Sri lanka’s main Tamil party on Monday secured a landslide win in the historic provincial council polls held after a gap of 25 years in the former lTTE-ruled Northern Province, an outcome set to renew demands for greater autonomy for Tamils after the end of decades of ethnic war.
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) convincingly trounced the ruling UPFA coalition of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, grabbing 30 of the 38 seats in the province.
The 30 seats won by TNA include two bonus seats allocated to the winning party under Sri lanka’s proportional representation system, according to official results.
The ruling UPFA coalition won just seven seats and the Sri lankan Muslim Congress only one. The TNA defeated the UPFA coalition in all five districts in the once lTTE bastion.
CV Wigneswaran, senior TNA leader and the Chief Minister elect, welcomed the result, saying people have spoken democratically and the Government in Colombo should “learn from our victory”.
Wigneswaran, retired Supreme Court judge, said the results were an overwhelming vote for self-rule for Tamils. “That (army presence) is the primary problem the Tamils of the northern province are having today,” he reporters in Jaffna.
“You have to get rid of the army. They must be put in barracks somewhere else,” Wigneswaran said.“We are for an undivided Sri lanka and self-rule under a federal system.”
Meanwhile, President Rajapaksa in a statement hailed his Government’s ability to hold a free election in the north.
In an apparent reference to the TNA, Rajapaksa said certain parties who remained silent when the lTTE ran its campaign of terror were now free to indulge in democratic politics.
Senior minister and Government spokesperson Keheliya Rambukwella also termed the victory of TNA as a “reflection of democracy” in Sri lanka. Rambukwella, however, added victories of the ruling party in other two provinces were an endorsement of the Government. He said the government had expected the TNA to win, and that it was now an opportunity for the Tamil party to prove itself.