Courtesy: The Nation
The Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) is to contest the forthcoming general election without aligning with any alliance.
TULF President V. Anandasangaree said that the TULF would definitely contest alone.
“We will be contesting definitely. As it is, we are going alone,” he told The Nation.
Anandasangaree said that the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) was misleading Tamils, adding that although the Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) of Minister Douglas Devananda was contesting alone, people would not vote for it as they were fed up with extortion and killings committed by armed paramilitary groups.
“If the government does not contest, we can win over five seats. I will go to the people with my 15-point manifesto,” he said.
According to the TULF’s manifesto, the Indian model should be accepted as the only alternative to a federal solution. This proposal would satisfy those who are opposed to both Federal and Unitary Systems. The TULF is fully convinced that no acceptable solution can ever be found under the Unitary System.
It also stipulates that the re-merger of the North and East should not be carried out as it will prove detrimental to the country and to any ethnic group.
The TULF calls for acceleration of re-settlement of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in their respective residences and that full compensation be paid immediately for the loss of IDP lives and properties be they Tamils, Muslims, Sinhalese or Tamils of Indian origin.
According to Anandasangaree’s manifesto, quick steps would be taken to compile a list of missing and dead persons and other relevant details of those people who lived in the Wanni during the war.
Action would also be taken to hand over the 10,000 odd children and youth detained in rehabilitation camps wrongfully branded as Tiger cadres.
Measures would be taken to relieve the people of North and East of the armed groups and the activities of the Human Rights Commission be extended to the North to probe into the abductions and killings of innocent people. High security zones would be disbanded forthwith and the houses within the high security zone would be handed over to the owners. All the gold, jewellery and cash recovered in the Wanni would be handed over to the people of the North and East. Youth, who are arrested and detained for very trivial offences, be released under a general amnesty while the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) would be repealed.
A University for Wanni would be set up forthwith to accommodate children who missed their admission for various universities during the past few years.
The TULF calls on the government to ensure that all sub-agencies and authorised dealerships be given to those dealers who had them before they were displaced and to the business community in the Wanni. (SF)
http://www.nation.lk/2010/02/07/news5.htm
