampanthan.
Commenting to the media on the president’s written invitation to form an APC, Sampanthan stressed on the need for such a regime in order to resolve the national issue of the Tamil people.
On 01 August, TNA spokesman M.A. Sumanthiran told journalists in Colombo that his party would join with others against the government’s repression of the protestors.
Strongly criticizing Wickremesinghe over the attacks, he warned that the belief to rule through repression will never succeed.
In Vavuniya, Sumanthiran spoke to newspapers and commended the president’s proposal to form an APC. He said however, it will be pointless if APC is formed under the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP).
Meanwhile, TNA MP for the Vanni Sivagnanam Sritharan has expressed readiness for a dialogue on the Tamils’ issue, despite whoever the president is.
“We had talks with president Mahinda Rajapaksa on 19 occasions. We talked to Gotabaya Rajapaksa once. Similarly, we are ready to speak with president Ranil Wickremesinghe,” he said.
Ranil divided LTTE
As the person who supported the genocide of Tamils and conspired a rift in our freedom struggle, Wickremesinghe knows that answers should be given to Tamils’ issue if the economic crisis is to be resolved, Sritharan said.
Tamil nationalists accuse the present president of dividing the LTTE by getting its Eastern leader Karuna Amman to fight alongside the military while holding peace talks.
Last week, Sampanthan cast doubts over the ability of the incumbent president and the prime minister to answer the Tamils’ issue after their appointments had come with the support of the Rajapaksas, who had not fulfilled a single promise given to them.
Rajapaksas had failed even to grant what they had promised to the Sinhalese during the elections, Sampanthan has added.
He also questioned if the SLPP would support a realization of a political solution to the decades-long issue of his people.
“We are monitoring what president Wickremesinghe and prime minister Gunawardena do. If they work for the betterment of the country and the people, we will support them,” he said.
