Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) frontliner and its Jaffna District candidate M. A. Sumanthiran, PC in an interview with the Sunday Observer shared his perspectives on a wide range of issues such as how they plan to work with a possible NPP Government, reconcile differences within the ITAK, their plans to get the support of the Tamil diaspora to revive the North and the East and extend their support to the new Government to eliminate corruption.
The prominent Tamil lawmaker said if there is an NPP Government after the November 14 general election, they believe that it will implement all the promises that were made during the Presidential election campaign which includes eradication of corruption and changing the political culture. He said, “We will support all those forward-looking reforms. The President’s manifesto has also promised to complete the process of Constitutional reforms that was initiated between 2015 and 2019. We will support to complete that process and resolve the Tamil national question in a satisfactory manner.”
Excerpts of the interview
Q: If you are invited by the President to be part of the Government, will you accept the invitation?
A: That is a matter that the party has to decide on at that opportune time. The party has not joined any Government except till 1965 to implement the Dudley-Chelvanayagam pact. When that failed, Minister Chelvanayagam resigned. That was our only experience in joining a Government. If at any future time, any Government invites us; the party has to evaluate the situation and make a decision in that regard.
Q: Some sections of the media have alleged that during discussions with the President, he had promised to grant the 13th Amendment in full and also Police and land powers to the Northern and the Eastern provinces. Is there any truth in this statement?
A: Before the Presidential election when President Anura Kumara Dissanayake met the ITAK party hierarchy in Jaffna, he said that they will implement the current provisions with regard to the Provincial Councils and there was no mention about the 13th Amendment. What he said was what prevails as per the Provincial Council system; they will implement and hold the Provincial Council election.
Q: Regardless of whether you become a part of the Government or not, how do you plan to work with President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and a possible National People’s Power (NPP) Government after November 14?
A: If there is an NPP Government after the November 14 general election, we assume that it will implement all the promises that were made during the Presidential election campaign which includes eradication of corruption and changing the political culture.
We will support all those forward-looking reforms. The President’s manifesto has also promised to complete the process of Constitutional reforms that was initiated between 2015 and 2019. We will support to complete that process and resolve the Tamil national question in a satisfactory manner.
Q: The ITAK has faced many divisions and differences recently. Would you be able to reconcile these differences and factions after the election for the common good of the Tamil-speaking people?
A: Those who left the party on account of not being given nominations are leaving the party. We don’t want such selfish people in the party. This has been a good purging exercise and we didn’t sack them. They chose to leave the party because they thought nominations for the election were more important than the party or the people. Such people are not welcome in the party again.
Q: There were recent reports that some LTTE remnants abroad were trying to revive the Movement in Sri Lanka and elsewhere. Are you aware of any such plans by certain sections of the diaspora?
A: No. I am not aware of anything like that.
Q: Talking of the Tamil diaspora, how do you plan to get their support, especially for the revival of the North and the East after the election?
A: We have a very definite economic plan to revive the economy so that the livelihood of the people living in the North and the East is sound and healthy. Taking into account that these had been war affected areas which have received very little support during the past 15 years, we have drawn up plans for the economic recovery in that region which will benefit the whole country. Anyhow, any investments coming into whichever part of the country will be welcome for the economic crisis-ridden country.
Q: What is your message especially to the people of the North on the brink of the general election?
A: The people of the North must choose the main political party, the ITAK and that is the only way forward in which they can ensure a strong voice in the next Parliament. That can only be fulfilled by the ITAK. Now everybody agrees that a solution based on federal lines is the way forward and the ITAK must be the choice of the people.
Q: The previous Government passed the Anti-corruption Act and also the present President has taken a very tough stand on corruption and several Opposition politicians have already been detained in connection with various acts of corruption. How do you plan to support eliminating corruption under the coming new Government?
A: That is a very good move and we don’t think enough has been done during the last month and more could have been done. But some of these cases require further investigations and we appreciate that. We will fully support all the efforts taken to eradicate corruption.
Q: There is a debate on having new faces in Parliament. But some veteran politicians such as former President Ranil Wickremesinghe have urged the voters to send experienced people to Parliament. What is your view?
A: There must be some experience but that shouldn’t be the majority in Parliament. I think this is the phase in which we have to bring in new faces and capable people. Naturally, there will be some remnants from the past who can provide the experience that guides those new to Parliament.
Q: Even 76 years after Independence and nearly 15 years after the end of the war, the Sri Lankan identity has eluded us. What should be done so that all communities feel that they are truly Sri Lankans instead of thinking as Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims, Burgers and Malays?
A: It’s only by forming their separate identities that you can build a strong Sri Lankan identity. We can’t build a strong Sri Lankan identity by negating ‘Tamilness’, ‘Sinhaleseness’ or ‘Muslimness’. We must encourage people to identify with their particular ethnic identity and then together we can build a Sri Lankan identity.
Q: A large number of senior politicians had quit politics and decided not to contest the forthcoming general election. How do you view this new political transformation that took place in the country after the September 21 Presidential election?
A: That is a very good move and we needed a radical change in the composition of Parliament. I don’t know whether we will achieve that in this Parliament. But certainly we would have to make a great stride forward when the new Parliament meets and to that extent several former career politicians retiring is a good thing.
Q: The Opposition alleges that the Government has failed to fulfill its pledges to the people. Would you comment?
A: Those pledges cannot be fulfilled in such a short period of time. At least the Government needs a year or two to fulfill those pledges.
