TNA's promises..
Writing in English in the Colombo Telegraph (see here), following the TNA's landslide victory, the TNA MP M.A. Sumanthiran heralded the "dawn of a new era" and asserted that voters in the North had been captivated by the TNA's "principled stands", such as the defence of the Sri Lankan constitution, and that the TNA would "relentlessly seek to deliver on its promises to the people."
Lest we forget what these promises were, here is a video of Sumanthiran speaking in Tamil, at the final TNA election rally in Kilinochchi, a couple of days before the election.
Two extracts are translated below:
(16:00 mins)
Lest we forget what these promises were, here is a video of Sumanthiran speaking in Tamil, at the final TNA election rally in Kilinochchi, a couple of days before the election.
Two extracts are translated below:
(16:00 mins)
"When the President came here to Kilinochchi to open a railway, he said in Tamil, 'from now on, the Tamil people should not vote for policies, they only should vote for development'.
What kind of thoroughly dishonest person must he be?! *crowd cheer loudly*
How unfortunate a country must this be? That this country must have a leader, dishonest enough, who tells people they must not vote for policies?! *crowd cheer loudly*
This is a leader, who doesn't realise that we are a people - that for our policies - gave our lives... relinquished all our possessions... and that we are a people who are yet still prepared to give more!!
Was it just for development that we came this far?!
Was it just for development that for over sixty years we gave up everything apart from our self-respect? There is nothing else left to give now! But he [Rajapaksa] did not know that. Perhaps if he had been Tamil, he would have known that to Tamils value self-respect above life itself! But he isn't, so he doesn't have that feeling!