Leader of Tamil Progressive Party (TPA), MP Mano Ganesan and many other Tamil speaking political party leaders such as Rauff Hakeem, M.A. Sumanthiran, D. Sithadthan, Gajan Ponnambalam and Rishad Bathiudeen, who held talks with visiting US Under Secretary of State Victoria Nuland said they had a unanimous stand that President Ranil Wickremesinghe should demonstrate his credibility by matching his words with deeds and urged the US to assist Sri Lanka to secure the IMF bailout.
MP Ganesan elaborated that this is the President who has the benefit of the announced support of Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa, Leader of prime ruling party Mahinda Rajapaksa, and the JVP Leader in implementing the 13A.
All Tamil speaking parties agreed that President Wickremesinghe should conduct separate discussions with parties representing North and East Tamils, Hill Country Tamils and Muslims and convene an All Party Conference thereafter, they told the visiting US Under Secretary of State.
He added that regarding addressing the issues, there shall be a step by step road map and US Under Secretary Nuland agreed to take these messages to President Wickremesinghe when discussing the economic crisis, ongoing US assistance to Sri Lankans, USD 240 million in new assistance last year alone, and the many ways both countries are working together toward an inclusive, prosperous and secure future for all Sri Lankans.
On the meeting held with the Tamil politicians, US Ambassador to Sri Lanka Julie Chung tweeted yesterday (1) that they held a positive meeting with parties on how the US can help Sri Lanka out of the economic crisis and to bring real-time reconciliation between communities with a genuine power-sharing agreement.