PMD says ‘conspiracy’ as Tamil MPs protest in front of President’s office

February 24, 2022 at 12:05 PM

Parliamentarians from Tamil political parties of the North and East have engaged in a protest in front of the Presidential Secretariat in Colombo today.

The protest is being staged against the alleged “unlawful land grabs” by the Mahaweli Authority and the Department of Archeology.

Parliamentarians from the Illankai Tamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK), Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization (TELO), Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF), and the Thamizh Makkal Kootanii (TMK) are engaged in the protest.

Tamil Progressive Alliance (TPA) Leader Mano Ganesan is also reported to have joined the protest.

Meanwhile, the President’s Media Division (PMD) has said that the Tamil Parliamentarians had not informed the Presidential Secretariat of arriving to meet the President today.

Stating that they intend to hand over a petition to the President, the PMD said however, they had not informed the Presidential Secretariat prior to their arrival.

The PMD further said that even though the MPs had obtained an appointment to see the Prime Minister, they had disregarded it, and had instead arrived to meet the President.

The PMD added that the actions of the Tamil MPs show a clear conspiracy to create a wrong impression of the Government ahead of the 49th Regular Session of the United Nations Human Rights Commission in Geneva that will commence on Monday (28).

Commenting on the PMD’s statement, Batticaloa District MP Shanakiyan Rasamanickam pointed out that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had denied the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) an appointment to meet him for almost 3 years.

He further condemned the PMD for claiming in its statement that the Tamil politicians had tried to meet the President without a pre-appointment.

However, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is reportedly not at the Presidential Secretariat and is said to have engaged in an impromptu inspection tour of the Ratmalana Railway Maintenance yard this morning.(NewsWire)