The Hindu : TULF takes internal dispute to LTTE

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jun 18, 2002

International

International

TULF takes internal dispute to LTTE

By Nirupama Subramanian

COLOMBO June 17. Reaffirming the over-riding dominance of the LTTE in Tamil affairs, the oldest Tamil party in Sri Lanka dropped all pretence of its independence to take an internal dispute to a group that it once used to refer to as "the boys'' for arbitration.

The party is the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) and the dispute within is over finding a successor to fill the parliamentary seat that fell vacant following the death of its leader, M Sivasithamparam, earlier this month.

The TULF deputy leader and parliamentarian, V. Anandasangaree, has gone to Killinochchi in the LTTE-held northern Sri Lanka for a meeting with its political wing leader, S.P. Thamilselvan, in an effort to settle the matter. Mr. Anandasangaree reportedly made the trip to press the case for his own nominee for the seat, V. Muthulingam, a 79-year-old resident of Jaffna peninsula.

Mr. Anandasangaree's visit came after another senior parliamentarian and general secretary of the party, R. Sampanthan, declared that it was his nominee, K. Thurairathinam of Batticaloa, who had the LTTE's backing.

A Sunday newspaper quoted Mr. Anandasangaree as declaring before he left for Killinochchi that he would not enter Parliament again if his nominee did not get the seat.

The squabble has brought into the open the factions within the TULF, the main constituent of the pro-LTTE Tamil National Alliance. It has also laid bare the power relationship between the LTTE and the TULF.

While Mr. Sampanthan might have been attempting to portray proximity to the LTTE leadership by claiming its support for his nominee, a Tamil newspaper said the LTTE favoured the Batticaloa politician's nomination in order to clip the TULF deputy leaders' wings because his "loyalty'' was in doubt. The party is also split over naming a new leader.

Mr. Anandasangaree should have succeeded Mr. Sivasithamparam as the president of the party, but he is perceived as a TULF leader least acceptable to the LTTE. He most recently incurred the displeasure of the LTTE for asking Tamils to stop protests against the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, for her strong anti-LTTE statements, on the grounds that it might affect the day-to-day life of the tens of thousands of Sri Lankan Tamils in the southern Indian State. Moves are afoot to appoint either Mr. Sampanthan, or Joseph Pararajasingham, another TULF parliamentarian from Batticaloa, who is considered more acceptable to the LTTE, as the party leader.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

International

Stories in this Section

Congressmen back 'oust Saddam plan'

Fencing reflects racism: Arafat

Lack of action annoys loya jirga delegates

Trial of sect members begins in Hong Kong

TULF takes internal dispute to LTTE

Landslide win may be onerous for Chirac

British Muslims divided over Kashmir

Thais 'vague' about ACD process