Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Australia Admiral Thisara Samarasinghe says the Tamil National Alliance’s victory in the recent provincial elections in the war-affected North will lead to reconciliation in Sri Lanka.

Responding to a question during an interview on ABC TV, Samarasinghe stated that the essence of the outcome of the democratic process of election is that after long years of conflict and destruction through the separatist terrorist movement, the people of the Northern Province finally had the opportunity of expressing their will to provincially govern them.

He stated that the election will be a political empowerment of the people, “the vision of the President after bringing peace to the country,” and that it will definitely lead to reconciliation and make the growth people centric. “That is the whole purpose of this election,” he said.

Asked whether the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), which won 30 out of 38 seats in the Northern Provincial Council, will now have a say in the government of the North, the former Commander of the Sri Lanka Navy said, “Absolutely they will have a say.”

It is not only the Northern Province of Sri Lanka there are 8 other provinces which are functioning smoothly within the framework of the constitution which has been give certain autonomy to the provinces, Samarasinghe emphasized. “So this is nothing new to Sri Lanka”

He further said that the Government of Sri Lanka decided to hold election in the Northern Province not because of international pressure.