The Northern Tamils demand a third-party mediation before pledging their support to any presidential candidate, former Chief Minister of the Northern Provincial Council and Leader of Tamil People’s Front, C.V. Wigneswaran told the Sunday Observer.
He said that preferably India should be the third party mediator.
“We will definitely join any front which comes up with a resolution. Any settlement must come from the South.We can only ask for what is legally due to us. As far as the Indo- Ceylon Pact is concerned, it was India that signed on our behalf with regard to the 13th Amendment. Our closest neighbor is India. We are happy if India can be the mediator” said Wigneswaran.
He said, “The settlement must come when the South realises that it has done something wrong to the people in the North and the East. We will support any person who understands our problems and presents a final solution which is acceptable to us. But we can not go by words. There should be a third party to give us an assurance to come to an understanding”.
The Presidential Election is schedule to be held before January 8, 2020 as the five- year term of the current President expires on that day. The Northern vote was a decisive factor at the last Presidential election too.
Former Chief Minister also said that joining a camp which the Tamil National Alliance supports could be considered based on the resolution. “I am not against any community. I have been a judge and never engaged in politics the way people have been. I have no difficulty in supporting a camp which is backed by the TNA. However, my party members may have reservations about it” he said.