PARACHUTISTS

The essence of their argument however was that Wigneswaran though of Jaffna origin was now a Tamil resident of Colombo who was born and bred there. Senathirajah on the other hand was a son of the Jaf fna soil. Furthermore Wigneswaran was not a member of the ITAK and had no political experience. Senathirajah however was involved from his youthful days in the Tamil political struggle. He was also a founding member of the TNA. In a nutshell the argument was that the “insider” Senathirajah should be preferred over the “outsider” Wigneswaran regardless of the individual merits of both. Parachutists from outside were to be debarred.

These points were well articulated by former TELO Parliamentarian N. Srikantha who is also a lawyer. While arguing that the Northern chief minister should be a member of the TNA and not an outsider, Srikantha deftly promoted himself also as a potential contender. Srikantha said that if Senathirajah was deemed inappropriate because he was not a lawyer then the TNA should turn to those in the alliance before resorting to outside nominations. He then pointed out that Anandasangaree and himself were also lawyers.

Srikantha evoked a strong response from Sampanthan who posed the question whether the TNA was to remain stagnant without any infusion of fresh new talent for ever and ever if the policy was to be “no outsiders”?. This meant that the party could not even register any ordinary new members. Sampanthan also pointed out that Srikantha and Senathirajah from Jaffna had at one time parachuted into Trincomalee and Amparai districts as candidates. Sampanthan made it crystal clear that his choice was Wigneswaran only. Though he did not express it openly it appeared that the veteran politician was even ready to quit the TNA leadership if his choice was

rebuffed. As time progressed it

appeared that leaders Suresh Premachandran of the EPRLF, Selvam Adaikkalanathan of TELO and Dharmalingam Siddharthan of PLOTE were slowly veering around to Sampanthan’s point of view. The discussion shifted to focussing on the possibility of Wigneswaran and Senathirajah working together if necessary in the Northern Council.

It was then that Senathirajah broke his silence and spoke out aloud. In a bid to show that he was not a seeker of office for the sake of power the man from Maaviddapuram reiterated that he was seeking nomination only because many people within and outside Sri Lanka were pressing him to contest. “Not even one person who spoke to me said that I should not contest,” said Senathirajah. He then said that he valued Wigneswaran very highly and suggested that it was possible for both of them to work together in the future. The second day meeting ended on this positive note by Senathirajah. It was decided that the discussions should continue in the afternoon of Saturday July 13th.

OPTIMISM

The concluding remarks of Senathirajah gave room for optimism that a satisfactory compromise could be worked out. Quiet unofficial discussions among individuals and groups within the alliance began at different levels.TNA national list MP Sumanthiran began working out a scheme where Wigneswaran could be chief minister for the first half of the term and Senathirajah for the second. Sampanthan however was not in favour of such an adjustment saying it would convey contrary impressions to the voter and could be counterproductive. Senathirajah too was not very receptive to the idea saying it would be practically difficult to implement such an arrangement. Senathirajah being a Parliamentarian was not comfortable with the idea of going into the Provincial Council and waiting patiently till Wigneswaran’s tenure was over.

Unofficial discussions continued. Sampanthan and Sumanthiran continued with their efforts in promoting the candidature of Wigneswaran. Sampanthan spoke to Suresh Premachandran of EPRLF and Adaikkalanathan of TELO. Both agreed in principle to Wigneswaran being the chief ministerial candidate but wanted Senathirajah’s concurrence. Sumanthiran began engaging Senathirajah in talks over the subject. As a result of these unpublicised discussions a new move was initiated. A meeting was arranged where Sampanthan, Senathirajah, Sumanthiran, Suresh Premachandran and Selvam Adaikkalanatham were to visit Justice Wigneswaran at his residence and discuss pertinent issues concerning the nomination. It is noteworthy that the former Supreme Court judge had not in anyway participated in the TNA discussions tasked with selecting a chief ministerial candidate. Although he had agreed to be the candidate if the TNA chose him, Wigneswaran had not tried in any way to press his claim. When people spoke to him about the protracted discussions within the TNA the ex-Judge had simply laughed it off saying “let them give it to anybody.” Wigneswaran maintained a sense of detach- ment to the entire exercise as a true “Karmayogi” of the “Bhagavad Gita” would.

Selvam Adaikkalanathan was not able to attend the meeting on Saturday morning with Wigneswaran but the other four did so as planned. The meeting with Wigneswaran went off very well with some doubts being cleared. Wigneswaran stated clearly that he was prepared to contest as the TNA candidate under the ITAK symbol and not as head of an independent list of candidates. He also said that his only request was for all five TNA constituent parties to agree to his candidacy.

RAPPORT

During talks Wigneswaran outlined the problems he anticipated in making the Provincial council work satisfactorily and how he proposed to cope with them. A highlight of the meeting was the cordial rapport established between Wigneswaran and Senathirajah. The Jaffna district MP explained that a tussle of sorts had ensued only because Justice Wigneswaran had been reluctant to accept the offer initially. This had led to many persons pushing him (Senathirajah) into the fray. However a satisfactory decision would be reached soon. Wigneswaran responded by saying he understood the situation and that everything would work out positively in the end.

The third round of talks scheduled for July 13th evening was put off for the morning of Monday July 15th. Once again during the interregnum, unofficial discussions continued at multiple levels. By Monday morning it was apparent that the pendulum had swung in favour of Wigneswaran but there was marked reluctance on the part of TNA constituents to convey news of that “swing” to Senathirajah. The Jaffna district MP too began telling colleagues that he was ready to accept Wigneswaran if the TNA wanted him. However, Senathirajah hesitated to pull out on his own due to perhaps a question of “prestige”.

When the meeting began the representatives from the EPRLF, TELO, TULF and PLOTE spoke in favour of Wigneswaran as being the most suitable candidate at this juncture. Yet they did not ask Senathirajah to withdraw from the contest. Each one who spoke added a rider after praising Wigneswaran as the more suitable choice. The rider was that Wigneswaran could be the choice provided Senathirajah was amenable.

MAGNANIMOUS

This state of affairs created an uncertain situation where the TNA seemed to want both the proverbial “Koozh” (stew) and the “Meesai” (moustache). Senathirajah himself resolved the dilemma by speaking out formally. Explaining the reasons behind his intent to contest , Senathirajah emphasised that he had done so only because of requests by the people. He then thanked his TNA colleagues for their support and announced that he was standing down in favour of Wigneswaran because he did not want to disrupt the unity and strength of the party. Senathirajah also praised Wigneswaran and said that he was endorsing the ExJudge’s candidature. With Senathirajah’s “magnanimous withdrawal” the problem ended. Wigneswaran became the “unanimous choice”.

Thereafter representatives from all five parties of the TNA led by Senathirajah went to Wigneswaran’s residence and conveyed the “glad tidings of great joy” to him. Wigneswaran was happy that the choice had been approved by all five parties who had come together to formally inform him of it. He was particularly thankful to Senathirajah for his magnanimous conduct and stated that he was expecting his cooperation and support in the future. And then they all smilingly posed for the camera.

It is rather tempting to conclude this article with the ending “and they all lived happily ever after”. Alas! such endings are possible only in fairy tales and the TNA chief ministerial candidate search is no fairy tale. As stated in the preliminary paragraphs of this article the whole exercise has exposed the facade of unity prevail- ing in the TNA. There has been a realignment of forces and shifts in loyalty that do not augur well for the configuration. The non –ITAK parties have been strengthened at the expense of the ITAK and this is clearly visible in the reduction of nominees from ITAK on the candidate list. The powerful clique controlling the ITAK in Jaffna is revolting against Wigneswaran and Sampanthan. The Sampanthan - Senathirajah duo’s harmony has cracked. The media campaign unleashed against Wigneswaran in support of Senathirajah has reached extremely low depths. Spearheading it are the newspapers controlled by TNA MP Saravanabavan. Extremist sections in the Tamil Diaspora are attacking Wigneswaran viciously. Also despite Senathirajah’s perceived magnanimity it remains to be seen as to how Kautilyan intrigues will manifest themselves in the future. One wonders whether voting patterns would be engineered to make some other candidate or candidates gain more preference votes than Wigneswaran.

A veritable Pandora’s box of the “Eelam” variety seems to have been opened and one does feel that the Sitar strumming Wigneswaran may not be able to play the melody of his choice in the days to come. He may even find the strings on his instrument snapping if the current trend continues. All these developments and more will be scrutinised in greater detail in a forthcoming article. DBS Jeyaraj can be reached at

djeyaraj2005@yahoo.com