Seven Tamil People’s Party representatives who met in Jaffna at a private hotel said they would announce the name of the Tamil Common candidate by next Thursday.
The representatives who gathered in the afternoon deliberated for four long hours but failed to reach a consensus during this meeting. Some members who were present and spoke to the press following the meeting said that former TNA parliamentarian Chandrakanthan Chandraneru’s name has been shortlisted and may likely be chosen.
Several prominent Tamil politicians took part in the meeting, including the head of the Tamil Eelam Liberation Movement (TELO) Selvam Adaikalanathan, former Tamil National Alliance MP Suresh Premachandran, N. Srikanth, the Northern Provincial Councillor, P. Aingaranesan, TELO member Surendran Gurusamy, Political analyst Nilanthan,
This was the first meeting by the Tamil political parties after they formed an alliance in Jaffna in July. At that meeting in Jaffna, several Tamil political parties and civil society activists signed an agreement, uniting to field a common Tamil candidate for the Sri Lankan Presidential election which is to be held later this year.
The agreement comes in response to a sentiment acknowledged widely by Tamils in the homeland and abroad that no presidential candidate has advocated on behalf of Eelam Tamils on the island.