Tweet
COLOMBO: The Tamil National Alliance (TNA), an amalgam of antigovernment Tamil parties and the single largest Tamil group in Sri Lanka, has been developing fissures and splits ever since the LTTE, which controlled it since inception, vanished from the political scene in May 2009.
The first to leave the flock was M K Sivajilingam and N Srikantha. At the time of the Lankan presidential election in January 2010, Sivajilingam defied the TNA's decision to support former Lankan army commander Gen Sarath Fonseka and stood as an independent.
In the runup to the April 2010 parliamentary elections, the TNA dropped known proLTTE MPs like Padmini Sithamparanathan and K Kajendran from its list of candidates in order to shed its proLTTE image.
Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam of the Tamil Congress (TC), another radical, quit the alliance. All three also opted out of politics. The Tamil National Alliance continued to be the most favoured party in the Tamilspeaking North and East, but its tally in Parliament came down from 22 to 14.
In the postconflict era, the TNA's leadership comprising R Sampanthan, Mavai Senathirajah, Suresh Premachandran, Selvam Adaikalanathan and M A Sumanthiran, decided to modify its policy of confrontation and engage President Rajapaksa instead. But radicals in the alliance felt that this would not yield results.
Then, three stalwarts of a constituent party, Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK) under whose symbol the TNA fights elections, objected to the bid to register the TNA as a "party" and obliterate the ITAK, which was founded by the legendary S J V Chelvanayakam. They also wanted the Tamil National Alliance to resist India's influence and take a harder line against Rajapaksa.
Now in the run up to the March 17 local body elections, another cleavage has appeared. Mavai Senathirajah has made the renegade, M K Sivajilingam, as the TNA's candidate in Valvettithurai, without consulting other leaders. Sivajilingam is backed by the ITAK faction in the TNA and Senathirajah is the general secretary of the ITAK. Senathirajah's move is seen as a bid to revive the ITAK in case the TNA withers.
However, the future of the Tamil National Alliance hinges on how well it does in the local body elections. If it sweeps the polls, it will survive. But if it does not, it may fall apart. As on date, it looks like doing well, as the ruling United People's Freedom Alliance's nominations for several local bodies have been rejected.
The first to leave the flock was M K Sivajilingam and N Srikantha. At the time of the Lankan presidential election in January 2010, Sivajilingam defied the TNA's decision to support former Lankan army commander Gen Sarath Fonseka and stood as an independent.
In the runup to the April 2010 parliamentary elections, the TNA dropped known proLTTE MPs like Padmini Sithamparanathan and K Kajendran from its list of candidates in order to shed its proLTTE image.
Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam of the Tamil Congress (TC), another radical, quit the alliance. All three also opted out of politics. The Tamil National Alliance continued to be the most favoured party in the Tamilspeaking North and East, but its tally in Parliament came down from 22 to 14.
In the postconflict era, the TNA's leadership comprising R Sampanthan, Mavai Senathirajah, Suresh Premachandran, Selvam Adaikalanathan and M A Sumanthiran, decided to modify its policy of confrontation and engage President Rajapaksa instead. But radicals in the alliance felt that this would not yield results.
Then, three stalwarts of a constituent party, Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK) under whose symbol the TNA fights elections, objected to the bid to register the TNA as a "party" and obliterate the ITAK, which was founded by the legendary S J V Chelvanayakam. They also wanted the Tamil National Alliance to resist India's influence and take a harder line against Rajapaksa.
Now in the run up to the March 17 local body elections, another cleavage has appeared. Mavai Senathirajah has made the renegade, M K Sivajilingam, as the TNA's candidate in Valvettithurai, without consulting other leaders. Sivajilingam is backed by the ITAK faction in the TNA and Senathirajah is the general secretary of the ITAK. Senathirajah's move is seen as a bid to revive the ITAK in case the TNA withers.
However, the future of the Tamil National Alliance hinges on how well it does in the local body elections. If it sweeps the polls, it will survive. But if it does not, it may fall apart. As on date, it looks like doing well, as the ruling United People's Freedom Alliance's nominations for several local bodies have been rejected.
