Karuna wants TNA recognized as main opposition

by P. Krishnaswamy

 Renegade LTTE leader Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan alias Kuruna Amman who entered Parliament as a nominated member of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) is currently holding discussions with President Maithripala Sirisena about forming a political party of his own.

Muralitharan, after he quit the LTTE, was raised to the rank of SLFP Vice President and served as the National Integration Minister under President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

He said, discussions with President Sirisena will determine whether to form a new political entity or not.

The former Rajapaksa loyalist whose political fortunes within the SLFP plummeted following the August 17 general election said, he quit the LTTE primarily due to his realization of the futility of militancy as a tool to seek a solution to the Tamil problem, he said.

“The LTTE was branded as a terrorist outfit after Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination, and the September 11 attack on the World Trade Center in New York added to the difficulty of pursuing the utopian dream of a ‘Tamil Eelam’,” he said.

Muralitharan insisting that following his decision to quit the Tigers, he has played an ‘important and historical role’ in paving the way for protecting the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, claimed if formed, who party would be a non-communal political body.

He claimed the war on terrorism was won primarily due to him, paving the ways for restoration of democracy and free elections in the North and East.

He said it was he who had initially mooted the idea of federalism, not only for the North and East, but for the whole country, and claimed it was done in the best interests of national harmony and prosperity, following the examples of advanced countries like Switzerland and Germany.

He said the proposal was put forward by the LTTE delegation led by Anton Balasingham at the Oslo talks in the years 2003 – 2004.

“The proposal was for power devolution under a federal system in all the eight provinces, with centre remaining as the monitor,” he said, explaining that according to the proposal land and police powers were to be devolved while the centre retained all powers relating to national security and defence.

“It was originally put forward by the LTTE and not the TNA,” he said.

Claiming the system to be useless, Muralitharan said even chief ministers of provinces were contesting parliamentary elections to become MPs.

He said the United National Front (UNF) for Good Governance and the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) are forming a national government and in such an event, it was only fair to acknowledge the TNA as the main opposition party.

“Is it fair for one faction of the SLFP to join the government while the other faction forms the opposition,” he queried. He said, urgent matters to be addressed included the release of over 12,000 acres of lands are under military occupation.

The Mahinda Rajapaksa Government developed massive infrastructure facilities in the Northern Province but did nothing to provide relief to those who suffered from the war. ‘The new government must address these residual issues,” he said.