Tamil speaking supporters of the United National Party (UNP)led Rainbow Coalition, United National Front for Good Governance(UNFGG) feel extremely humiliated and let down by the fact that the UNFGG manifesto for the 2015 elections has been released only in the Sinhala language.
The UNFGG has failed to release the manifesto in the Tamil language which is also an official language of Sri Lanka and is the mother tongue of most Sri Lankan tamils, Muslims and Indian origin Tamils in the Island.
Several political parties representing the Tamil speaking communities in Sri Lanka such as the sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) Tamil Progressive Alliance(TPA) and All Ceylon Peoples Congress (ACPC) are also constituents of the UNFGG whose Prime Ministerial candidate is Ranil Wickremesinghe.
Tamil speaking voters in the districts of Jaffna,Kilinochchi, Mannar,Mullaitheevu, Vavunya. Trincomalee, Batticaloa, Amparai,Puttalam,Kandy,Matale, Nuwara – Eliya, Badulla, Ratnapura.Kegalle,Galle, Kalutara, Colombo and Gampaha voted in very large numbers for the common opposition candidate Maithripala Sirisena at the January 8th Presidential elections. Ex- President Mahinda Rajapaksa has openly stated that it was the minority vote which defeated him in the elections.
Tamil speaking voters are expected to support the UNFGG at the Parliamentary elections also. The UNFGG has fielded a number of Sri Lankan Tamil, Muslim and Indian Tamil candidates at the elections.
Despite this the UNFGG has failed to release its manifesto simultaneously in Tamil also. One reason is that the UNP leadership thinks the minority community votes will definitely be cast in bulk for the elephant symbol under present circumstances
Political observers opine that this majoritarian arrogance of “insulting” the self -respect and dignity of the minority communities has been the bane of the Island nation for decades.
The UNFGG which promises to usher in ethnic reconciliation and national unity has even failed to release its manifesto in Tamil despite fielding minority community candidates to harvest the votes of Tamil speaking people. The three principal Tamil speaking minority communities constitute 25 % of Sri Lanka’s population.
UNP leader and UNFGG prime ministerial candidate Ranil Wickremesinghe while being interviewed by “The Sunday Leader”newspaper was posed the question ” In your view, what are the burning issues of our country that have to be addressed immediately?
Ranil Wickremesinghe’s reply was ” First and foremost we need to address the national issue. We need to create harmony amongst all ethnicities – Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims and Burghers and amongst all religious groups”!
This indicates very clearly that UNFGG prime ministerial candidate Ranil Wickremesinghe gives top priority to the need for creating ethnic harmony. Yet his UNFGG has failed the simple test of at least releasing their election manifesto in both the Sinhala and Tamil languages simultaneously!
What makes a political front seeking the votes of Tamil speaking people ignore the fundamental duty of releasing its election manifesto in the Tamil Language also ?