News
Senathirajah complains of upstart from East plotting to oust TNA leader
By Dinasena Ratugamage
A politician from the East was trying to become the leader of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) by creating issues among its MPs, former TNA MP, Mavai Senathirajah told the media on Wednesday.
Addressing the media in Jaffna, Senathirajah said that he had informed the TNAMPs of the situation and had held discussions with several party seniors on the matter.
“This politician has been telling MPs that the current leader of the TNA, R. Sampanthan is too old and on good terms with the government. The MP from the East has said that Sampanthan’s ideas do not suit the 21st Century and that had stood in the way of the Tamil people winning their rights, this upstart has been telling MPs from the North.”
The MP had also promised the re-merger of the North and the East and a separate administrative entity for the Tamil people. He has already met a number of politicians and academics in Jaffna, trying to convince them that he should be made the TNA leader, Senathirajah said.
“This man recently told the media that the government would not give us anything unless the Tamil people cranked up pressure. Sampanthan has kept quiet and the government feels that it can keep on ignoring the TNA,” the former MP said.
Senathirajah said that TNA leader R. Sampanthan was a mature leader and has a wide international network. No other Tamil leader in recent times has had Sampanthan’s stature and it would be counterproductive to change TNA leadership now, he said. “If anything, such a move would destabilise the party. This is not a time for a change in leadership. I feel that things are at a critical juncture and that we should be very careful when dealing with the government,” he said.
Accepting deposits from political parties and independent groups who intend to contest the forthcoming Local Authorities Election ended at 12noon today [19].
Deposits were accepted at respective District Secretariats from 3rd March 2025.
The Elections Commission has announced that the deadline for the accepting of nominations for the LA poll is set to conclude at 12:00 noon tomorrow (20).
It has been reported that the former Inspector General of Police (IGP) Deshabandu Tennakoon has appeared before the Matara Magistrate’s Court this morning (19),
The former IGP had been evading arrest after the Matara Magistrate’s court had ordered his arrest regarding a shooting incident that took place in front of the W15 Hotel Pelena, Weligama, Matara, in 2023.
The government has begun recovering funds obtained by former Lands and Land Development, Environment and Wildlife Resources Minister SM Chandrasena for the Janatha Lanka Chilli Marketing Limited (JLCML), which he headed, Parliament was informed yesterday.
Agriculture, Livestock, Land, and Irrigation Minister Namal Karunaratne said that as the Chairman of JLCML, Chandrasena had obtained a loan of Rs. 1,275,000 from the Mihintale Govijana Seva Bank in 2001.
The principal of the loan had not been repaid until the end of last year. “After we came to power, we demanded that the loan be settled. Then, we discovered that the interest on the loan had not been paid for the past 24 years, and attempts had been made to have the loan written off. We stopped that and are now in the process of recovering the interest of Rs. 1,975,233 on the loan,” Karunaratne said.
Karunaratne added that JLCML was registered as a company with the Registrar of Companies on March 21, 2001. As Chairman of the company, Chandrasena requested a loan of Rs. 10 million on April 19, 2001, for the purpose of purchasing chillies from farmers in 12 farmer colonies in the Mihintale Agrarian Service area.
The request was approved by the Mihintale Agrarian Service Committee on the same day and referred to the Anuradhapura District Agrarian Operations Committee, which approved it on April 23, 2001. However, the Agriculture Development Commissioner General recommended that a loan of Rs. 1.2 million would suffice for this purpose. JLCML took the loan and failed to repay it until the end of last year. When the matter was raised, the principal was paid, and we are now in the process of recovering the interest that was not paid for the past 24 years,” Karunaratne added.
By Saman Indrajith
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