By Easwaran Rutnam A group of Tamil political parties based in the North have united for a common cause ahead of the presidential election despite the political differences between some of them. Five Tamil political parties last week signed a memorandum highlighting the key demands of the Tamils. The memorandum was prepared by Tamil university students of the Jaffna and Eastern Universities after talks with the Tamil political parties, and is to be presented to the two main presidential candidates, Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Sajith Premadasa. The memorandum contains 13 demands including a demand for a political solution and abolishing the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). The Illangai Thamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK), People’s Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE), Eelam People’s Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF), Tamil People’s Council (TPC), and Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation (TELO) signed the memorandum. “As far as the presidential election is concerned, the demands are what the five parties agreed on. Now we will look to meet the two main candidates as well as the JVP Leader and put forward our demands,” EPRLF Leader Suresh Premachandran told The Sunday Morning. Premachandran said that the decision by the five parties to meet the candidates as one group and press on the demands of the Tamils is seen as a positive move by the Tamils. “It is after a very long time that we are coming together as one voice on some key issues,” Premachandran added. The former Parliamentarian said that the five party leaders will meet among themselves before meeting the presidential candidates to put forward their demands and take the next step. No compromise Last week, Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) member Wimal Weerawansa said SLPP presidential candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa would reject the conditions put forward by the five Tamil political parties. He said that the Tamil parties are attempting to merge the North and East and push for self-determination. “Our presidential candidate will not even look at the conditions in the memorandum,” Weerawansa said. Premachandran said that the five Tamil parties are anyway reconsidering meeting Rajapaksa following the comments he made at a media briefing last week. Rajapaksa had made controversial comments related to wartime disappearances and other Tamil concerns. “We have decided to meet him, but we may need to think twice after some of the comments he made at the press conference,” Premachandran said. United National Front (UNF) Leader Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, who was in Jaffna last week, had met with Premachandran and members of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA). He had assured that he would arrange a meeting between Premadasa and the five Tamil parties to discuss the proposal and demands they have made. Premadasa had already publicly said he will not sign an agreement with any political party to obtain their support at the election. There have been calls for the TNA and other Tamil political parties to boycott the election on the basis that none of the candidates can be trusted. However, TNA Parliamentarian Seeniththamby Yogeswaran said that boycotting the election cannot be an option. He said the only democratic weapon in the hands of the Tamils is the right to vote and that must be used. “We are firm on that,” he said. Yogeswaran said that most Tamils in the North and East will back the candidate the TNA decides to support at the presidential election “As a result, the TNA will speak with the two main candidates and put forward its demands,” he said. He said that the candidate who assures a durable solution for the Tamils will be the one who will secure the support of the TNA at the election. ‘Not a new alliance’ Meanwhile, the Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP) is of the opinion that the new union between the five Tamil political parties is merely an attempt to deceive the Tamils. EPDP Leader Douglas Devananda, who has extended support to SLPP presidential candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa, said that what is important is to protect what is already there and look to address outstanding issues. He said that some of the Tamil parties gave several assurances to secure votes at the last election and those assurances were not met. Now, he says those parties are creating new alliances to divert the attention from their failure to deliver on past assurances. “This is not really a new alliance. These are all parties that worked together earlier. They are just coming back together to safeguard their own interests and not in the best interest of the public,” he said. Devananda said that his party was focused on securing political rights for the Tamils in the North, ensuring their daily needs were met, and developing the North. He said these issues could be addressed only by aligning with the party which had a majority support in the country and according to him, that was the SLPP. Former Northern Province Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran, who was among those who signed the agreement, told The Sunday Morning that electorally there was no agreement to work together. "It is a memo setting out our urgent political and social needs. There are immediate needs and long-term needs identified. There is no agreement on working electorally together," he said.