Tamil political parties and civil society activists sign agreement to field common presidential candidate

Several Tamil political parties and civil society activists signed an agreement today, 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. 

The agreement was signed this afternoon at the Father Chelva Hall in Jaffna.

The signatories stated that in doing so, the agreement also signalled their objection to any of the southern Sinhalese candidates, as they are cognizant that such a candidate will not further the aspirations of the Eelam Tamils.

The signatories include Member of Parliament and leader of the Tamil Makkal Thesiya Kootan (TMTK) CV Wigneswaran, Member of Parliament and leader of the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization (TELO) Selvam Adaikkalanathan, former parliamentarian and Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front leader (EPRLF) Suresh Premachandran, Member of Parliament and leader of the People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) Dharmalingam Siddharthan, former Member of the North Provincial Assembly P. Aingaranesan, former parliamentarian and Illankai Tamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK) member N Sri Kantha, leader of the Crusaders for Democratic Party C. Vendan, head of the Department of Political Sciences at the University of Jaffna K T Ganesalingam, Jaffna-based political analyst and senior lawyer S A Jothilingam, political commentator Yathindra and political analyst Nilanthan. 

Following the signing of this agreement, the various stakeholders will also begin to discuss the next steps, as well as issues that they would collectively advocate for on behalf of Eelam Tamils. 

The signatories mentioned that a common candidate would be announced once the Elections Commission begins to accept nominations. They also said that a committee would prepare an election manifesto and detail their work ahead. 

Over the last few months, however, there have been varying proposals put forward by Tamil political parties, with some calling for a common candidate while others have said that Tamils should boycott the elections altogether. The Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF)  has emphasized the need for a common Tamil candidate while former Chairman of the Northern Provincial Council, C V K Sivagnanam maintained that there would be no common candidate under any circumstances.

The Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF), which has staunchly advocated for a boycott of the presidential elections, was notably absent from the list of signatories.