TNA splits, new alliance emerges for local polls

Three Tamil National Alliance (TNA) partners broke away yesterday to form a new five-party alliance that will contest the upcoming local council elections in the North and East.

The Eelam People’s Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF), the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation (TELO), and the People’s Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE), all of which had contested under the TNA, will be part of the new alliance.

The other two parties in the alliance are the Democratic Crusaders’ Party (DCP), formed by former LTTE cadres, and the Tamil National Party (TNP). The agreement forming the alliance was signed at Thinnaveli in Jaffna yesterday by Suresh Premachandran (EPRLF), Selvam Adaikkalanathan (TELO), Dharmalingam Sithadthan (PLOTE), Sivanandan Navindra (DCP) and N. Srikantha (TNP).

The Tamil Makkal Thesiya Kuttani (TMTK) led by Parliamentarian C.V. Wigneswaran and former Jaffna Mayor M. Manivannan was also involved in the discussions regarding the alliance. However, they walked out of the talks on Friday following a dispute over the logo and the post of the General Secretary of the new alliance.

The Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK), the main constituent party of the TNA, was not involved in the discussions as it has decided to contest the local government election separately under its house symbol.

Sources said the new alliance plans to field candidates in both the Northern and Eastern provinces at the upcoming local polls. Talks on the logo of the new alliance continued yesterday.