SHIFTING PARADIGM

Tamil Parliamentarian  is  Lankan opposition leader

Colombo: Sri Lanka’s parliament named an ethnic minority Tamil politician as the main opposition leader for the first time in 32 years, a sign of growing reconciliation in the nation following the end of a bloody civil war.
The majority of the nation’s population belongs to the Sinhalse community and the minorities Tamils have alleged persecution by the government since the uprising of Tamil Tiger separatists three decades ago. 
Rajavarothiam Sampanthan, 83, head of Tamil National Alliance, is the first ethnic minority opposition leader since 1983, when Tamil legislators resigned en masse to protect against a law that compelled them to denounce separatism. Parliament’s speaker accepted Sampanthan as the main opposition leader after loyalists to former president Mahinda Rajapaksa were divided on whether they should support the government or be in opposition.
“We will oppose the government on all issues, where it is in the national interests to do so, “Sampanthan told parliament in his debut speech as opposition leader, “we will support the government on all issues, where such support is justified.” Sampanthan, a lawyer, was first elected to the Tamil parliament in 1977. His party, the former political proxy of the Tamil Tiger insurgents, backed Maithrypala Srisena in the January presidential election, defeating Rajapaksa.
The last government refused to acknowledge Tamils’ request to probe alleged war crimes during the final phase of the war. The UN last year passed a resolution calling for an international probe on the alleged human rights abuses. The outcome of the UN investigation will be released this month.  

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