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Lost role of Long Rangers The Athurugiriya Presidential Commission of Inquiry report is now in the public domain -only to certify what this newspaper has been saying all along - that over-enthusiastic policemen, and politicians, caused one of the biggest bungling operations of recent times. That the Commission of Inquiry does not carry the weight of eminence and independence is unfortunate. And that the administration of President Chandrika Kumaratunga is wanting to play politics over this issue at the expense of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's administration is equally unfortunate. The result of the exposure of the Athurugiriya hide-out and the fallout from that exposure led to the clinical decimation of the invaluable men who provided invaluable intelligence on the activities of the LTTE hierarchy. The eventual result has been that the Army is now devoid of a hit-squad that took the war deep into LTTE territory. To say that, along with the banning of the LTTE as a terrorist organisation in the West, the selective pickings of its top leaders by the 'Long Rangers' made the LTTE think twice about gaining their goals on the battle-field need not be over-emphasised. The question of Defence and national security is now the bone of contention stuck in the throat of the cohabitation talks between the President and the Prime Minister. Fortunately, the LTTE has been - whether by design or by compulsion - acting in good faith. There is a realisation dawning that you just cant have one half the country governing, and the other half opposing all the time. We are faced with the President's rush of blood in taking over the three ministries of the Prime Minister's government, and the disruption of the peace process with it. On the face-of-it, the last mandate of the sovereign People went to the Prime Minister's party, and there is no great agitation for its removal. We offer no solutions to this vexed problem facing the country. Except to say, that working together on common issues for the common good is not such a bad thing. We may be seeing a new ethos struggling to be born out of this dreadful situation. Months ago we called for some institutionalised mechanism between the President's House and Temple Trees comprising middle of the road elements from both sides, and there are a plenty of them though they are the less vociferous of the lot, through whom common issues on health, education, media, economic development, the civil war, environment etc., etc., can be pushed through to uplift this unfortunate country, wrecked by the politics of a handful. To take just one example, the Ranil Wickremesinghe government has drafted a Freedom of Information Act and presented it to Parliament. This is a law that will make government more transparent, politicians more accountable to the people they serve, and provide for more informed and discerning citizens. The President has called for a study of this law on the basis that she is now the Mass Communication Minister. This is not a law that deals with the media. This is a law that is applicable to each and every citizen of this country. It is a law that is found in modern liberal democracies around the world. It is a law that cuts across party-lines. The President must have every right to scrutinise such laws. But she must not have the right of a spoiler. This mechanism we are referring to must be established to advise the President on what is good and what is bad for the country - not just a party or coalition of parties. |
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