A rift has emerged in the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) after a late decision was taken to offer the National List seat of the Illangai Thamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK) to ITAK leader Mavai Senathirajah.
Earlier it was decided that the National List seat will be offered to a TNA member of the Ampara District.
However, yesterday ITAK had decided that the seat will be offered to Mavai Senathirajah, who lost his seat in Parliament at the just concluded Parliamentary Election.
TNA alliance members, the People’s Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) and the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization (TELO), have accused ITAK of failing to consult them on the National List seat.
PLOTE leader Dharmalingham Sidharthan said that he had not been consulted before a decision was taken to nominate Mavai Senathirajah to the National List seat.
He said that he will raise strong objections to the move.
TELO leader Selvam Adaikalanathan accused ITAK of failing to seek the opinion of the TNA alliance members when nominating members to the National List.
He said that he condemns the decision to name anyone to the National List of the TNA without consulting the alliance.
The TNA contested the just concluded Parliamentary Election under the ITAK ‘House’ symbol.
ITAK performed well at the polls but lost a number of its seats when compared to the last election.
Courtesy: Colombo Gazette
