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Summary
The political proxy of Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers has thrown its weight behind the presidential bid of the general who crushed its own rebels last May, in order to try to prevent the re-election of Mahinda Rajapaksa, the incumbent president.The Tamil National Alliance (TNA), a group of ethnic Tamil parties that took orders from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), made the announcement at a news conference held on Wednesday.The TNA's parliamentary group leader, R. Sampanthan, said Rajapaksa's record on human rights and law and order made defeating him a priority, and that a joint block of support behind General Sarath Fonseka's presidential bid was the only way to thwart Rajapaksa's re-election.Sampanthan told reporters that some in the TNA had reservations about supporting Fonseka, who won few fans among Tamils during the war. The majority of the members took the view that if we cannot agree to granting a mandate for a extended term to President Mahinda Rajapaksa then we have to inevitably and necessarily support the joint opposition candidate who is the best person to ensure that President Mahinda Rajapaksa does not receive a further term. And therefore based upon that reasoning, our parliamentary group has unanimously taken the view that we will support General Sarath Fonseka at the forthcoming presidential election, Sampanthan said. The TNA's support for Fonseka is a certainly reversal. During the war, Fonseka, a career military officer and member of the Sinhalese ethnic majority, was often painted by pro-rebel groups as emblematic of the Sinhalese chauvinism that sparked the Tamil discontent which fuelled the LTTE's fight. In regard to a political solution it is our assessment that General Sarath Fonseka understands the need for an acceptable, durable political solution to bring about peace in this country between the different peoples who inhabit this country, Sampanthan said explaining the reasons for support Fonseka. We have discussed with President Mahinda Rajapaksa the question of a political solution to the national question. And we have been most disappointed with his answers and we have been most disappointed with the manner in which the issue has been dealt with in the past four years, Sampanthan added. As army commander, Fonseka conducted an uncompromising war to defeat the LTTE, kill its leaders and end its quarter-century civil war for a separate Tamil state.But since he fell out with the president over a post-war promotion to what he deemed a job with no powers, he has softened his uncompromising image and become the candidate for a motley coalition of parties whose only aim is to beat Rajapaksa. Over the weekend, Fonseka toured the formerly rebel-held Jaffna Peninsula, and pledged to create a conducive business environment, relax security measures and return land seized by the military to create high-security zones.As army chief and previously commander in charge of Jaffna, Fonseka had vigourously supported tight security measures to stop the LTTE. In 2006, an LTTE suicide bomber nearly killed him inside army headquarters.Analysts say Tamils, almost 12 percent of the population, are an important bloc of votes in the January 26 presidential election. Sri Lanka's minority votes total about 25 percent, and also include Muslims and so-called Estate Tamils, the descendants of Indian-born Tamils brought to work on tea plantations. The TNA, on orders from the Tigers, boycotted the 2005 polls that brought Rajapaksa to power and analysts said that took away what would have been a decisive margin for his opponents. Out of a 225-member parliament, the TNA has 22 seats.
