CLASSIFIED | POLITICS | TERRORISM | OPINION | VIEWS

TAMIL TIGERS DENY THAT THEY RECEIVED A BRIBE AND FACILITATED THE RAJAPAKSA VICTORY BY A BOYCOTT

By Walter Jayawardhana

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam ( LTTE ) rejected one of the most serious allegations lodged against the current president of Sri Lanka, Mahinda Rajapaksa, by the country’s main opposition, the United National Party (UNP) and its allies that the Tamil separatists facilitated the victory of the President by organizing a boycott by the Tamil voters of the presidential polls after receiving a huge bribe running into millions.

"There is no truth whatsoever in the widespread allegation among the southern political parties that the LTTE have entered into a deal with Mahinda Rajapakse's side and accepted a large sum of money," said S. P.Thamilselvan, head of the political wing of the Tamil separatist group speaking to a pro-rebel Tamil daily, Uthayan, in an obvious reference to the UNP charge.

This is the first time, after a lapse of many months, that the LTTE denied the bribery charge.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa won the last Presidential election with a paper thin majority and the UNP and its ally the SLFP- Mahajana Wing accused recently that if not for the LTTE boycott of the presidential polls their candidate, former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe would have won with the votes which were not cast due to the boycott. They argued the Tamils had a sympathy towards the UNP over Rajapaksa who later started a military campaign against the LTTE following a series of provocations including a massacre of 165 ethnic Sinhalese civilian bus passengers at Kebethigollewa, in the North Central province .

A ruling party dissident group , SLFP -M Wing made the charge their main issue to campaign against the government and they said Pro-SLFP-(M) Tyronne Alles , a publisher of a newspaper was employed by the Rajapaksas to bribe the Tamil Tigers.

The long drawn political controversy about the bribe has been brought to square one by the statement of Thamilselvan, political analysts said.

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