TNA And SLMC Support From A
Reconciliation Point Of View
| by Laksiri Fernando
( January 2, 2014, Sydney, Sri Lanka Guardian) TNA and SLMC/NMF support is a welcome development for the common opposition candidate although this move was partly anticipated from the beginning. While the TNA previously announced that they would take a decision by the end of December, it was not clear whether they were simply going to ask the people to vote ‘as they prefer’ or for the ‘best candidate,’ without committing themselves clearly for the opposition. Supporting the incumbent, Mahinda Rajapaksa, was completely out of the question and a boycott of the election also was rightly perceived as unlikely. Among those scenarios, the present position taken by the TNA to actively support is not only positive for the opposition candidate, Maithripala Sirisena, but also good for the future prospects for reconciliation in this badly battered country by animosity, conflict, differences of position and misunderstandings, not to speak of the war or the atrocities committed therein by both sides.
