Tamil leader becomes opposition leader in Sri Lanka

[HeinzG]

Ground situation and circumstances are way different mate, We have a president from a Sinhalese Buddhist rural back ground who is also the commander in Chief and the defense minister, A prime minister a pro Western and pro US for what ever reason good or bad got the main power to make or break the country in his side (The change in stance of the US regarding the UNHRC is paramount), And a Tamil as the opposition leader now obliged to deal with the whole country not just within the narrow view point of his mono ethnic constituency

And you think TNA would do the national politics.

Just how did you arrive at that conclusion?

 

[samv]

He says

"I will do everything to Sinhalese people a Sinhalese opposition leader will do
We will never divide the nation. We are against dividing it, we don't like dividing
There is no need to talk about dividing, we can completely get rid of the idea of dividing"

the journalist asks about the Political solution at 0:21 and he says,

"A good decision must be made to this problem
A decision where everyone can agree"

"The position that the North and East of Sri Lanka are the areas of historical habitation of the Tamil speaking people cannot be compromised in this structure of government. We must have unrestricted authority to govern our own land, protect our own people, and develop our own economy, culture and tradition. Powers must be allocated under this structure based on the understanding that meaningful devolution should go beyond the 13th Amendment to the Constitution passed in 1987. This position has been accepted by our party. Our acceptance of this position does not mean that we consider the 13th Amendment to be an acceptable solution, nor that, in the event our right to internal self determination is continuously denied, we will not claim our right under international law to external self determination."

- R Sampanthan


A wolf in sheeps clothing.

 

[HeinzG]

I would'nt use the word reassuring on any politician.. Especially politicians with a divergent past.. But imo opinion this is the best way to get these people in to mainstream politics.. They dont have any other options to than to tow the line, Keep them on the fringe they will remain extremist because they dont have to answer to anybody.. This way they are answerable to the whole country.. That is the universal untold truth

How the hell do Samabandan or his TNA party answer to the whole island? They got the 16 seats because they won the over whelming majority of votes in the Tamil majority areas. Sinhalese didn't vote for them and they never will cuz TNA won't contest on Sinhalese areas.

So why should Sambandan listen to the whole country. He should continue to appease the Tamils so they will always get the 16 seats they need.

I agree with you, Sampandan is a good guy and his appointment will make the Tamils in the North East feel they are not marginalized

But as the opposition leader he has the duty of criticizing any bad actions of the government, we will have to see if he does it well. Sampandan and Ranil have been allies for a long time so as the opposition leader he has the duty to shout if Ranil does something wrong

Now the tail is wagging the dog.

By reassuring I meant him being suitable for the post of Opposition leader, in which he has to debate on national issues. It was worrying but now most of the worries are gone.

His appointment is a major setback to Pro-LTTE groups who say that Sri Lanka is an apartheid state which has no place for Tamils. lets see how things go.

It is too soon to judge him but I hope he will do a good job

Appointing Sambandan to the opposition leader will further strengthen the Tamil claim. Even you would understand that 16 MPs couldn't much hold on to the biggest opposition status. When it slip pass under the TNA the old slogans will continue that Sinhalese don't want a Tamil Opp. leader.

 

[Godman]

How the hell do Samabandan or his TNA party answer to the whole island? They got the 16 seats because they won the over whelming majority of votes in the Tamil majority areas. Sinhalese didn't vote for them and they never will cuz TNA won't contest on Sinhalese areas.

So why should Sambandan listen to the whole country. He should continue to appease the Tamils so they will always get the 16 seats they need.

They have no other option and even if they try to appease the Tamils then its not much of a difference than it was back then.
The opposition of UPFA and JVP will keep pointing out the governments wrong doings in national issues and there is MR in the opposition too.
It won't be easy for Ranil and MS if they even make a small mistake

As I said before its to early to make judgement on Sampanthan, we should see about him in the future

 

[samv]

They have no other option and even if they try to appease the Tamils then its not much of a difference than it was back then.
The opposition of UPFA and JVP will keep pointing out the governments wrong doings in national issues and there is MR in the opposition too.
It won't be easy for Ranil and MS if they even make a small mistake

As I said before its to early to make judgement on Sampanthan, we should see about him in the future

Typical Ranil boot licker, justifies everything his master does.

 

[Godman]

Typical Ranil boot licker, justifies everything his master does.

Too bad it wasn't done by Ranil

 

[Gibbs]

And you think TNA would do the national politics.

Just how did you arrive at that conclusion?

How have you that they would not ? Atleast i have grounds to believe because they have been placed on a national platform, They have little option.. What's you point ? Just that because he is Tamil, And they have no right ? What a bigoted point of view

 

[samv]

Too bad it wasn't done by Ranil

No one except Ranil is pulling the strings here. Lick his boots harder.

How have you that they would not ? Atleast i have grounds to believe because they have been placed on a national platform, They have little option.. What's you point ? Just that because he is Tamil, And they have no right ? What a bigoted point of view

No one would raise concerns if the leader of the opposition was someone of the calibre of say, Lakshman Kadirgamar or Ponnambalam Ramanathan. Actually, they would be celebrating. The current issue has nothing to with ethnicity, but everything to do with the way Mr Sampanthan has behaved over the last few decades ever since he boycotted Sri Lanka's parliament in 1983 because he didn't want to swear an oath unconditionally renouncing support for a separate state.

The man recognised the LTTE as the "sole representatives" of the Tamil people - a travesty if there ever was one and rarely if ever criticised their murder of opponents, the ethnic cleansing of Sinhalese and Muslims from the north and the east, their use of child soldiers, suicide bombings, bombs on buses and trains, massacres of Sinhalese and Muslim villagers, attacks on Buddhist and Muslim places of worship. He openly supported the creation of a mono-ethnic state out of Sri Lankan territory. Even the foreign media called him and his party the Tiger's paw.

In a speech in 2012 Sampanthan again emphatically reiterated his support for the creation of a separate state for Tamils with a reference to "external self-determination." He has also claimed that the Sri Lankan state has carried out a genocide of the Tamil people and that this is ongoing and has passed not one but two resolutions to this effect through the Northern Provincial council with the aid of the chief minister Vigneswaran. He has called for international investigations into alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka and openly supported US-sponsored resolutions against Sri Lanka at the United Nations.

 

[Godman]

Sri Lanka : Marxist party leader Chief Opposition Whip of Sri Lanka Parliament
Thu, Sep 3, 2015, 08:01 pm SL Time, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.

Sept 03, Colombo: The Leader of Sri Lanka's Marxist party, Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) Anura Kumara Dissanayake was appointed as Chief Opposition Whip of the Eighth Parliament today.

Dissanayake, who assumed the leadership of JVP in February 2014, was elected to parliament from Colombo District at the August 17 General Election.

Earlier today, leader of the Tamil party, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) R. Sampanthan was appointed as the Opposition Leader.

Following the agreement between the two major parties UNP and the SLFP to form a national government, the TNA with 16 seats became the opposition and the JVP with six seats, became the second largest party in opposition.

 

[Gibbs]

The TNA once the proxy of LTTE is now the third largest party in Parliament and given the leader of the opposition post, The JVP responsible for killing thousands of political opponents during the 71' - 73' and again 87'-89' period of political chaos are the forth largest party and been appointed the opposition chief whip, Karuna who was the LTTE commander of the East responsible for thousands of Sinhalese and Muslim civilian deaths is the Vice president of the SLFP appointed by the former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, Pilliyan the one time deputy of Karuna in the East responsible for killing unarmed civilians and 300 surrended police personal was appointed the chief minister for the Eastern province under the UPFA during the it's leadership of Rajapaksa

And some of you people like @HeinzG has the gall to cry foul on Sambandan ? Sad

 

[samv]

Sampanthan has always supported the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). To call him a 'moderate' is disingenuous. Ranil and Sirisena are playing a dangerous game here. Did our soldiers sacrifice their lives for this?

The TNA once the proxy of LTTE is now the third largest party in Parliament and given the leader of the opposition post, The JVP responsible for killing thousands of political opponents during the 71' - 73' and again 87'-89' period of political chaos are the forth largest party and been appointed the opposition chief whip, Karuna who was the LTTE commander of the East responsible for thousands of Sinhalese and Muslim civilian deaths is the Vice president of the SLFP appointed by the former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, Pilliyan the one time deputy of Karuna in the East responsible for killing unarmed civilians and 300 surrended police personal was appointed the chief minister for the Eastern province under the UPFA during the it's leadership of Rajapaksa

And some of you people like @HeinzG has the gall to cry foul on Sambandan ? Sad

You need to pull Ranil's balls out of your mouth for a second. Karuna and Pillayan joined the democratic flow & government forces long before the war ended. They gave valuable intel about LTTE which contributed to the victory.

Some kind of court action should have been imposed for their doings while they were in LTTE.

Whereas Sampanthan went hand in hand with the LTTE and even after the defeat of Prabhakaran, he is trying to realise the same dream through his political agenda. He openly claims that there is a genocide of the Tamil people in Sri Lanka. He has spoken against Sri Lanka at the United Nations, demanded an intertional investigation and claimed - on numerous occasions - that the LTTE are freedom fighters. Who is foolish enough to believe him when he says he doesn't support separatism but suggests that maximum devolution of power should be given to 3 to 5 regions. Oh yeah, morons like you, Ranil and Sirisena.

 

[kawaraj]

The only comment that justify the appointmemt is it could complicate the situation and add uncertainties which otherwise could have been avoided. With the best for Sri Lanka.

 

[Gibbs]

The only comment that justify the appointmemt is it could complicate the situation and add uncertainties which otherwise could have been avoided. With the best for Sri Lanka.

Further explains why how it happened and why it should.. This from the JVP leader who's party was ultra leftist highly Sinhalese nationalist once

JVP defends appointment of Sampanthan as OL ::: Dailymirror.lk ::: Breaking News

The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), which defended the appointment of TNA Parliamentary Group Leader R. Sampanthan as the Leader of the Opposition (OL), explained that the latter had been appointed in accordance with Parliamentary traditions.

JVP Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake said that they had backed Mr. Sampanthan for the post as he was from the party that had the most number of seats among the parties in the opposition.

He said the UPFA cannot claim the opposition leader’s post as it has signed an agreement with the UNP to form a joint government.

He pointed out that there were only six recognized parties represented in Parliament, namely UNF, UPFA, SLMC, TNA, JVP and the EPDP. Therefore, if one of them, in this case the UPFA, had decided to sign an agreement to form a joint government, then it cannot be considered as an opposition party.

As a result the appointment of Mr. Sampanthan as the Opposition Leader was justifiable. Furthermore, he reasoned that denying the TNA this post could result in dire consequences as the party would have resorted to forming a separate Parliament to resolve their issues. “One should first consider the repercussions of isolating the TNA before taking rash decisions,” he said.

 

[samv]

On the left: Prabhakaran On the right: Sampanthan

 

[HeinzG]

They have no other option and even if they try to appease the Tamils then its not much of a difference than it was back then.
The opposition of UPFA and JVP will keep pointing out the governments wrong doings in national issues and there is MR in the opposition too.
It won't be easy for Ranil and MS if they even make a small mistake

As I said before its to early to make judgement on Sampanthan, we should see about him in the future

Even if the opposition point outs the wrong doing of the government it will take at least 4 or 5 years to topple the current government unless many government MPs defected to the opposition side. So, now it's not the time to worry about the spilled milk. The international conspirators will have a abundant time formulating there plans.

Sampanthan is a know LTTE sympathizer what more do we need to learn from him? Are you that dumb?

How have you that they would not ? Atleast i have grounds to believe because they have been placed on a national platform, They have little option.. What's you point ? Just that because he is Tamil, And they have no right ? What a bigoted point of view

If a political party needs to do national politics they need to represent the whole country. Which means they need to have a true multi-ethnic base. UNP, SLFP and JVP to certain extent have that said base. Hence they are called parties who does national politics. Where TNA politics are confined only to a small area of the country where there are majority Tamil voters. Hence they are a regional or ethnic base political party.

So, being placed on the national platform does not change their base of politics. Which means they don't need worry about the Sinhalese or Muslim voters in order to politically survive. So I don't expect TNA or Sambanthan to fulfill the true duty of the post he was selected to.

It has nothing to do with the nationality of the person chosen. There was no problem if Sambanthan was elected from UNP or UPFA.