The Tamil National People's Front (TNPF) called on the Tamil people to boycott Sri Lanka's presidential election next month, stating that the policies in relation to the Tamil question of the common opposition coalition did not differ from that of the ruling regime.
"There is no doubt that every Tamil person wants an end to this regime's policies - that of targeting the Tamil nation," said the TNPF President Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam at a press conference on Thursday.
"However, what is important is that there is an end to the atrocities being committed. It is not merely to oust Mahinda Rajapaksa. The key aim of every Tamil person is to put an end to the things that he is doing."
"From our point of view, the most important question is to what extent will a new regime, brought in by someone new, provide progress to the Tamil nation."
"In order to defeat the Rajapaksa regime, what kind of person do we need to bring? Do we need to defeat Rajapaksa as an individual, or do we need to defeat his policies?"
"As far as we are concerned, it is not Mahinda Rajapaksa as an individual that is the problem, but his policies. If the next person [to assume the presidency] is going to follow his same policies then what is really taking place here is not the change of a regime, ie. that of policies, but merely a personality change."
"Our party's humble request to the Tamil people is that the wisest thing to do at present would be to stay away from this election. At no point in the future should it be said that the Tamil people willfully gave a mandate to destroy the Tamil nation."
