Release from Country Working Group, New Zealand

Media Release from Country Working Group, New Zealand

We are delighted to announce the outcome of the election for two New Zealand Tamil community representatives for a Constituent Assembly (CA) to prepare for the establishment of a Provisional Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (the name for the yet-to-be-re-established Tamil state in Sri Lanka).

The Transnational government is an novel idea to represent Tamils living around the world. Guidelines for the Transnational Government and elections to a CA have been developed over the past 9 months by an Advisory Committee comprising eminent persons around the world.

The democratic direct elections taking place around the world for the CA will provide it the highest level of legitimacy under the UN Charter. The task of the CA will be to draw up a constitution for the Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam.

New Zealand will have two representatives on the CA: one each from a Northern electorate (Taupo and north) and a Southern electorate (the rest of the country).

Elections for the CA are being held within Tamil communities around the world on 2nd May.

However in New Zealand as the Election Commission has received single nominations for the two electorates, these nominees have been declared as the elected representatives. Consequently the 2nd May election date will be a celebration of the election of the New Zealand Representatives to the CA and the opportunity for the two elected delegates to address the Tamil community.

The elected representatives are:

Northern electorate – Mr Theva Rajan Arumugam

Southern electorate – Dr Naguleswaran

Brief biographies of the representatives are attached.

The two New Zealand representatives will join the first meeting of the 115 elected representatives of the CA on 17 May.

These are important new steps in the Tamil struggle to reclaim their lost lands following the armed invasion of the Tamil region by the Sri Lankan army and the defeat of the Tamil resistance movement last year. This was widely reported to be accompanied by widespread human rights violations, war crimes, and crimes against humanity amounting to a charge of genocide.

The establishment of a Provisional Transnational Government will mark a new stage in the campaign for a sovereign Tamil state which they had lost to invading foreign forces. It is not possible at present to conduct this exercise in the Tamil regions of Sri Lanka because they are presently under a brutal military occupation. Therefore the international Tamil community will establish the provisional government to advocate for Tamils in Tamil Eelam and spearhead a new step in the struggle.

The election process in New Zealand has been overseen by an Election Commission which includes non-Tamils John Minto and Fr Gerard Burns who have described the election process around the world as an impressive exercise in international democracy in the face of many difficulties.

In each and every respect we have been impressed with the engagement of the Tamil community in the election process, despite the challenging timeframe within which the election was held, and the dedication of all concerned to meet the highest standards of democratic involvement and participation in the process.

Country Working Group Members, New Zealand

Mr. Mahasivam

Mr. Sundararajan

Mr. Singavarodayan

Mast. Jeyabalan

Dr. Siva Naguleswaran

ENDS

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