The Political Column

30th April 1999

Time for PA-UNP joint action

Hoping miracles would happen

By our Political Correspondent

Time for PA-UNP joint action

The capture of the strategic Elephant Pass camp by the LTTE during the last weekend tends to change the political landscape of Sri Lanka before the impending talks between the government and the LTTE.

Politically today, we are in a delicate situation. It is now appropriate for the government and the opposition to join hands to face the common enemy, the LTTE. If these parties get together, there is strength and consensus to fight the war to an end. It should also be borne in mind that a majority of Sri Lankans do not endorse a military solution to the ethnic problem. They are for a reasonable political solution, but terrorism should be dealt with militarily. Successive governments since 1977 have addressed the grievances of the Tamils constitutionally. The 13th Amendment to the 1978 Constitution bears evidence to this, but it is difficult to slake the thirst of a terrorist organisation hell-bent on creating a separate homeland.

The opposition UNP should take this opportunity to cooperate with the government to bring about a settlement to this otherwise disastrous trend. Loss of human life, and loss of property are incalculable, and it is the duty of a responsible opposition to contribute towards a meaningful solution to the current problem.

Positive note

On his return from India, UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe sounding a positive note, demanded the government to put up a concrete plan to defend the Jaffna peninsula along with other important areas if the government wanted his party to continue its policy of cooperation.

However, the UNP leader charged that the Kumaratunga administration and some incompetent military officers were responsible for the fall of Elephant Pass. He dismissed claims by the government that the Elephant Pass camp was vacated on a military strategy and questioned why two divisions - 53 and 54 - were deployed to defend a not-so-important area of four kilometres.

On Thursday, Mr. Wickremesinghe addressing a joint meeting of the working committee and the parliamentary group called for a re-structuring of the military.

He urged the government to identify the dynamic and competent officers and allow them to conduct the war while sidelining those responsible for the debacle at Elephant Pass.

The most important point Mr. Wickremesinghe made was that the military should be de-politicised. He said the military should be devoid of any political affiliations or favours.

Independence

In effect what he called for was that the military should be able to execute the war and military strategy independently without working to a political agenda. The UNP leader also called upon the government to set up a war council comprising retired military generals who could advise the armed forces.

The UNP made an emphatic call for an emergency session of Parliament to discuss the present situation in the country. If the government does not agree, the UNP hopes to inform the other opposition parties and meet in Parliament for a session on May 3. This proposal made by Hambantota's Mervyn Silva was unanimously adopted.

UNP parliamentarian Ravi Karunanayake outlined the need to obtain international support to protect the country from LTTE threats.

He said the government should explain to the country how the defence budget was spent over the past six years.

The UNP is also aiming to take the government censor to task. It feels the censor and the Department of Information are not discharging their duties efficiently and with responsibility. It is calling for the setting up of a Parliamentary select committee to probe the allegations against the censor.

At this meeting, the UNP set up two committees – one is tasked with the responsibility of raising Rs. 55 million to send supplies to military hospitals and the other to look into military affairs.

While the UNP is engrossed with the matters relating to the Elephant Pass battle, an internal battle is raging between Colombo Mayor Omar Kamil and Colombo Central chief organiser Mohamed Maharoof. The clash is said to be growing out of proportion.

Mr. Kamil has taken this matter up to the party hierarchy after Mr. Maharoof has allegedly criticised UNP chairman Karu Jayasuriya and the working of the UNP-controlled Colombo Municipal Council.

The Kamil camp believes that Mr. Maharoof is working on a no-confidence motion against the Mayor.

When Mr. Kamil raised the matter at a meeting with Mr. Wickremesinghe, the UNP leader told him not to take it seriously because the party hierarchy had not taken notice of Mr. Maharoof's allegations.

Mr. Kamil has now sent a formal letter to the party leader, explaining the circumstances that led to the present crisis in the Council and the UNP.

The letter

The letter said Mr. Maharoof in a newspaper interview had cast aspersions on Mr. Jayasuriya by alleging that he had used the services of a CMC contractor for his propaganda work. Mr. Maharoof also alleged that this contractor had helped Mr. Jayasuriya for his foreign travel, too, the letter said.

The Mayor's letter also says Mr. Maharoof is now influencing an opposition member of the Council to prepare a motion of no-confidence against the Mayor.

The letter also refers to alleged misdeeds by a UNP councillor who is in truck with Mr. Maharoof. Mr. Kamil states that these allegations warrant an investigation by the Bribery Commission.

The allegations levelled by Mr. Maharoof have also saddened Mr. Jayasuriya.

Mr. Wickremesinghe is now trying to intervene in the matter. He had told close associates he would not hesitate to sack any member who tries to overthrow the municipal administration.

Now it appears that Mr. Kamil has been given an assurance by the party hierarchy that nothing untoward will take place. But the matter could take a serious turn when the party decides to hold an inquiry over the alleged remarks on Mr. Jayasuriya.

Meanwhile, at the ministerial meeting on Wednesday, Minister G.L. Peiris asked Minister Anuruddha Ratwatte who is in charge of defence how the post of Chief of Defence Staff was re-created suddenly. Prof. Peiris pointed out that this post was short-lived when it was first created under Gazette Notification issued by the President.

Minister Mahinda Rajapakse and several other ministers wanted Gen. Ratwatte to make a statement in the national media on the Elephant Pass debacle. But Gen. Ratwatte said the service commanders would do the needful. Some ministers said all would rush to the TV when there were victories, but there would be nobody to explain what had taken place when there were debacles. Gen. Ratwatte had subsequently briefed the Cabinet on the recent rout tracing the history since the capture of Jaffna.

Hoping miracles would happen

The heat is on once again. The performance is repeated and the country has gone into convulsions. The situation is not new. The causes aren't unfamiliar. The end-result is just the same. In the seventies the debacles were few and far between; in the eighties they gathered momentum and the nineties saw their climax . We are now at the beginning of a millennium and are we nearing the inevitable end?

The all-too-familiar figures of this war keep surfacing at the end of every military failure. The list of factors alleged as contributing to the military collapses —The President, the Defence Minister, the Cabinet, the members of Parliament, the Defence Secretary, the JOC, the service commanders, the senior officers and the soldiers, the press, the poor equipment, the Commissions the poor intelligence, mismanagement and fraud in the services —gets longer and longer with every set-back. Military analysts and political commentators have written column after column.

We all know what is wrong and where it is wrong. But no politician nor serviceman has had the strength of his/her conviction to choose the path towards a solution. The selfish motives of successive individuals in power have distracted them from selecting the path to a solution with honesty and sincerity.

Just this last week we cremated a host of brave officers and men. More women were widowed more children made fatherless. One may say that these are the consequences of war and one has to accept such losses. We call it supreme sacrifice. We wish our dead eternal life and return to our normal lives without even the expression of our inner feelings of resentment and remorse. As members of the public how much have we subscribed towards encouraging the politician who is pillaging this country systematically?.

How often have we expressed our dissension openly other than exchanging gossip? Where are those public figures who during good times pick up Deshamanyas and accolades and fade into oblivion during the dark hours of crisis?

What ingredients did God choose when he made the Sinhala Sri Lankan? Through the many years of this crisis we as the Sinhalese, particularly, have shown ourselves off so poorly that the way was paved for the aggressor with little or no resistance.

The LTTE has had the singular objective of Eelam through the years. They have had no frills no compromises. On the other hand successive governments in Sri Lanka have kept changing their goals.

One chooses to consolidate Batticaloa before taking on Jaffna; the other insists on Jaffna before Wanni; a third chooses to open an MSR (Main Supply Route). We have politicians trying to fight the war and deciding on military strategies and even tactics. Politicians and bureaucrats decide on military hardware that they think are suitable for our defence services. Aircrafts and Naval crafts are purchased on considerations of non military factors and then they end up either grounded for good or going down with a human payload. Who wage this war? Are they the politicians, the political parties, bureaucrats and or the arms dealers!!!

The primary objective of the government should be to formulate a national strategy agreed upon by all parties which would have continuity irrespective of the party in power. The national strategy must be translated into a military strategy by the Defence Services and expedited by the rank and file. There is no way that part-time Generals can fight this war. The professional soldier has been insulted and humiliated by successive part-time Generals wearing uniforms of the elite forces attempting to project a military profile.

If the minister of health decided to carry out surgery or the minister of agriculture wore an 'an amude' and got into the field, neither would have very pleasant results. It is disappointing to note that professional soldiers haven't had the gumption to stand their ground and stick their necks out for the professionalism of the military.

The longer one neglects the respect for the profession the longer it will take for the defence forces to return to their primary role as a fighting force.

Who decided to cling on to real estate? Why do we need an MSR? Is it for prestige? Or was it meant to serve the government as a show piece to tell the gullible public how much land was under it?.

Mullaitivu, Pooneryn, Killinochchi and Mankulam fell like ninepins. At least some element of military thinking, it appears, has prevailed in the decision-making process for the withdrawal of Elephant Pass. The defensive action of holding on to ground with trenches and bunkers has developed a phobia for a defensive psychology within the rank and file of the army (Navy & Airforce). "We defend, you attack.

You attack, we withdraw". Look at the battle plans of the terrorist. He brings the battle into our lines despite his relatively, ill-equipped outfit. How often have we carried the battle to the enemy? The longer we stick to real estate the more he will hit us. The faster, we get off our haunches and move out into an aggressive role with a mobile offensive battle group greater will be our killing capability. A co-ordinated mobile battle group ( ground and air) operating on numerous fronts would totally confuse the enemy.

Unless we beat him at his tactics we would be compelled to be mere spectators watching him systematically decimate the Sri Lankan army. We have reached a critical period of our history- a hackneyed phrase. Where is this history of ours? Do we want to change it? Isn't it time we mustered all our resources especially that of the youth of this country?

How many trained soldiers are employed in the protection of the city and other installations?.This task could be undertaken by the Colombo based employees both of the government and private sector. Why does the government fear national conscription? When I suggested national conscription eleven years ago, I was called a Clint Eastwood and a maverick and now looking at it ten years later, had we then foreseen the development of war to today's situation, may be I would have been hailed as a national leader or perhaps been given a Deshamanya.

Urgency and seriousness to address the problem in a national crisis are furthest from the minds of the powers that be. As a nation we have disgraced ourselves and let ourselves down badly.

The public must be galvanized to fight the war by placing the nation on a war footing for the next couple of years and committing the human resources of this country to eradicate the terror that has stifled the physical and economic growth of the country.

We are watching and waiting hoping miracles would happen. That day may never come.

-ANON-

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