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Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam Becomes
Official
New York:
The Transnational
Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) met at the
United Nations Plaza Hotel in New York between
September 29th and October 1st, when it ratified
its Constitution, and elected its Prime
Minister. Delegates in New York were joined via
teleconference by delegates from London and
Paris. The conference was opened with a moment
of silence to remember those who have lost their
lives in the freedom struggle. The opening
plenary was addressed by former U.S. Attorney
General Mr. Ramsey Clark, Deputy Chief Minister
of Penang (Malaysia) Professor Ramasamy,
Professor David L. Philips from Columbia
University and who also served as UN and U.S.
State Department adviser, and Mr. Ali Beydoun,
Executive Director of UNROW Human Rights Impact
Litigation Clinic of the American University's
Washington College of Law. UNROW recently
published a report on Sri Lanka War Crimes which
was submitted to the UN.
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After the opening session the
Assembly turned to the challenging task of
discussing the draft constitution. They debated
and settled on a parliamentary model. The
Parliament decided that the head of the
government would be the Prime Minister. They
also chose to create three Deputy Prime Minister
posts. The Deputy Prime Ministers will be joined
in the cabinet by seven other ministers. The
TGTE Parliament will have a bicameral
legislature. It will consist of the Parliament
of elected representatives and the Senate. The
Senate will serve as an advisory body as well as
provide expertise. The Parliament also codified
the recall mechanism of the elected members.
After the Assembly ratified the constitution,
and unanimously elected Mr. Pon Balarajan from
Canada as the Speaker of the Parliament, and Ms.
Suganya Puthirasigamany from Switzerland as the
Deputy Speaker. The Parliament unanimously
elected Mr. Visvanathan Rudrakumaran as the
first Prime Minister of the Transnational
Government of Tamil Eelam.
