The TNA Has Not Received Any Funds — Premachandran

By Mandana Ismail Abeywickrema

Vehemently denying accusations leveled against the TNA by TULF Leader V. Anandasangaree that the party had won the election after buying votes, TNA Parliamentarian Suresh Premachandran said TNA candidates were unable to even campaign in certain areas in the North due to security restrictions. Premachandran said that on the contrary, Anandasangaree managed to freely campaign in the North with the support of the armed forces. He also observed that the TNA has been elected as the representatives of the Tamil people with 14 of its members being elected to the legislature. According to Premachandran, the party is currently focused on the resettlement programme in the North and is planning on raising the issue at an international level if the government fails to address the concerns raised by the TNA.

Excerpts:

Q: The TNA has been accused of paying money to buy votes at the last general election. Is it true?

A: That is absolute rubbish. We had to get permission from the Army Chief in the Wanni to visit the area during the campaign. Most of the candidates had to spend hours in his office to get permission. TNA candidates on most occasions could not visit the area during the election campaign. There is no truth to the allegation that the party paid money for votes. Anandasangaree who had made this accusation received only 400 votes at the last Jaffna Municipal Council election. During the general elections he thought he could win, but did not get the votes because of his useless policies. He had the support of the armed forces in the North and he managed to campaign in those areas when we couldn’t. Whenever he is defeated at an election he blames the TNA.

Q: TULF Leader V. Anandasangaree has said that the TNA received large sums of money for election campaigning at the general election and that the ‘Transitional Government of Tamil Eelam’ along with members from the diaspora have made financial contributions. Did the TNA receive such funds?

A: This is also another rubbish story. Anandasangaree may have friends in the Tamil diaspora and we might also have personal friends in the diaspora. The TNA did not receive any funds from the Transitional Government. In fact, the TNA does not have any contacts with any organisation outside the country.

Q: The current TNA is not the alliance that was initially formed in 2001. Therefore can the TNA be considered as representatives of the Tamil community?

A: The TNA has 14 members who have been elected to parliament from the North and East. There have been no other Tamil politicians who have been elected at the general elections who have contested separately from the governing party. Anandasangaree and the TULF were defeated while Pillayan and the TMVP were also defeated. Majority seats have been won by the TNA in the North and East. The people have shown confidence in us by voting for us. Therefore, the TNA has been elected as the representatives of the Tamil people.

Q: Following the general election what progress has the TNA made in relation to addressing issues faced by the Tamil community?

A: TNA parliamentarians visited the Wanni last week to see the resettlement programme. We visited Kilinochchi, Mullaithivu, Vavuniya and Mannar. We will prepare a comprehensive report on the situation and hand it over to the government. We have seen that the government does not have any roadmap for resettling the displaced people. They are carrying it out in an ad hoc manner. People are just being taken out of the camps and taken to be resettled without providing them with the necessary facilities. Once we hand over the report to the government we will wait and see the measures they plan to take. We would also call on the international community to help make life easy for the Tamil people. As the first step we will hand the report to the government and then take it from there. We will also raise the issue in parliament.