Political solution to fulfill Tamil aspirations

Consensus to be sought from all political parties

by Ananth Palakidnar

President Mahinda Rajapaksa has assured Tamil political party leaders that he would not let down the Tamils and find a settlement to fulfill their political aspirations with the consensus of all political parties.

President Rajapaksa reiterated his commitment in finding a political solution to the national crisis when the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) leader V. Anandasangaree, People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) leader D. Siddharthan and the Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF) (Naba Wing) leader T. Sritharan met him at Temple Trees on Friday evening.

On Tuesday Anandasangaree, Sithrathan and Sritharan, the three political party leaders who formed a coalition visited the Eastern province and travelled extensively in the areas cleared of the LTTE presence by the Security Forces recently.

The trio was the first Tamil politicians to visit the East since the region was liberated from the LTTE and the rehabilitation activities were launched under the theme 'Dawn of the East'. The TULF leader Anandasangaree commenting on the meeting with the President told the Sunday Observer that a report was submitted on behalf of the TULF, PLOTE and the EPRLF (Naba) on the findings by the three parties in the East.

"We have mentioned in our report to expedite the development process as the Internally Displaced People in the East have not only suffered by the clashes that occurred in the East but they had also suffered immensely due to the tsunami disaster of December 2004. We also urged the President to resettle the civilians who were displaced from the areas of Mutur East, Sampur and Eechilampattai.

The main livelihood of the civilians in the East is agriculture and fishing.

So we insisted that the machinery and materials must be provided to the civilians to re-build their livelihood. The President responded positively and said that he was determined to usher in good future to the civilians who suffered all these years in the hands of the LTTE in the East," Anandasangaree said.

Elaborating further on the meeting with the President, the TULF leader said, that the current state of the All Party Representative Committee was also discussed and President Rajapaksa expressed confidence on finding a political solution through the consensus of all political parties.

"The President is determined to find a solution through the All Party Representative Committee. He said that a solution would be reached with devolution of powers fulfilling the political aspirations of the Tamils. The President also added that he could not act on his own on reaching a political settlement. However, he said that with the consensus of all political parties he could arrive at a political solution," the TULF leader said.

Responding to the President on the ground realities in the North and the East the three Tamil party leaders urged him to expedite the political process in a constructive manner to give hope for the Tamils in finding an early settlement to the ethnic crisis. The TULF, PLOTE and the EPRLF (Naba) leaders also briefed the President on the recent Stuttgart meeting in Germany where the trio were key speakers. The Stuttgart meeting titled, 'Democratic Forum' organised by the expatriate Tamils living abroad insisted on an early solution to the Lankan crisis through a healthy political process.