Tamil National Alliance (TNA) chief R Sampanthan said that the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) “bribed its way into winning a lot of seats by dispensing money and liquor to the people,” as he addressed the press in Trincomalee.
“We are willing to work with the government to create permanent reconciliation in the country,” he said. “However, I don’t consider the election that took place to be a democratic one.”
Commenting on his party’s performance, Sampanthan added that “small Tamil parties that contested the elections have divided Tamil votes”.
“Therefore, we could only secure 9 seats even though we expected to win twenty.”
“To achieve perpetual peace in the country, we need a resolution that creates conditions for us to live as just and honourable citizens. We are unwavering on that point. We will decide on a future course of action to achieve our goals based on the standpoint of the government.”
The party suffered high profile losses in Sri Lanka’s parliamentary elections this week, losing seats to paramilitary groups, government-aligned organisations and other Tamil nationalist parties.
