Wigneswarn finds fault with Sumanthiran

Presidential Election:

By Shamindra Ferdinando

Thamil Makkal Thesiya Kuttani (TMTK) leader C. V. Wigneswaran, MP, yesterday (18), said they had fielded Pakkiyaselvam Ariyanethiran as an independent candidate at the forthcoming Presidential Election to draw attention of Sri Lankans, and the international community, to the problems faced by the Tamils.

Wigneswaran, a former Supreme Court judge, emphasised that a substantial number of votes for former Batticaloa District MP Ariyanethiran would help further the Tamil cause. He said so when The Island asked him why the Tamil political parties, represented in Parliament, had failed to reach a consensus on a Tamil candidate.

Ariyanethiran, widely believed to be close to the now-defunct LTTE Vanni leadership, represented the Parliament from 2004 to 2015. During the conflict Ariyanethiran was among the ITAK-led Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentary group that met LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran in Kilinochchi.

Those who were instrumental in fielding Ariyanethiran said that in spite of the refusal of the Illankai Thamil Arasu Kadchi (ITAK) to support Ariyanethiran’s candidature, the northern and eastern Tamil voters would favourably consider their efforts to highlight the post-war difficulties experienced by the Tamil speaking community.

Ten MPs represent ITAK in the current parliament.

Former Northern Province Chief Minister Vigneswaran found fault with ITAK Jaffna District MP M. A. Sumanthiran, PC, for undermining Ariyanethiran’s candidature.

“Sumanthiran’s opposition is irrelevant. We are going ahead with a planned campaign in the once merged North-East Province,” MP Wigneswarn said, declaring the first meeting was scheduled to be held in Mullaitivu on Sunday (18).

The ninth presidential election is scheduled to be held on Sept. 21. With the increase of over 1 mn new voters, the Election Commission placed the total number of eligible votes at 17,140,354.

When The Island pointed out that a section of the Tamil community vigorously campaigned for the boycotting of presidential election as a means of highlighting their grievances, particularly accountability issues, MP Wigneswaran said that Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam’s Ahila Ilankai Thamil Congress (AITC) had pushed for a poll boycott with a view to drawing both local and global attention to the national issue. However, as Ariyanethiran had expressed his desire to contest, it would be the responsibility of all to back him.

TMTK and AITC parliamentary representation consists of one (C.V. Wigneswaran), and two MPs (Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam and Selvarajah Kajendran), respectively. The Eelam People’s Democratic Party (02) and Thamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (01) represent the current parliament; both parties have declared their support for President Wickremesinghe.

MP Wigneswaran said that a sizable vote for Ariyanethiran would send a strong message.

ITAK MP Sumanthiran said the party had initiated punitive disciplinary measures against Ariyanethiran. “We called for an explanation from him and prohibited him from attending any party activity,” MP Sumanthiran told The Island when he was asked to comment on the controversy.

Asked whether the ITAK would back a candidate from the South, MP Sumanthiran said that they would first peruse the manifestos of candidates Sajith Premadasa, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, Ranil Wickremesinghe and Namal Rajapaksha fielded by major political parties Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), Jathika Jana Balawegaya (JJB) and Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), respectively. President Wickremesinghe, largely backed by a large section of the SLPP parliamentary group, contests as an independent candidate.

“We haven’t received their manifestos yet,” MP Sumanthiran said, asserting that fielding a Tamil candidate wouldn’t benefit the community, at all. It would be as disadvantageous as boycotting the presidential poll, the Jaffna District MP opined. He questioned the wisdom of boycotting the upcoming presidential election or fielding a candidate of their own just to spite candidates from the South.

MP Sumanthiran told a recent meeting in Jaffna chaired by President Wickremesinghe the Tamil people regretted their decision to boycott the 2005 presidential election.

According to the Election Commission, 593,187 people living in the Jaffna electoral district are eligible to vote. In addition, there are 306,081 eligible voters in Vanni consisting of administrative districts of Mannar, Mullaitivu and Vavuniya, 449,686 voters in the Batticaloa district, 555,432 voters in the Digamadulla district and 315,925 in the Trincomalee district.

After the conclusion of the war against the LTTE in May 2009, the ITAK backed the then General Sarath Fonsekea at the 2010 presidential poll, Maithripala Sirisena in 2015 and Sajith Premadasa in 2019. At the 2005 presidential election in the run-up to Eelam War IV, the TNA at the behest of the LTTE boycotted the election.

Ex-TNA MP M. K. Shivajilingham contested the presidential poll twice in 2010 and 2019. He polled less than one percent of the total number of valid votes.

The SJB, the JJB and independent candidate Wickremesinghe have sought the backing of the TNA. Sources pointed out that TNA representation in Parliament deteriorated over the years with the group being reduced to 10 members.

MP Wigneswaran claimed that both Mawai Senathirajah and S. Sritharan backed Ariyanethiran’s candidature.