The Political Column

23rd April 1999

Hardline politics to the fore

By our Political Correspondent

During the past few weeks, the voice of the Sinhala hardliners echoed in a big way than ever. Banners and prominently-erected billboards came up in the south of the country, calling for the military defeat of the LTTE.

For some of these hardliners, there is no ethnic crisis in the country, but a terrorist problem. Thus they advocate a military solution.

Adding strength to the hardliners’ camp is Deputy Speaker Anil Moonesinghe who has expressed his opposition to talks between the government and the LTTE.

At a religious function in Dodangoda recently to confer a honorary title on Ven. Badugama Somaloka Thera, Mr. Moonesinghe said talks would not be an answer to the LTTE’s military offensive and it is only through a relentless military campaign that the LTTE could be defeated.

“People have realised that the proposed talks between the government and the LTTE are nothing but a joke,” he said.

Commenting on the PA-UNP talks, he said he believed the ongoing bipartisan dialogue might not bring any positive results, but would help isolate the LTTE in the north. “In the past, too, leaders who sought a negotiated settlement to the conflict met with a tragic end. A similar fate may befall others who call for talks with the LTTE.”

These remarks by Mr. Moonesinghe, an ardent supporter of the policies President Kumaratunga had, are being seen as a deviation from the course of the government. The volte-face of Mr. Moonesinghe is understandable.

Though a socialist, Mr. Moonesinghe is a descendant of Anagarika Dharmapala who fought the colonial rulers for the rights of the Sinhalese. Mr. Moonesinghe’s remarks at Dodangoda reflect the voice of the people especially of the Kalutara district.

Mr. Moonesinghe told the audience that every time the government held talks with the LTTE, they took advantage of the conditions laid down for talks.

“Prabhakaran wants Eelam and is executing a war. Therefore, is there any purpose in having talks with the UNP? I am surprised as to why the Maha Sangha is maintaining a silence over these national problems. After all, the Maha Sangha has been considered the guardian of the nation,” Mr. Moonesinghe said.

Besides Mr. Moonesinghe, some other government politicians also oppose provisions of the proposed constitution, especially a permanent merger of the north and east.

Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake was one such opponent, though he is regarded as a trusted lieutenant of the President — as seen in this week’s Presidential decree which empowered him to chair the Cabinet meetings and to supervise the work of the Presidential Secretariat. What does this mean? Under normal circumstances, the Prime Minister should act for the President in her absence. If the Prime Minister is unable, it should be the Speaker. But, here, Mr. Wickremanayake has been assigned with the arduous task of performing and supervising the Presidential Secretariat work.

Another government communiqué said the President had appointed the following deputy ministers as acting ministers. Among them were Industrial Development Deputy Minister Athula Nimalsiri Jayasinghe, Posts and Telecommunication Deputy Minister Anura Priyadharshana Yapa, Plan Implementation and Parliamentary Affairs Deputy Minister Shantha Premaratne, Deputy Labour Minister Janaka Bandara Tennekoon, Rural and Indigenous Medicine Deputy Minister Tissa Karaliyadda and Constitutional Affairs, Youth Affairs and National Integration Deputy Minister Dilan Perera. She also appointed Mr. Wickremanayake as acting Finance Minister and Lakshman Jayakody the acting Foreign Affairs Minister.

The pertinent question that arises from this appointment is as to who would function as the acting Minister of Defence. Has she conveniently forgotten to appoint an acting Defence Minister at a time the armed forces are engaged in a major war effort to secure the main supply route connecting Jaffna peninsula with Elephant Pass? Is this deliberate on her part or was she merely following a precedent set by President J.R. Jayewardene who never appointed anybody to act for him.

The present scenario however gives the impression that the President had given a free hand to the service chiefs to execute the war and plan strategies according to their own military expertise rather than allow politicians to meddle with the war effort. Hence, it appears that she had sidelined her one-time trusted uncle, Minister Anuruddha Ratwatte who had handled the defence portfolio in her absence. Does this mean that the war during the past six years had been executed on a political agenda? It appears so. One could recall that it was Gen. Ratwatte who showed a keen interest to restore the main supply route connecting the Wanni and the Jaffna peninsula. He launched a massive military thrust to secure the route when the military experts were not in favour of this decision. The Sri Lanka Army failed to secure the main route and ended up losing the secured areas. Now the ltte’s aim is to launch an attack to capture the peninsula after it over-runs the Elephant Pass camp.

Despite setbacks, the recapturing of Jaffna stands out among his achievements. Gen. Ratwatte hit the nail on the head and ambitiously gave political leadership to the military offensive to re-capture the peninsula. The move was successful and pushed back the LTTE’s deadline of creating a de facto state in the North-East by several years.

Gen. Ratwatte, then a lieutenant colonel, was straight-away promoted as a four-star general though he did not possess enough military experience for the promotion. It was the first time in the military history of Sri Lanka that a non-combatant officer was promoted as a general. John Kotelawala and Ranjan Wijeratne were also promoted as generals but posthumously. In this backdrop, some analysts ask whether Gen. Ratwatte, too, will join the Moonesinghe-Wickremanayake bandwagon.

In the meantime, some analysts see a significant political move in the conferring of a lofty title on Minister Mahinda Rajapakse by the Malwatte Chapter. He was awarded the title Sri Ruhuna Janaranjana for rendering valuable service to the Buddha Sasana and the people of Ruhuna. The Maha Sangha appear to have little faith in present leaders and are trying to groom Mr. Rajapakse as a Buddhist leader, the analysts say.

But will Minister Rajapakse be allowed to play a prominent role in the PA government. The President and Mr. Rajapakse are said to be at odds on many issues. At one stage the President named him as the Cabinet reporter.

Minister Rajapakse is also a human rights activist and was in the forefront of the PA’s human rights campaigns when the party was in the opposition. Though Mr. Rajapakse had not openly expressed his views about the proposed constitutional reforms, analysts believe he could become a force within the party. It is with this belief that the hardliners looked to Mr. Rajapakse as a possible leader.

The opposition to the government’s peace moves is mounting with the formation of a nationalist party ‘Sihala Urumaya’ which is led by Sinhala hardliners such as UNP MP Tilak Karunaratne, S. L. Gunasekera and Champaka Ranawaka.

Mr. Karunaratne, who was once a member of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, fell out with the leadership after he formed the Hela Urumaya group within the party. He was joined by Mr. Gunasekera, who was also an SLFP MP. He was one of the members who participated at the Thimpu talks.

Not only the Sinhalese, the Tamils are also taking a hard line as far as the negotiations are concerned. In short, the LTTE wants to have the upperhand at the proposed talks being facilitated by Norway. Hence, its sole aim is to re-capture the Jaffna peninsula before having any kind of talks.

The LTTE sticks to the four principles emanating from the 1985 Thimpu talks. Even at the Thimpu talks, Tamil representatives were not satisfied with the proposals that were presented by the government. In their opinion, it did not adequately meet the aspirations of the Tamils and they were emphatic that a solution could not be found within a unitary constitution.

The cardinal principles that they spelt out at these talks are -

1. The recognition of the Tamils in Sri Lanka as a distinct nationality.

2. The recognition and guarantee of territorial integrity of the identified “Tamil Homeland.”

3. The recognition of the inalienable right of self-determination of the Tamil nation, and

4. The recognition of the rights to citizenship and other fundamental rights of all Tamils who look upon the island as their home.

So this has become the bone of contention and it appears that none of these parties are willing to budge an inch from their respective positions. However, the Kumaratunga administration is willing to accommodate them in a more flexible setup which is much closer to a federal government. But will the LTTE agree?

In 1985, when the Thimpu talks were initiated, it aroused widespread anger and revulsion in the North-East province. In Tellippallai, more than 500 demonstrators including boys and girls, took to the streets in a week-long series of massive and noisy protests. It resulted in a general strike in Jaffna when the talks began on July 8. People held placards denouncing the Tigers and rejected the forced cease-fire on them. “We don’t want negotiations, we want Eelam” one placard read. “Why is the Tiger going to Thimpu? To eat grass?”

These protests which came from the ordinary people of Jaffna were vividly portrayed in M.R. Narayana Swamy’s “Tigers of Sri Lanka.”

Are these four principles non-negotiable as the seven commandments spelt out by the Maha Sangha a few weeks ago? If so, where are we marching from here? To an uncertain political future and an endless war?

Situation Report

Editorial/ Opinion Contents