• Wiggy backs a Sinhala-speaking common candidate representing Tamil parties, possibility of fielding common candidate including non-politician to be discussed  

Endorsing the reported preparation by Tamil political parties to field a common candidate for the upcoming Presidential Election, the Thamil Makkal Thesiya Kuttani (TMTK) Leader and Opposition Parliamentarian, President’s Counsel C.V. Wigneswaran said that several names of potential candidates are already being considered.

Speaking to The Daily Morning yesterday (9), he said that the TMTK would endorse fielding a common candidate representing the Tamil political parties, charging that the Tamil community has been let down every time that they supported the Presidential candidates fielded by the majority based political parties. 

“This move is necessary for us to bring out our issues. The candidate should be a person who can speak in Sinhala, so that they can tell the Sinhala masses what our issues are.” He said that they had no other means except to bring the Tamil community's issues to the attention of the local and international masses, and added that fielding a Presidential candidate would be an ideal way to do it. 

“That candidate should not necessarily be a politician but any person who is recognised by the Tamil community can be considered. We are also hoping to bring together the Tamil political parties and discuss the possibility of fielding a common candidate.” 

When queried as to whether any potential candidate has been decided by the parties, Wigneswaran elaborated: “I personally reached out to Dr. Nagalingam Ethirveerasingam (former Sri Lankan athlete), but, he is yet to respond to my proposal. We also intended to ask Opposition MP Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam, but he wanted to boycott the elections, so he will not contest. There are a few other candidates who are being discussed at present, and we will reach a decision in the future.”

The frequent issues faced by the Tamil community include the lack of infrastructure facilities, the occupation of their lands by the military forces and State Departments, and the non-implementation of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution in full. Tamil community based politicians have been charging that the majority community based politicians, including the Heads of State, are not interested in resolving such issues.

In the wake of reports that Tamil political parties are going to field a common Presidential candidate, the main Tamil political Party, the Ilankai Thamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) last week stated that it was open to holding discussions with every party regarding the Presidential Election despite the political differences that they have.