For decades Sri Lanka faced a deadly civil in the Northern part of the country. The ethnic Tamil minority make up 12% of the 22 million Sri Lankans, started a movement for an “independent ethnic state.” By 2009, when the war proceeded to end, an estimated 40,000 individuals lost their lives (Al Jazeera). With the Sri Lankan military win against the last remaining Liberation Tigers of the Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a promise to give the Tamils a “degree of self-rule,” or the 13th amendment, has not been touched since (Al Jazeera).
Amid Sri Lanka’s presidential elections, Dissanayake’s challenges include addressing the country’s economic crisis and the people’s concerns about his political ideology; “Another challenge for Dissanayake will be to reach out to the country’s Tamil minority,” (BBC). On Thursday, November 14th, Dissanayake’s National People’s Power Party was elected by a record 159 of 225 seats (AP News). Dissanayake’s coalition appears to have won the trust of the Tamil people with a two-thirds majority in Tamil-heavy areas voting for the National People’s Power in the Parliamentary polls (The New Indian Express).
Before the election on September 21st, 2024, the Tamils held limited expectations for improvement in their quality of life after the elections (Reuters). The presidential candidates, who are part of the ethnic Sinhala majority population, sideline the Tamils electorally (Reuters). Writing in Canada’s Hamilton Spectator writer Gwynne Dyer says that Dissanayake’s win for the Janatha Vimukthi Peremanuna Party (JVP) was the cost of a “despairing and disillusioned electorate” who chose to bet on those who had not yet failed (Tamil Guardian). Dyer lays the blame for Sri Lanka’s political and economic instability on those who brought former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his family to power following the death of 40,000 people in the Tamil massacre that ended the civil war in 2009 (Tamil Guardian). However, Tamil community member Anthony Vinoth sees Dissanayake’s win as a better chance for the changes the community desires to happen (Al Jazeera). Vinoth stresses the idea that this win is an opportunity for the new President to concentrate on the various issues faced by the differing communities without prejudice (Al Jazeera).
President Dissanayake has promised to return land to the Tamil people that is occupied by the Sri Lankan government and military (The New Indian Express). However, Tamil refugees who fled to the state of Tamil Nadu in India during the height of the civil war are still hesitant to make a return to the island (The New Indian Express). The refugees living in camps around Tamil Nadu have shown that they are not yet ready to “trade their comfortable, peaceful lives,” for the promises of Dissanayake and his coalition (The New Indian Express).
Bibliography
Chitrakar, N. (September 20, 2024) For Sri Lanka’s minority Tamils, election does not offer hope. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/sri-lankas-minority-tamils-election-does-not-offer-hope-2024-09-20/
Dyer, G. (September 30, 2024) Who ruined Sri Lanka? Tamil Guardian. https://www.tamilguardian.com/content/who-ruined-sri-lanka
Ethirajan, A. (September 22, 2024) Sri Lanka’s new president: Political outsider makes remarkable turnaround. BBC. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3wp1p32endo
Harini, M. (November 17, 2024) Change in SL guard fails to inspire confidence in refugees to return. The New Indian Express. https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/tamil-nadu/2024/Nov/18/change-in-sl-guard-fails-to-inspire-confidence-in-refugees-to-return
Mallawarachi, B. (November 18, 2024) Sri Lanka’s Marxist-leaning president appoints Cabinet after election win. AP News. https://apnews.com/article/sri-lanka-cabinet-dissanayake-economic-crisis-ab0741df8252180d800e6816d1b1f959
Pathirana, Saroj. (September 25, 2024) ‘Only the beginning’: Sri Lankans hope for deep changes under new president. Al Jazeera. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/9/25/only-the-beginning-sri-lankans-hope-for-deep-changes-under-new-president
Srinivasan, M. (September 23, 2024) Sajith Premadasa gets highest share of Tamil vote in Sri Lanka polls. The Hindu. https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/sajith-premadasa-gets-highest-share-of-tamil-vote-in-sri-lanka-polls/article68671649.ece
Reference Page
Al Jazeera. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/9/25/only-the-beginning-sri-lankans-hope-for-deep-changes-under-new-president.
BBC. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3wp1p32endo.
The New Indian Express. https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/tamil-nadu/2024/Nov/18/change-in-sl-guard-fails-to-inspire-confidence-in-refugees-to-return.
Tamil Guardian. https://www.tamilguardian.com/content/who-ruined-sri-lanka.