Please read the following text before you take the poll.
What is a Transitional Government and what is a government in exile, and how do those terms apply to the Tamil diaspora?
A transitional government (also called a provisional government) usually indicates a short-term government that prepares a country for a new government after the old regime has ended. Two examples are the Transitional Government of Russia after the fall of the Tsarist regime in 1917 and Eritrea’s transitional government which established a new permanent government after Eretria’s successful insurgency ended Ethiopian rule in 1993. Transitional governments exist within the country.
A government in exile represents a government that has been deposed by invasion or revolution and exists outside of its homeland. An example is the Government in Exile of Poland, where the last legitimate government was destroyed by the invasion of Germany and Russia in 1939 and then displaced by the Russian-installed communist government which held power until 1990. The Polish Government in Exile considered that its main purpose was to preserve legitimacy which it could convey to the next legitimate Polish government, which it did. A government in exile requires a host country: The Polish Government in Exile existed in the U.K. until 1990.
Tamils are like the Eritreans because we were ruled by an oppressive government against which we rebelled. We are unlike the Eritreans because we do not now control our homeland. We are like the Polish Government in Exile from 1939 to 1990 because we want to establish legitimacy for a Tamil democratic government which we hope will be formed in the near or distant future.