TNA to shun pro-LTTE and pro-Govt. MPs?

Party to decide on the fate of five Parliamentarians

By Santhush Fernando

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) is to decide on the fate of four of its Parliamentarians, who have failed to be present for Parliament sessions for the last three months.
The TNA is to decide the future of four of its members- S. Jayananthamurthi from Batticaloa, Selvam Addaikalanathan from Vanni, Selvarajah Kajendran and M K Sivajilingam from Jaffna, who have failed to present themselves in Parliament during the last three months, allegedly due to security threats to their lives.
During the TNA Parliamentary Group meeting held last Monday, the Party decided to call explanation from its allegedly dissident MP after 2004- Sivanathan Kishor from Vanni who had stated that he will support UPFA governments’ efforts for resettlement and rehabilitation of Internally Displaced People (IDPs).
It is not known whether the TNA would take any action on Vino Noharathalingam (Vanni) who has been allegedly requested by a splinter group of Tamil Elam Liberation Organisation (TELO), to which he belonged, to join the government.
Parliament recently decided that it will sit to review the requests for leave made by these four MPs allegedly on ‘medical grounds’ and would have to ‘think twice about approving leave to MPs while they support separatism on foreign soil.’ If no request for further leave is made, the Membership of the MPs would lapse, as in what happened when the TNA ‘failed’ to request leave for its vociferous MP- M K Eelaventhan.
However some of these members would not return to the country, fearing that their lives were in danger. A weapon was found in the Vavuniya office of one of these MPs while some others had been interrogated by the Criminal Investigations Division (CID) for alleged links with the LTTE.
“The Party is not keen to continuously ask leave from Parliament on behalf of these members and would decide whether they will be replaced.” A party source told The Bottom Line.
The Parliamentary Group would convene probably after July 7, as Parliament would recommence sittings next Tuesday and would be decided once Mavai S. Senathirajah will return to Colombo tomorrow.
Jaffna district MP Pathmini Sithamparanathan was also overseas but returned to the island recently while K Pathmathan from Digamadulla passed away while in Chennai.
Although TNA will not join the government the attitude is changing within the party to co-operate with the government in so much as to find a solution to the grievances of the Tamil people and to bring all Tamil political parties onto one common platform, the party said.