• ‘We will vote for Tamil common candidate’: Shritharan

The confusion over the decision by the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK) regarding who the party will support during the Presidential Election in two weeks (21) remains vague, with members of the party stating contradictory decisions.

Earlier this month (1) the ITAK made an about-turn on extending its support to the Tamil common candidate, Pakkiyaselvam Ariyanethiran, stating that the party would support Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) presidential candidate Sajith Premadasa at the upcoming election. 

The statement regarding extending support to Premadasa came via ITAK MP M.A. Sumanthiran at a press conference held in Vavuniya on 1 September.

However, former Leader of the ITAK Mavai Senathirajah issued a statement expressing his disapproval of the decision, stating that it did not represent the official stance of the party. 

Senathirajah told the media that he was unaware of any such meeting taking place within the party to deliberate on this matter. 

When contacted by The Sunday Morning yesterday (7) evening, Senathirajah would not comment on whether the ITAK Central Committee (CC) had made a decision on which candidate would get the party’s support.

However, Senathirajah told The Sunday Morning that he was planning to meet independent candidate and incumbent President Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday evening.

Former ITAK MP Eswarapatham Saravanapavan, responding to a question, told The Sunday Morning that it was difficult to say who the party would back.

“As a party, the decision was made to support Sajith (Premadasa). The CC meeting was held in the absence of many key personnel. Before the CC decided on whom the party would support, members of the Trincomalee, Kilinochchi, and Mullaitivu Districts were also favouring voting for the common Tamil candidate. However, now everyone is considering a better solution, depending on which candidate is likely to be ahead, so it is difficult to say who the people will extend support to. We will know closer to the elections.”

ITAK MP Sivagnanam Shritharan told The Sunday Morning that ITAK members of several districts in the north and east had decided to support and vote for the Tamil common candidate. 

“Other ITAK party members support Ariyanethiran. Trincomalee, Mullaitivu, and several other district members have decided to vote for Ariyanethiran,” Shritharan said. 

When asked about the other members of the ITAK and the Central Committee, Shritharan said: “I don’t know what they want. I don’t care.”

Last month, the ITAK stated that it would determine which candidate to support at the upcoming Presidential Election only after reviewing the manifestos of the contenders. 

Several attempts to contact ITAK MPs Sumanthiran and Shanakiyan Rasamanickam regarding the mixed messaging coming from the ITAK proved futile.