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PM will support ‘National Front’
French-style compromise proposed for defence matters

President Chandrika Kumaratunga being served with a southern traditional dish on a 'Nelum' leaf by a village woman at the opening of a drinking water project for villagers on Friday in Siyambalaganwila in Hambantota . Pic by Gemunu Wellage

By The Sunday Times Political Editor
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said yesterday he would "in principle" support a National Front to revive the stalled peace process. His remarks to The Sunday Times came amidst pressure both on him and President Chandrika Kumaratunga from senior citizens to forge cohabitation government in the national interest.

Joining them in the call were leading members of the clergy, business leaders and diplomats who felt a joint effort within a specific time frame and limited objectives was essential to avert a looming constitutional crisis. They have all pointed out that the peace process was the national priority.

With this in mind, both President Kumaratunga and Premier Wickremesinghe will next week discuss measures aimed at ensuring the continuity of the peace process.

Bernard Goonetilleke, Head of the Secretariat Co-ordinating the Peace Process (SCOPP), told The Sunday Times that President Kumaratunga's suggestion to appoint a committee "to ensure the smooth continuation between the defence authorities and the Peace Secretariat" would be one of the issues to be taken up at the meeting.

President Kumaratunga made the suggestion on Friday hours after the Norwegian facilitators announced that they were suspending their role in the peace process, until the political crisis in the south is resolved.

The decision to take up issues related to the peace process at the meeting between the President and the Prime Minister came after the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) decided to coordinate monitoring the ceasefire agreement through the SCOPP.

Both the President and Prime Minister left for Kandy over the weekend following punishing meeting schedules for both by streams of visitors urging them to work together after news that the summit meeting the two leaders held on Wednesday produced little result.

Soon after the Norwegians made their surprise announcement that they would be pulling out of the peace process until the constitutional crisis between the President and Prime Minister was resolved, President Kumaratunga declared that she had assured the Norwegians that the ceasefire agreement and the freedom of movement for LTTE political cadres in areas held by the Government would be respected.

The armed forces also have been instructed by the President to extend their fullest co-operation to the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), a statement issued on behalf of the President said.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Wickremesinghe has indicated to the President's Adviser and former Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar that he was - in principle - prepared to work towards a National Front of sorts.

During a late night discussion on Wednesday hours before Mr. Kadirgamar left on a private visit to Rumania to attend an Intellectual Property (WIPO) conference, the Prime Minister is reported to have said that he agreed to a working arrangement with President Kumaratunga.

The Premier had, however, maintained that the peace process and the Defence Ministry should be in the hands of one party and had advocated the French Defence Hierarchy as a way out of the present tussle in Sri Lanka for control of the Defence Establishment.

The Prime Minister had explained that under the French system, the President was the chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers and Chairman of the Council of Defence.
The Minister of Defence in France comes from the Prime Minister's party and is in charge of the day-to-day administration of defence matters subject to the overall direction of the Council of Defence.

The Council includes Cabinet Ministers and has representatives from the Ministries of the Interior, Foreign Affairs, Finance - they map out long-term policy, budgets etc.
The Premier has explained that under this system, the President remains the supreme commander of defence matters but leaves the day-to-day functions to the Defence Minister, and added that his UNF Government disagreed with the recent Supreme Court opinion that the defence was a matter that was exclusively vested with the President under the Constitution.

Both, the Prime Minister and Mr. Kadirgamar had agreed that the formation of a National Government merely to swell the ranks of the Cabinet with Ministers from all political parties was not the answer to the country's political crisis.

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