My way or the highway

Members of three constituent parties of the TNA, namely the TELO, PLOTE and EPRLF have decided to sit independently in Parliament and the Northern and Eastern Provincial Council if the No-Confidence Motion (NCM) against Chief Minister C. V. Wigneswaran is moved, internal party sources said. The two factions failed to reach a compromise despite repeated talks held yesterday.

The crisis comes in the wake of the ITAK, the main constituent party’s insistence on permitting two ministers to continue to work pending a fresh investigation.

A team led by the Leaders of TELO, PLOTE and EPRLF met with Chief Minister Wigneswaran on Saturday. After this meeting Wigneswaran has sent a reply to Opposition Leader R Sampanthan over the latter’s request not to take action against the two NPC ministers on whom there is no finding of guilt by the board of inquiry.

In his reply, Wigneswaran has stated that his position on Provincial Health Minister Dr. P Sathyalingm and Civil Transport and Fisheries Minister B.Denishwaran could be reconsidered, if Sampanthan could make an assurance that they (Denishwaran and Sathyalingm) would not influence the fresh investigations to be held over the allegations. However, it was learnt that Opposition Leader Sampanthan yesterday sent another letter to Wigneswaran informing that he could not and have no right to make such an assurance on behalf of two Provincial Ministers who are under Wigneswaran.

In the meantime, the two camps of the TNA convened separate meetings yesterday. The Provincial Council members who support the Chief Minister were to meet him yesterday evening, while the members of ITAK, the remaining constituent Party of the TNA, were to meet with their Leader MP Mavai Senathirajah in the afternoon.

MP Senathirajah also met with religious leaders in Jaffna yesterday to educate them on the latest political developments in the NPC.