No hurry to decide stance at election: TNA

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) is in no big hurry to decide its stance at any upcoming presidential election, the Northern Chief Minister C. V. Wigneswaran said.

He expressed these views when he met Democratic People’s Front Leader Mano Ganesan at his residence on Wednesday.

Mr. Wigneswaran told Mr. Ganesan that the TNA had not arrived at any decision on the much talked-about presidential election and that it was neither in a mood nor in any hurry to do so.

However, he said the TNA leadership would consider among others, the root causes of the obstacles he faced as the Northern Province Chief Minister when taking any decision on this matter.

Mr. Wigneswaran had informed Mr. Ganesan that he had extended his hand of friendship to the Government by coming to temple trees to take oaths as chief minister when he was elected to office.

“Some of my colleagues in the NPC did not approve of my being sworn in by the president but I still came to Colombo. Without responding positively, the Government is trying to bypass the elected administration in the Northern Province,” he said. He has told Mr. Ganesan that the Chief Ministers of all other provinces administered by the UPFA were enjoying some of the powers under the 13th Amendment but these have been denied to him.

Mr.Wigneswaran said he was even unable to appoint his provincial secretary and added

that

I extended my hand of friendship to the Government by coming to temple trees to take oaths as chief minister when I was elected to office. Some of my colleagues in the NPC did not approve of my being sworn in by the president but I still came to Colombo.

he was struggling to conduct the affairs of the NPC in the way the other chief ministers were conducting their councils within a united Sri Lanka policy.

“But the government fails to understand this. I am also saddened to note that the Government is starting its election campaign using the name of the LTTE. This is the usual ploy to mislead unsuspecting Sinhala people and these situations will be taken into account when taking a stance at the presidential election,” he said.

Mr. Ganesan said he would continue to hold talks with Mr. Wigneswaran whenever necessary based on his resilient relationship with him.

He said his party was in the process of defining its role in the opposition campaign by talking to other opposition parties and the NMSJ led by Ven. Maduluwawe Sobitha Thera.