New Tamil alliance launched in Sri Lanka

An alternative alliance to the moderate Tamil National Alliance, the main Tamil political party in Sri Lanka, was formed in Jaffna on Sunday to participate in the next Parliamentary Elections expected to take place in April.

The Thamizhi Makkal Tesiya Kootani or the Tamil People's National Alliance was forged under the leadership of former Northern Province chief minister CV Wigneswaran, who has always maintained a tough line on Tamil nationalism as opposed to the Tamil National Alliance (TNA).

Wigneswaran said he opposed Sri Lanka being called a Sinhala Buddhist country, which was not the TNA's official stance.

The alliance was launched with the signing of an MoU between three Tamil parties in Jaffna.

Among the signees were former members of the TNA, including veteran Tamil political party leader Suresh Premachandran.

At the launch, Wigneswaran charged the TNA with continuously duping the Tamil people by working in cooperation with the government in the south.

Wigneswaran, backed by the TNA, became the Northern Province's first-ever elected chief minister in 2013 when he was elected with over 80 per cent of the Tamil votes.

The new alliance aims to contest the next Parliamentary Elections, which are expected to take place in late April, in the North and East provinces.