TNA meets with German Minister

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 February 2005, 17:34 GMT]
A delegation of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) compring TNA Parliamentary Group Leader, Mr. R.Sampathan, and parliamentarians Mr. Joseph Pararajasingham, Mr. Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam, and Mrs. Padmini Sithambaranathan, met with German Economic Cooperation and Development Minister Ms. Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul at the German Embassy in Colombo, Monday, political sources in Colombo said.

The TNA delegation told the Minister that the ceasefire, which has held for almost three years, was increasingly coming under strain. The delegation added that Tamil people and TNA are frustrated that the Sri Lankan Government has not taken any tangible step towards the revival of the peace process after it took over office, apart from issuing verbal assurances of a commitment to the peace process. Tamil people are disappointed that normalcy has not returned to their lives and there has not been any peace dividends like those being enjoyed by people in the South, Mr Pararajasingam told TamilNet.




The delegation told the German Minister that a common mechanism is needed for the development of the tsunami-affected areas in North East, and the government is delaying setting up this mechanism. The TNA delegation further pointed out to the Minister that the Sri Lanka Government was not able to take any positive step due to the opposition it faced from its main alliance partner the Janatha Vimukthy Peremuna (JVP).

Among other matters discussed were the current state of the peace process - the pre-tsunami and the post-tsunami condition of the people in the Northeast and the violence on the Polonnoruwa - Batticaloa Road in government controlled territory in which several important LTTE cadres and a former TNA Member of Parliament were killed. The parliamentarians added that there was the danger that the ceasefire could collapse and that it was the duty of the government to ensure that this did not happen.