Following weeks of disappointing negotiations with Sri Lankan President Wickremesinghe, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has put forward a seven-day ultimatum to meet three key demands.
The three demands are:
- The full implementation of the 13th amendment.
- The release of Tamil land occupied by the Sri Lankan military.
- The release of all Tamil political prisoners.
Last week, TNA politician MA Sumanthiran announced that the party will need to rethink its strategy of engagement with Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe unless his government produces “actual progress”.
Sri Lankan President Wickremesinghe has claimed he would solve the island’s long-standing ethnic question before the country’s Independence Day on 4 February 2023.
The TNA has come under criticism from Tamil civil society organisations and the families of the disappeared for engaging with both Wickremesinghe and the Rajapaksas. The Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF), which has two MPs, has refused to engage in discussions maintaining that there is the point in speaking with the president unless he explicitly agrees to a federal solution.
The TNA, alongside other Tamil politcal parties, are set to meet with Wickremesinghe for a marathon round of talks from 10-12 January.
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