Minister of Resettlement, Rehabilitation, Northern Development and Hindu Religious Affairs and leader of the EPDP, Douglas Devananda told the media at a public meeting in Vavuniya that he had long ago rejected former Northern PC Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran and his policies and, therefore, there was no question of his party joining Wigneswaran’s call for unity among Tamil political parties.
This was in response to Wigneswaran’s recent public statement that the EPDP would not be considered for inclusion in the broad alliance among Tamil parties.
It was an irrelevant and uncalled for statement on the part of Wigneswaran because the EPDP had never sought any political alliance with Wigneswaran, Devananda said.
The Minister also said that appointment of the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) in parliament on Friday was unlawful since the sitting was not to ascertain the majority of any party but only to elect members to the PSC.
Decisions on whether the current parliament should continue or whether snap polls should be held will depend on the Supreme Court verdict to be delivered on December 7, he said.
Housing projects for displaced people in the North and the East will begin soon, he said, adding that the projects had unnecessarily dragged on for over three years by the previous government.