New alliance formed; symbol to be allocated Support of Tamil Diaspora sought By Easwaran Rutnam The newly formed Tamil alliance led by former Northern Province Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran is all set for battle at the next parliamentary elections. Leaders of the political parties in the new alliance signed a memorandum of understanding last week and submitted documents to register it as a political party with the Election Commission (EC). The Thamizh Makkal Thesiya Kootani consists of Wigneswaran’s Thamizh Makkal Kootani (TMK), the Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF) led by Suresh Premachandran, Tamil Thesiya Katchi led by Attorney-at-Law Sri Kantha and M.K. Shivajilingam (Secretary), and Ananthi Sasitharan's EelathThamilar Suyaatchchi Kalagam. Interestingly, the alliance leaders are all former members of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and will be fighting for a seat in Parliament by going against their former colleagues. “We were all earlier in the TNA. Since they (the leaders of TNA) were bent on getting temporal benefits for themselves, forgetting the people's needs, we decided to break away and later decided to come together in an alliance,” Wigneswaran told The Sunday Morning. He confirmed that the new alliance would contest the upcoming parliamentary elections and had submitted documents to register as a political party. “Being a new alliance, we await the symbol from the Election Commission,” Wigneswaran said. Sasitharan, who has been seeking answers over the whereabouts of her missing husband S. Elilan, a former Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) political head, said that the members of the new alliance withdrew from the TNA as the TNA had begun to lose focus. She accused the TNA of working with the former Government despite the former Government failing to address issues faced by the Tamils. Sasitharan said that the new alliance will look to draw the support of the Tamils in the North and East as well as the central hills. She also appealed to the Tamil Diaspora and Tamil Nadu to support the new alliance and its goals. Sri Kantha said that the new alliance will look to take forward the Tamil struggle for freedom and justice. He said that the new alliance is confident it can push for solutions for the issues faced by the Tamils. Sri Kantha said that the TNA was formed in 2001 with a goal in mind and that goal will be taken forward by the new alliance. “We hope all the Tamils who fled Sri Lanka and are now overseas will support us,” he added. He also said that the new alliance hoped to reach out to the Tamil-speaking Muslim community and secure their support at the election. Premachandran said that over the past two years, there was a discussion on the need for an alternative Tamil alliance in the country. He said that as a result of those discussions, a new alliance had now been formed. Premachandran said that the doors are open for any political party willing to accept the policies of the new alliance, to join them. He also said that the new alliance would seek the support of India in its efforts to achieve its goals. TNA''s defence TNA member and former Northern Provincial Council Chairman C.V.K. Sivagnanam said that the TNA continues to take forward the same policy it had when it was formed in 2001. He said that while there was a change in the members who were there then and now, the policies and goals of the alliance remained the same. TNA member and Illangai Thamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK) Secretary K. Thurairetnasingham said that Wigneswaran was going against the original thinking of slain LTTE Leader Vellupillai Prabhakaran when the TNA was formed. He said that forming a new political party at a time when the Tamils must unite will only divide the Tamil community in the country. Thurairetnasingham said that the main motive of most newly formed Tamil political parties was to weaken the TNA. He said that the TNA drew its strength from the Tamils and Wigneswaran is well aware of this. “Wigneswaran is not suitable for politics. That is the reality,” he added. Thurairetnasingham also said that Premachandran had a future in the TNA before he split. He said that even later, Premachandran looked to rejoin the TNA and enter Parliament through the National List. However, he said the TNA was not in a position to grant Premachandran a National List seat in Parliament but could have done so later on. Some TNA members are calling for a new leader to be appointed to replace R. Sampanthan. Thurairetnasingham said that the leadership issue in the TNA should be addressed from within the alliance and not outside. He said forming a new alliance was not the solution to address the leadership issue in the TNA.