If Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa thought that the spotlight was no longer on his regime after United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay had raised concerns over the human rights conditions of the Tamils after visiting the country, the Sunday results of to the Northern Provincial Council elections would have been a shocker. The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) won 30 of the 38 seats in the elections sending a clear message to Colombo, and the world, that it was time for giving more regional autonomy to the northern areas. The ruling United Progressive Front Alliance managed to secure just seven seats, while the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress won the remaining one seat.
The Sunday results are perhaps the worst electoral defeat for Mr Rajapaksa after his government came to power in 2005. Last month Ms Pillay visited Sri Lanka and did not mince her words in expressing her disappointment at the progress the Rajapaksa government had made in integrating the Lankan Tamils in the north of the country even four years after the bloody civil war came to an end. The election results underline her observations.
The results have placed a lot of challenges in front of CV Wigneswaran, the retired Supreme Court judge and TNA leader who is the frontrunner for the post of the chief minister of the province. The high voter turnout and the overwhelming majority the TNA has received is also a sign that the people are not happy with the measures the government has taken in the past four years to improve their lives. Mr Wigneswaran’s view that the TNA is willing to work with Colombo within a united Sri Lanka is proof that he has not been swayed by the views of nationalist groups, especially the Tamil diaspora, that is rooting for a separate state. The TNA has said that it will work for the full implementation of the 13th Amendment of the Constitution and will push for meaningful devolution. It is to be seen how much Colombo will be willing to cooperate on this issue. The people have reposed their faith in democracy. Now, it is for both the TNA and the Rajapaksa government to not disappoint them.
The Sunday results are perhaps the worst electoral defeat for Mr Rajapaksa after his government came to power in 2005. Last month Ms Pillay visited Sri Lanka and did not mince her words in expressing her disappointment at the progress the Rajapaksa government had made in integrating the Lankan Tamils in the north of the country even four years after the bloody civil war came to an end. The election results underline her observations.
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