Discussions with South African envoy 'very fruitful' - TNA12 April 2014The Tamil National Alliance said discussions with the South African envoy, Cyril Ramaposa, this week were "very fruitful".  "We look forward to continued engagement with the Special Envoy especially during his impending visit to Sri Lanka," said the party in a statement issued today. The statement did not elaborate on the context or details of the discussion.  A delegation, led by R. Sampanthan, included Suresh Premachandran, Selvam Adaikalanathan and M.A. Sumanthiran, took part in discussions which began on April 9th and are due to end today.  Speaking to Tamil Guardian before the visit, Mr. Premachandran stressed the need for normalcy in the North-East in order for any dialogue with the government regarding a political solution to be successful.  Meanwhile, the visit has drawn criticism from the main Tamil opposition party, the Tamil National People's Front (TNPF) however, who questioned why the TNA was agreeing to such a process of dialogue, days after the government had disenfranchised one part of the Tamil nation through the proscription of leading Tamil diaspora groups.  "You can't disenfranchise a section of the people you are meant to reconcile with, the very basis for negotiations ceases to exist," the TNPF President, Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam told Tamil Guardian earlier this week.