For Sri Lanka’s Minority Tamils, Election Fails to Provide Hope – Reuters

By Navesh Chitrakar

JAFFNA, Sri Lanka – The long-standing scars of a civil war and an ongoing economic crisis have left the ethnic minority Tamils in Sri Lanka feeling disillusioned about the prospects of improvement in their situation following the upcoming presidential election.

Comprising 12% of the country’s 22 million residents, the Tamil community has often found themselves marginalized in the electoral process, dominated by candidates from the majority Sinhala population. Many Tamils express skepticism about candidates’ abilities to offer a better future.

The civil conflict, which lasted for 26 years and sought to establish a separate Tamil nation in the northern and eastern regions, concluded in 2009, leaving behind a legacy of violence. Human rights organizations have pointed fingers at both government forces and Tamil insurgents for committing abuses during the conflict, which resulted in an estimated 40,000 deaths, according to the United Nations.

Paramasamy Thanabalasingam, a 62-year-old fisherman from Jaffna, the capital of the Northern Province, shared his despair. "After we recovered from the losses that we faced during the war, we faced the coronavirus pandemic and the economic crisis … I don’t have any hope," he remarked.

As Sri Lanka prepares for the presidential election, set for Saturday, it will be the first electoral exercise since the nation faced a significant decline in dollar reserves, leading to its most severe financial crisis in decades.

Historically, Tamil voters have leaned towards parties that advocate for their rights in northern Sri Lanka. However, Thanabalasingam noted that the Tamil vote is now fragmented among various factions vying for representation. "Currently, only a Sinhala candidate can become president. There is a Tamil candidate, but our Tamil politicians are divided," he explained.

He further expressed disillusionment, stating, "The decision about who will be president will be made by the majority Sinhala population, which is why I feel there won’t be any change."

Among the 38 candidates competing in the election is President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who is running as an independent for the first time. He faces stiff competition from opposition leader Sajith Premadasa and Anura Kumara Dissanayake, a politician with Marxist leanings.

Thanabalasingam articulated the difficulties his family faced, having been displaced during the civil war. Together with the impacts of the pandemic and Sri Lanka’s economic troubles, conditions for many have worsened drastically.

Muththu Sivamohan, 66, who serves as the secretary of a farmers’ union in Iranaimadhu, also within the Northern Province, noted that many Tamil farmers are gradually recovering from the economic collapse of 2022, but they remain burdened by debts accrued during the crisis.

Sivamohan lamented, "There has been no economic development in recent years. We believe that a change in government is necessary to eliminate the culture of corruption." He emphasized, however, that they would not relinquish their rights in pursuit of development, indicating a preference to support the Tamil candidate as their primary choice in the election.