Aim of minority alliance, to solve common issues

by P. Krishnaswamy

The alliance of political parties of the minority communities, that is now being forged is not an electoral alliance, instead, its an alliance to represent their common problems and aspirations, affirmed leaders of the parties said. Constituent parties to the alliance would take their own independent decisions on supporting or forming electoral alliances with any of the major political parties in future elections and a consensus on that was reached at a meeting held last Wednesday, they said.

Leaders of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC), Tamil National Alliance (TNA), Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF), Democratic People's Liberation Front (DPLF), Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF-P) and the Democratic People's Front (DPF) attended this meeting held in Colombo.

Some other political parties of the minorities are expected to join the alliance, the organisers said.

SLMC leader Rauff Hakeem MP told the Sunday Observer that the alliance was being forged for 'collective bargaining' on major political issues that are common to the minorities of the North, East and the Central Hill Country, including problems of the IDPs.

The long unresolved ethnic problem and early steps for a negotiated political settlement would be one more area which they would take up as common issue affecting Tamil-speaking people, he said.

They believed that unitedly they would be in a position to make considerable progress on all issues affecting the minorities, he said. A media conference would soon be held on the alliance and its program of action.

TULF leader V. Anandasangari and DPLF (PLOTE) leader Tharmalingam Sitharthan also expressed similar views on the alliance.