Former rebel leader to join Tamil party

Former LTTE commander-turned politician Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan alias Karuna Amman has expressed his willingness to join the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) led by veteran Tamil politician V Anandasangaree, a media report has said. “I wish to join the TULF. I am consulting others. I expect to announce a decision soon,” Karuna said yesterday. Karuna was the LTTE’s commander for Batticaloa and Ampara districts till he defected to the Sri Lankan government side in 2004. Asked why he had chosen the TULF over the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), which is the dominant Tamil party in the Tamil speaking Northern and Eastern Provinces, Karuna said that while the TULF has been consistent in its policies, the TNA has been changing its stance to suit political exigencies. Karuna said that he agrees with the TULF stance that the best solution to the Tamil problem lies in the adoption of the Indian model of devolution to the provinces. “I have spoken in parliament on the need to implement the 13th amendment of the constitution which stemmed from the India-Lanka Accord of 1987,” he said. Karuna, who is currently in the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), is expected to resign soon. During the previous regime of Mahinda Rajapakse, the lawmaker from the UPFA was appointed as a vice president of SLFP and a deputy minister. Prior to that he was founder-leader of the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Puligal (TMVP), which he founded in 2004 after splitting from the LTTE. The TMVP became an unofficial pro-government paramilitary group. Karuna was eventually ousted from the TMVP by his deputy, Pillayan.