Bid to remove NPC Chief continues

A majority of TNA members according to a provincial council member are currently discussing ways and means of removing the chief minister.

They are planning to either submit a no-confidence motion or a letter to the Governor seeking the removal of the chief minister.

A TNA provincial council member said that at a meeting which took place recently TNA members representing the council had asked Wigneswaran to step down. However,  Wigneswaran in reply has said that this was a decision the people should make.

Thavarasa said that the only option the TNA members have was to submit a letter to the Governor claiming a majority of the PC wanted the removal of the Chief Minister.

In fact the TNA PC member said that Wigneswaran’s behavior at the recent elections was anti-TNA to say the least.

However TNA is in a dilemma on how to remove Wigneswaran whom the party called as its chief ministerial nominee openly prior to the PC polls two years back. A TNA member said that the chief minister could not be removed by a no-confidence motion and this could only be done by the governor acting on the request of a majority in the council and such a removal could be challenged in courts.

Even  TNA parliament members have openly criticized Wigneswaran in recent times. The TNA’s deputy leader  Mavai S. Senathirajah, had said that Wigneswaran seemed to have forgotten the “tireless work” doe by ITAK and the TNA workers two years ago to elect him as the chief minister of the northern provincial council.

Meanwhile during a media interview on the 10th September 2015 the Chief Minister said:

Q. Tomorrow the TNA meets to consider about you.What have you to say?

A. Tomorrow is an important day. ​I understand ​a copy of the Geneva Report is going to be given to the President tomorrow. The recommendations of the Report are important for the war affected people of Northern and Eastern Provinces. It is about justice for war victims and the search for truth.​

It will affect our people. ​

I was elected on important pledges given to our beloved people of the Northern Province one of which was to endeavour to establish international mechanism to seek truth and justice for the victims. We have to be focused on that. Knowing this I have been working hard to put across our view that an International Mechanism should be put in place.​Apart from the ​above ​we also gave an assurance to our people to address post war needs and priorities and to work towards a just and equitable solution to the protracted ethnic conflict.​

Having lived with our people in the last 23 months my focus is on addressing the above priorities with the limited resources available to us to the best of our ability. ​

​I understand Mr. MangalaSamaraweera has told some Civil Society Groups yesterday that there would only be an internal local mechanism. There will be no foreign judges, no foreign lawyers to prosecute and so on. I wonder what is in store for our people. The mechanism will find nothing wrong with what happened and conclude no war crimes were committed. For doing this they will release a few acres of land from the Army controlled areas, release a few prisoners and undertake to look into missing persons. Army might get reduced a little. These are all deliberate acts purposely committed by the Govt. They will undo some of these which in any even​t they were duty bound to do. But what about the serious war crimes committed? No Sri Lankan Judge will ever find fault with the Military. They will say the mistake lay somewhere else.

In this scenario you are asking me this question. In a democratic party everyone has a right to take up any matter. I believe I was brought in because of my judicial background. I will stand firm in what I do. Justice for our people is my​sole concern. Our Party must identify its priorities ​and work towards fulfilling the pledges given to the people as people believed in our pledges given in our respective manifestos, and reposed their trust in us. We need to honour our commitments and serve the war affected, war weary people with empathy and dedication.

Just now these matters are the priorities for me, since I came forward to serve my people with a sense of purpose and commitment!​ Other things are unimportant.