The Jaffna University students’ council, on Saturday, decided not to respect the decision taken by the TNA to support NDF presidential candidate Sajith Premadasa.

The students say Premadasa has not responded to the 13 demands made by five different parties representing the North and the East. The student council played pivotal role in formulating the 13 demands and enlisting the support of the five Tamils parties for them. The student council is expected to inform the TNA of this decision shortly.

The TNA led by MP R. Sampanthan is campaigning for Premadasa.

The only option for the Tamil people at the coming election was NDF candidate Premadasa, TNA leader Sampanthan said, addressing the alliance’s first political meeting since they decided to back Premadasa.

Sampanthan said that the 2019 presidential poll was the most crucial election in recent history and boycotting such an election would have disastrous consequences for the Tamil people.

"As a responsible political party we will not support any election boycott; the November 16 presidential election is a decisive one and the Tamil people must take part in the election," Sampanthan said, addressing the meeting at Vavuniya Town Hall.

The TNA leader said that there was no need to remind the people of the disastrous consequences of not being a part of the electoral process in 2005. "The coming election is much more crucial. Boycotting this is suicidal. Sajith Premadasa is our only option and all Tamil voters must rally behind Sajith."

Meanwhile, EPRLF leader former MP Suresh Premachandran viewed the TNA’s decision to support Preamdasa as the most foolish one that alliance made in recent times.

Addressing the media in Jaffna, he said that electing Premadasa would not be good for Tamils or even for the Sinhalese. "If Premadasa becomes the President then UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe would be the Prime Minister and such a government would be as same as Maitripala-Wickremesinghe administration, where the President and the PM were at loggerheads."

He said that the Tamils in the North and the East had two options. "That is either to vote for Presidential Candidate M. K. Sivajilingam or to boycott it," he said.

Meanwhile, Leader of the TULF V Ananda Sangari addressing a press conference on Friday in Kilinochchi said that the current government served only the TNA and not the Tamil people.

Jaffna electoral District has 564,714 registered voters, Vanni 282,119, Trincomalee 281,114, Batticaloa 398,301 and Digamadulla 503,790. There are 2,030,038 registered voters in the two provinces, according to the latest Election Commission statistics.