The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) remains undecided on extending support to either of the two main presidential candidates.
TNA Parliamentary Group leader R. Sampanthan told the Sunday Times, “We are monitoring the situation. We are yet to take a decision on the matter”.
He said consultations with other political parties too were in progress.
However, the Sunday Times learns that some members of the TNA are pushing for a common Tamil candidate.
These members have pointed out that supporting President Mahinda Rajapaksa or General (retd.) Sarath Fonseka will not be useful for the Tamils. They claim there is a possibility of some of the voters boycotting elections.
They also say that a Tamil candidate could secure the votes of the displaced persons and get the Tamil voters to come out and vote.
However, PLOTE leader Dharmalingam Sidharthan told the Sunday Times his party had decided to support President Rajapaksa at the upcoming Presidential election.
He said the decision was taken as the party was satisfied with the manner in which the Government was handling the IDP issue and development activities.
Meanwhile, the SLFP will open a new party office in Jaffna next Friday. Minister Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan, a vice president of the SLFP, will be in charge of the Jaffna district campaign. This will be in addition to Minister Douglas Devananda who is already working for the UPFA in the Jaffna district. |
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