Ananthy not contesting election

NPC councillor Ananthy Sasitharan has stated that she had changed her decision to contest the Parliamentary election independently.

“In line with requests made by friends who are concerned about the Tamil nation and wellwishers, and to ensure that the Tamil National Alliance is not defeated by the Ilankai Thamil Arasu Katchi’s undemocratic actions, I have reviewed my decision and stepped out of the contest,” Ms Sasitharan said in a statement on Monday.

“My intention was to rectify the Ilankai Thamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK). I never wanted to enter parliamentary politics. I was fully involved in searching for people who went missing along side my husband. In the last few years, even when I have worked with the Tamil National Alliance [TNA] to conduct a search, my efforts have been futile.”

“Understanding that Sinhala Buddhist chauvinists were once again trying to covertly mislead us, I stated my view that there is no benefit in endorsing anyone in the [January 2015] presidential election. Some central committee members of the party [ITAK] also agreed with this view. Today, it has been proved that decision was correct. However, myself and the others, who had predicted this, were temporarily suspended from the party. The others who were suspended were taken back into the party without any investigation however. I alone was made to be the guilty one. This is how much concern the ITAK has for women.”

“In Spite of this, I decided to contest the parliamentary election within another party or as an independently so that my voice will be recorded in the Sri Lankan Hansard. The TNA was willing to offer nomination for elections but it was the Illankai Tamil Arasu KatchI that opposed it. She would remain within the ITAK and fight against it.”