First Tamil in 32 years to lead SL opposition

COLOMBO: A Tamil lawmaker became leader of the opposition in Sri Lanka’s parliament for the first time in 32 years on Thursday, in the latest sign of progress towards ethnic reconciliation on the once bitterly divided island.
Rajavarothiam Sampanthan is the first lawmaker from the ethnic minority to lead the opposition since 1983, when Tamil legislators resigned en masse to protest against a statute that compelled them to denounce separatism.
The 82-year-old moderate heads the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), which emerged from last month’s election as the third-largest force with 16 seats in the 225-member assembly.
“We shall be loyal to this country and the people of this country,” Sampanthan told the House on Thursday.
“Our primary duty is to ensure that there is an acceptable resolution to the Tamil question.”
Sri Lankans voted overwhelmingly in last month’s polls to continue what Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe called the “January 8 revolution” in reference to the toppling of long-time leader Mahinda Rajapakse.
The former president won huge support among the majority Sinhalese community for defeating Tamil guerrillas who waged a long separatist insurgency on the island, but was blamed for failing to bring about ethnic reconciliation in the aftermath of the conflict.
Wickremesinghe’s new government has pledged to work for unity in Sri Lanka, which still bears the scars of the decades-long civil war between separatist Tamil guerrillas and the state.
His United National Party (UNP) will govern in coalition with the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA), which was in opposition until the latest election.
But a splinter group has remained loyal to the UPFA’s best-known member Rajapakse, who oversaw the crushing of the Tamil Tiger guerrillas that ended the war in 2009, and chosen to remain in opposition.
They opposed Sampanthan’s appointment, arguing they should lead the opposition, but House Speaker Karu Jayasuriya rejected that and named the veteran Tamil legislator.
Sri Lanka’s President Maithripala Sirisena won power in January promising reconciliation and accountability for alleged war crimes committed by troops under Rajapakse’s command.
This week he urged the new parliament to make “difficult political decisions” to bring about ethnic reconciliation six years after the end of the war between Tamil separatists and the state.