TNA leader under pressure to retire
by Shamindra Ferdinando
Jaffna District Illankai Thamil Arasu Kadchi (ITAK) MP M. A. Sumanthiran has said that Tamil National Alliance (TNA) leader Rajavarothiam Sampanthan should retire from Parliament without further delay as the 90-year-old politician finds it extremely difficult to function as a lawmaker.
Sumanthiran, PC, said the Trincomalee District MP had not been able to attend Parliament regularly since the last general election conducted in August 2020 or address vital issues due to ill health.
The ITAK won 10 seats at the 2020 general election. It has 16 seats in the previous Parliament. Mavai Senathiraja received the appointment as the ITAK leader in Sept 2014 in the run-up to the 2015 presidential election.
Sumanthiran said so when The Island sought his response to Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) leader Douglas Devananda’s declaration that both the TNA and the MP concerned suffered as a result of the latter’s failure to solve the problems faced by the community. Fisheries Minister Devananda, who also represents the Jaffna District, questioned Sampanthan holding on to the party leadership.
Emphasising that Sampanthan should resign, Sumanthiran pointed out that a controversy had erupted in the Tamil media a few weeks back over his response to an issue raised in ‘Face the Nation’ on TV 1, anchored by Shameer Rasooldeen.
“A viewer posed a question regarding spending taxpayers’ money on the TNA leader, who was not present in Parliament most of the time. As this particular live programme dealt with corruption, the viewer queried whether such spending on an MP unable to perform his duties, too, could be categorised as corruption. He asked my stand on the issue at hand,” Sumanthiran said over the weekend.
“I could not sidestep the issue,” MP Sumanthiran said, adding that the ITAK had in September formally requested the TNA leader to step down. He quoted Sampanthan as having told the ITAK delegation that he wouldn’t quit as the people had voted for him at the last general election.
Sampanthan has led the TNA since 2001, the year he recognised the LTTE as the sole representative of the Tamil speaking people. He first entered Parliament in 1977.
During the Yahapalana administration, Sampanthan functioned as the Opposition Leader. The TNA under his leadership won 22 seats in 2004 with the backing of the LTTE.
MP Sumanthiran said all politicians should realise that they could not remain in active politics forever. “We’ll have to make a decision on this issue soon.”MP Sumanthiran said that the ITAK was keen to settle the issue as soon as possible to prevent various interested parties from causing unnecessary trouble.
