By NNN-PTI
Colombo : Three Tamil parties have formed an alliance ahead of the first Provincial Council elections in two decades in strife-torn eastern Sri Lanka with the aim of installing a Tamil speaking person as the Chief Minister.
The Tamil Democratic National Alliance comprising People’s Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE), the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) and a faction of the Eelam People’s Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF) has been formed to ensure “unity of Tamil people” for the May 10 polls, PLOTE leader Dharmalingam Siddharthan said.
“We have formed an alliance and are now talking to Eelam People’s Democratic Front and other Tamil Parties for a much broader Tamil alliance before nominations close on April 3,” he told PTI.
The understanding for formation of an alliance was reached Thursday among Siddharthan, TULF Leader V. Anandasangari and the local Leader of EPRLF (Naba Wing) G. Sritharan to contest the forthcoming May 10 elections for the Eastern Provincial Council.
The elections are being held after a gap of nearly 20 years in the region which along with northern Sri Lanka was caught in the fighting between the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and government forces.
“Since the 13th amendment providing for the Provincial Council has been the main agenda for resolving the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka, we should have a Tamil speaking person as the Chief Minister of Eastern Province after the elections,” he said.