Meeting
A meeting between Jaffna Municipal Council Chief Minister V. Manivannan and New Zealand Ambassador Michael Abelton was held today at Jaffna Municipal Council.
During the said meeting, the ambassador inquired in detail about the structure and activities of the Jaffna Municipal Council in connection with the elections for the local councils.
At the same time, municipal elections have not been held in the country, especially provincial council elections have not been held for a long time. After the local government elections in 2018, this election should be held after four years. But till now the government has not taken any action for it. The people want the parliament to be dissolved and a new government to be formed. Therefore, he said, the New Zealand government should pressurize for such elections to take place.
Tamil people in protests against the government
The Ambassador asked why the Tamil people did not participate in the protests in Colombo against the Sri Lankan government.
The Chief Minister of Jaffna replied,
The Tamil people did not accept the mere change of faces. The problems of the Tamil people should be investigated and their basic rights should be made available. As a result, the Tamil people did not participate in the protest against the government in Colombo.
Apart from this, the Tamil people should be given the necessary things through international pressure. Foreign relations are ready to help with the economic problem. For that, the Tamil people should be given a Samasti-based solution through pressure.
The building which was destroyed by the government is now standing in the middle due to financial problems. Help is needed to repair it. The Cultural Hall built with Indian financial contribution should be handed over to the Municipal Council and its activities should be resumed.
In the same way, the city chief minister also presented demands to the envoy, including that Balali airport should be made available for public use.
Language of ambassadorial commitment
During this, the Ambassador gave assurance that we will give possible pressure and make the people lead a normal life.
It is noteworthy that the ambassador who visited Jaffna visited various places including the Jaffna Public Library.
