The Jaffna University Students' Union said in a statement on Tuesday, the Sri Lankan presidential election on January 8, will in no way help to bring about a permanent political solution for the Tamils.

“We do not have a drop of faith that this election will bring about a permanent political solution for us, the Tamil people” since both of the main candidates were “proponents of Sinhala Buddhist chauvinism," JUSU said.

“Today in this country, the Tamil people are living in a dark age, without good, stable political leadership, without freedom, and without rights,” the Union added.

The Union said that after the massacre of thousands of Tamils in Mullivaikaal, the candidates were now using the displacement and suffering of those remaining to their advantage.

“Our union severely condemns those seeking political gain by manipulating our people and youths with promises of money and job opportunity during election time," JUSU added.

Criticising the Sri Lankan state’s failure to come forward in finding a permanent political solution for Tamils, even five years after the end of the war, the JUSU also condemned the ongoing economic attacks and the “threats to the existence and identity” of the Tamil people, through such state activities as colonisation and land-grabs, as well as “unnecessary military cruelty”.

Warning that unused votes could be tampered with, the Union urged people to exercise their democratic right to vote, while stressing that the Tamil people must think carefully about how to cast their vote.

“The University Students' Union will not waver from the principles of the Tamil nation, self-determination and self-rule, and will always give voice to the rights of the Tamil people,” the statement concluded.