First meeting after eradicating LTTE:

TNA meets President tomorrow

by Ananth PALAKIDNAR

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) delegation led by its leader and Trincomalee district Parliamentarian Rajavarothayam Sampanthan will meet President Mahinda Rajapaksa at 4.30 p.m. tomorrow at Temple Trees, said the General Secretary of the party Mavai Senathiraja MP.

The meeting between the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and President Rajapaksa tomorrow is significant, as this is the first time the TNA, which was known as the proxies of the LTTE is meeting the Head of State since the elimination of the Tigers in May this year.

Mavai Senathiraja told the Sunday Observer that following the request made by the TNA, the President agreed to meet the party tomorrow.

“Our priority during the talks with President Rajapaksa will be on the resettlement of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the Vanni. A large number of civilians who have moved out of their homes due to the war have to be resettled in their original places”, he said.

We cannot talk on any other issues, when the humanitarian problems of the IDPs remain multifaceted. Therefore, as a party widely represented in the North and the East in Parliament the TNA must act with greater responsibility in addressing the issues of the IDPs”, Mavai Senathiraja said.

During the talks with the President tomorrow political issues were unlikely to surface. “The TNA is working on a new political agenda and that would be discussed at higher level meetings to be held later”, he said.

Mavai Senathiraja said that the TNA would also give importance for the resettlement of Muslims who were forcibly evicted from the North in the early nineties.

The Tamil National Alliance has 22 Members of Parliament from the North and the East. The TNA won the Urban Council, Vavuniya and became the Opposition Party at the Jaffna Municipal Council at the Local Government polls in the North recently.