With only two days for the term of the TNA-held Northern Provincial Council (NPC) to end, the party’s dissident Chief Minister(CM) C.V.Wigneswaran is to make a special announcement on October 24, on the need for parting ways with the TNA to ‘rightly represent the Northern Tamils’, hinting at a new Tamil political party. The Jaffna-based Tamil People’s Council (TPC) of which Wigneswaran is a co-chair has said, the announcement will be made at a public meeting at Nallur on that day. While TNA dissident, parliamentarian for Vavuniya, Sivasakthy Anadan has announced that a new Tamil political party headed by Wigneswaran would be formed to represent the Tamils and run for local government, provincial council and parliamentary polls, another party dissident, NPC Minister Ananthi Sasitharan, has announced, she has already formed a new party under the name ‘Eelam Tamils’ Self-Government Party’ to run for future polls.
Private Secretary to the Chief Minister, Rajadurai told the Sunday Observer, the CM’s belated request to the Provincial Councils and Local Government Ministry for a duty free vehicle appropriate to his post, corresponding to his entitlement had not been considered and that the permit issued to him for a duty free vehicle of a lower grade applicable to provincial councillors had also been cancelled. The reason adduced was that the government had decided to suspend the import of vehicles due to the rupee depreciation against the US Dollar. But, the CM wanted the permit issued so that he can hold it until the suspension on the import of vehicles was lifted, on a later date, Rajadurai said. This request was also not considered, he said. CM Wigneswaran had made a media statement earlier saying:
“The Ministry of Local Government and Provincial Councils has made a mistake in issuing me a permit that is not applicable to me. When I was legally entitled to tax rebate on a $ 65,000 worth vehicle, I had been issued a permit for a vehicle with a tax rebate on $ 40,000 worth vehicle. Whichever the vehicle, it is not free, except for a tax rebate. Although I didn’t give serious thought to this matter for some time, I accidentally identified the mistake made by the Ministry, and made an appeal to the Ministry to rectify the error, and issue me with an appropriate permit.
The relevant Ministry without taking action to rectify the mistake, after a delay of more than a year submitted a Cabinet memorandum for the approval of the permit I was legally entitled to. All other Chief Ministers have been granted vehicle permits with a higher value. Meanwhile, the Ministry called for the return of the permit with the lesser value and cancelled same. Now I have been deprived of both permits”.