Tamil party wins in landslide
Hopes rise that poll will heal Sri Lanka war scars
JAFFNA, SRI LANKA: Sri Lanka’s main Tamil party won a landslide victory yesterday in landmark elections in the battle-scarred north, raising hopes of some degree of self-rule for the ethnic minority after decades of war.
The opposition Tamil National Alliance (TNA) won 30 out of 38 seats in the first elections for a provincial council in the former war zone, amid international pressure for the majority Sinhalese to share power with Tamils four years after the end of the bloody separatist conflict.
TNA leader C V Wigneswaran said the results were an overwhelming vote for self-rule for Tamils.
He repeated his demand for the military to withdraw from the Tamildominated north, saying there was no reason for its presence since the end of the war in 2009.
‘‘That [army presence] is the primary problem the Tamils of the northern province are having today,’’ Mr Wigneswaran said in the region’s capital Jaffna shortly after results were announced.
‘‘You have to get rid of the army. They must be put in barracks somewhere else,’’ said Mr Wigneswaran, who is set to become the region’s chief minister.
Saturday’s vote in the former rebel stronghold has been promoted by the UN Human Rights Council as a step towards ethnic reconciliation following the 26-year war that claimed over 100,000 lives.
The national government of President Mahinda Rajapakse has been under pressure to share power with Tamils who are a minority nationally but a majority in the north.
The TNA swept all five districts in the election for the semi-autonomous Northern Provincial Council, results from the Department of Elections showed. The poll was held amid claims the military tried to intimidate and harass voters and a Tamil candidate.
Mr Rajapakse’s United People’s Freedom Alliance won just seven seats in a humiliating defeat for the president, who has won almost every major election since he led the campaign that crushed Tamil Tigers in 2009. A Muslim party won one seat on the council.
In the district of Jaffna, 400km north of Colombo and home to over a million Tamils, the TNA secured more than 84% of the vote, exceeding its projections of 66%.
There were no public signs of celebrations yesterday in Jaffna where the military maintains a large presence.
Mr Wigneswaran said he was open to talks with the president on powersharing arrangements in the north, and was seeking devolution in a united Sri Lanka, as set out in a statute in 1987, rather than separation.
‘‘There is a fear of separation, but all we are asking for is a federal state which exists within the boundaries of Sri Lanka,’’ Mr Wigneswaran said. ‘‘We are for an undivided Sri Lanka and selfrule under a federal system.’’
Provincial councils were established in 1987 as part of a plan to ease ethnic unrest. But elections had never been held for the northern council, which until now had been under direct presidential control.
Mr Rajapakse has accused the TNA — a coalition of several Tamil groups, including ex-militants — of raising expectations of a separate state, a move opposed by the Sinhalese majority.
The government has said it will not give provincial councils power over land and police as originally envisaged in the 1987 statute. Any decisions that the council takes — for example, raising taxes, building new infrastructure or changes to local services — can also be vetoed by the regional governor who is an appointee of the president.
Mr Rajapakse’s defeat comes despite the government pouring millions of dollars into rebuilding infrastructure damaged by decades of fighting. Residents have complained troops were still occupying their land four years after the end of the war.