JAFFNA, Sri Lanka, Sept 20 (Askume) – Ravaged by decades of civil war and struggling to survive in Sri Lanka’s economic recession, the island nation’s Tamil minority said on Saturday there would be no improvement as their situation was almost hopeless .
Tamils make up 12% of the country’s 22 million people, but they have long been marginalized in elections because most candidates come from the Sinhalese majority, and many Tamils say they see no better hope for the future than those candidates.
A 26-year civil war between Tamil rebels and government forces ended in 2009, as they hoped to establish an independent Tamil state in the north and east of the country. The conflict has killed 40,000 people, according to UN estimates, and rights groups have accused both sides of abusing power in the conflict.
“After recovering from the losses suffered during the war, we are facing the coronavirus pandemic and the economic crisis… I have no hope.
Sri Lanka will vote on Saturday to elect a new president for a five-year term, the first election since the South Asian island nation plunged into its worst financial collapse in decades due to a sharp depletion of dollar reserves.
Traditionally, Tamils voted for Tamil parties active in northern Sri Lanka, but Thanabalasingham said their vote was now split between several factions claiming to represent minority concerns.
“At present only a Sinhalese candidate can become president and there is also a Tamil candidate, but our Tamil politicians are divided on many aspects,” he said.
“(Who becomes president) will be decided by the Sinhalese majority, so I don’t think anything will change,” he said.
Sinhalese President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who is contesting as an independent candidate for the first time, is one of the 38 candidates contesting Sri Lanka’s presidential election on Saturday. The election is seen as a close contest between Wickremesinghe, opposition leader Sajith Premadasa and Marxist-minded politician Anura Kumara Dissanayake.
Thanabalasingam said he and his family were displaced during the civil war and that Sri Lanka’s economic crisis, as well as the COVID-19 pandemic, have further worsened their situation.
Muthu Sivamohan, 66, farmers’ union secretary
Ilanai Madhu from the Northern Province said most Tamil farmers were slowly recovering from the economic collapse of 2022, but they remained in debt due to the expenses incurred during the crisis.
“There has been no economic growth in recent years,” he said. “We believe the government must be changed to end the culture of corruption.”
“At the same time, we cannot compromise on the right to development. So we have decided to support the Tamil candidate as our first choice,” he said.
