Vigneswaran sidelined in itinerary for Ban Ki-moon’s visit

The United Nations, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and the Sri Lankan government have combined to sideline Sri Lanka’s Northern Province Chief Minister C.V.Wigneswaran in the itinerary drawn up for the visit of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to Sri Lanka from August 31 to September 2.

The Secretary General will not be meeting Vigneswaran separately, but only as part of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) delegation headed by its chief, R.Sampanthan. Vigneswaran told the Jaffna media that Sampanthan called him on the phone to say that if he wished to meet Ban Ki-moon, he could join the TNA delegation when it meets Ban in Jaffna on  September 2.

Vigneswaran said that he is yet to take a decision on this, thereby hinting that he might boycott the meeting.

Ban Ki-moon would, however, be meeting the Governor of the Northern Province, Reginald Coooray, and visiting a resettlement center for war refugees.  

According to reliable sources, Ban is keen to treat all factions of the TNA and all the communities in Sri Lanka equally .This is why he will be breaking tradition and going on a visit to South Sri Lanka, where the Sinhalese are in a majority, in addition to going to the war affected Tamil North.

He will also be even handed between the Vigneswaran faction and the Sampanthan faction of the TNA. It is learnt that this is why the UN did not fix a meeting with Vigneswaran separately and give him a special status. The UN would like Vigneswaran to be part of the TNA delegation.

The TNA delegation will be headed by Sampanthan whose policy of cooperating with the government of Sri Lanka is appreciated by the UN, the Western world and India. The UN, like the present Sri Lankan regime, is interested in economic development backed by ethnic reconciliation. But, unlike Sampanthan, Vigneswaran is interested only in a political settlement and accountability but not at all in economic development. This irks the international community which wants the Tamils and all Sri Lankans to move forward, New Indian Express reports.

-Agencies