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| Between peace and polls, CBK makes further moves
She was the eye of the storm two months into a political crisis - the result of the take over of defence, interior and mass communication portfolios. Most matters relating to defence and security began to drift aimlessly causing economic chaos, political uncertainty and increasing instability. But in the past two weeks, President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, appears to have come to grips with many an issue. She has set in motion a number of measures, some that will have far reaching repercussions on the nation. Whether all of them are good or not, only time will tell. In the political firmament, her Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) signs a landmark electoral alliance with the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) tomorrow. It has taken months and weeks to narrow down most policy differences between the two sides. Yet some remain. One is the critical question over the current ethnic crisis and the resultant peace process. The SLFP stands for devolution whilst the JVP remains committed to only decentralisation. There is a convergence of thought between the two sides on the need to meet the aspirations of the Tamil people that are subsequently endorsed by all Sri Lankans. The legally drafted terminology that will marry the two on this issue will be known when details of the joint agreement are made public tomorrow. But the SLFP does not want to leave the issue at that. In fact they want to go much further to show their commitment to devolution of power as an instrument to resolve the ethnic conflict. With this in mind, the party wants to formulate a formal response of its own to demands for an Interim Self Governing Authority (ISGA) made by the Tiger guerrillas. The move is also a signal to the LTTE that their proposals are being given a serious look. Both President Kumaratunga and her senior advisor on international affairs, Lakshman Kadirgamar, are busy with this task. The President has invited K.K. Venugopal, one of India's best known constitutional lawyers to chair a think tank that will put together a formal policy document. Such a document will not only bear in mind the unitary character of Sri Lanka but also the main elements of previous proposals made by the SLFP. It will also take into consideration the new ground realities. Mr Venugopal arrived in Colombo on Friday night and will work with a team of leading lawyers. If this process will eventually see the emergence of a new, clearly defined policy stance of the SLFP vis-à-vis the ongoing peace process, there is more. Some of President's advisers have also been focusing on major irritants for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) since they pulled out of the peace talks in April, last year. Main among them is the complaint that funds for reconstruction and rehabilitation work in the north-east have remained blocked throughout their peace negotiations with the United National Front (UNF) Government. This matter assumes greater significance for a number of reasons. The Head of LTTE's Political Wing, S.P. Tamilselvan, is to undertake a tour of Norway, Netherlands and Sweden later this month. The main thrust of his mission is to apprise the governments there of difficulties caused by the non availability of funds for development work, a matter on which he had laid much emphasis during talks in Kilinochchi with diplomats from Colombo. He has made clear that whilst political parties in the south feuded with each other, development activity after the ceasefire was severely affected. The severity of the problem is underscored by intense discussion among LTTE leadership in the Wanni. Intelligence sources say some hard-line factions proposed that the LTTE should pronounce a "unilateral interim arrangement" of their own to undertake development activity in the North-East and use Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) operating there as the main conduit to liaise with donors. This is if the Government in Colombo continues to obstruct what they called development efforts. According to these sources, moderate factions believed it would be prudent to first apprise the international community of the difficulties encountered. The other is the visit next week of Japan's Special Envoy Yasushi Akashi whose country is making the largest aid commitment. He is to review matters arising from the Tokyo donor's conference. Immediately thereafter, Deputy US Secretary of State, Richard Armitage, is also chairing a meeting of all donor countries in Washington on February 17. It is in this backdrop that President Kumaratunga, who has now made clear she could remain in office until 2006, wants to continue the dialogue of reconciliation with the United National Front. Her senior Advisor, Mano Tittawala is to meet the Chairman of United National Party, Malick Samarawickrema, later next week to resume their talks for a settlement. In the past, despite the emergence of three separate documents, each aimed at a settlement, the talks have proved unsuccessful. "With a clearly defined policy and other measures on hand to deal with the ethnic issue, we will seek to reach common ground with the UNF to go ahead with the peace process," says a high ranking source in the President's Office who spoke on grounds of anonymity. Asked what would happen if the dialogue fails, the source replied "that could lead to inevitable consequences" but declined to elaborate. Such "inevitable consequences," no doubt, could include a snap Parliamentary General Election. Significantly, the LTTE appears to have cleared the hurdles for such a move when the Chief Negotiator, Anton Balasingham, declared "the LTTE was prepared to participate in negotiations when a stable government assumed power in Colombo." "We are prepared to enter into negotiations with a government that has a mandate for peace from the Sinhala masses and also has the necessary legislative and executive authority to implement decisions," the Tamilnet website quoted him as saying in London. The occasion was a meeting Mr. Balasingham had with Oslo's Special Envoy, Erik Solheim last Wednesday. Accompanying Mr. Solheim for the three hour meeting at his residence was Erik Giercksky from the Norwegian Foreign Ministry and retired Norwegian General Trond Furuhovde, who has now been named the new Head of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM). The Norwegian team's meeting, almost three months after Norway suspended its facilitator role, came barely two weeks after Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremasinghe, declared it would be President Kumaratunga's responsibility to negotiate with the LTTE and redraft or amend the Ceasefire Agreement. This was if she wanted to move forward with the peace process whilst continuing to hold the three ministries she took over; Mr Wickremasinghe was quoted as telling a meeting in Balagolla in Panduwasnuwara. By naming Gen. (retd.) Furuhovde as the new Head of SLMM, the Norwegian facilitators have not only re-activated their role but also ensured the existing terms of the Ceasefire Agreement are honoured by both by President Kumaratunga (who now directly controls the armed forces/police) and the LTTE. After all, it was President Kumaratunga who urged Norwegian Prime Minister, Kjell Magne Bondevik, to remove retired Major General Tryggve Tellefsen as Head of SLMM. The request led to Maj. Gen. (retd.) Tellefsen being recalled for consultations in Oslo. He remained there until his new appointment as Head of Mission of the Temporary International Presence in the City of Hebron (TIPH) was announced last Friday. Now, the Norweigian facilitators have won from the LTTE an assurance that their organisation would "abide by the terms and conditions of the two year old ceasefire agreement and maintain peace irrespective of the continuing political turmoil in Colombo." According to diplomatic sources in Colombo, during talks with Mr Balasingham, Special Envoy Mr Solheim had re-iterated Norway's position that they would not take side with either the People's Alliance or the UNF in the ongoing political crisis. He had made clear they were ready to facilitate talks between whoever is in charge in Colombo and the LTTE, based on the latter's consent. That was when it becomes clear who had the mandate to speak to the LTTE and was in a position to implement decisions made at the negotiating table. Last Wednesday, whilst Mr. Balasingham met Mr. Solheim, in the Wanni, Norwegian Ambassador, Hans Brattskar, had a meeting with Mr Tamilselvan. The Tamilnet website said the Political Wing leader also gave a pledge to the Norwegian envoy that the LTTE would honour the terms and conditions of the Ceasefire Agreement. In this context, remarks by the head of the LTTE's Peace Secretariat in Kilinochchi, S. Prabagaran alias Pulithevan also become relevant. In Colombo last week, he had a string of meetings with western diplomats. Asked by one of them whether the LTTE insisted that Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremasinghe, gets back the portfolios of defence, interior and mass communications to resume the peace dialogue, he had replied "no, we do not say that." He had said there were no such demands as far as the LTTE was concerned. The assertion made clear the LTTE was willing to continue negotiations even after the UNF lost control of the three portfolios. Be that as it may, the LTTE's commitment to uphold the terms and conditions of the Ceasefire Agreement "until a stable Government assumed power in Colombo" does not mean woes for the People' Alliance are altogether over. Premature assertions of a political nature, matters bordering on policy, by military top brass have caused a serious problem for President Kumaratunga. The LTTE is both angry and disturbed about the proposed Defence Co-operation Agreement with India. None other than Political Wing leader, Mr Tamilselvan, has conveyed LTTE’s displeasure to diplomats from Colombo visiting Kilinochchi. The LTTE's contention is that the Ceasefire Agreement was formulated on the basis that the Government and the guerrillas maintained the balance of power at levels that remained on February 22, 2002. They contend that the impending agreement would tilt such a balance heavily in favour of the Government in Colombo. The proposed Defence Co-operation Agreement was mooted when Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremasinghe, held talks with his Indian counterpart, Atal Behari Vajpayee, in New Delhi in October last year. However, details of how this proposed co-operation will occur under President Kumaratunga, after she took over the subject of defence became public even before formal talks could commence. This came after the four day official visit to India by Lt. Gen. Lionel Balagalle, Chief of Defence Staff and Commander of the Army. He spelt out the many areas of co-operation including exchange of intelligence and joint patrols in the Indian Ocean by the two countries. A three member delegation headed by Defence Secretary, Cyril Herath and comprising Lt. Gen. Balagalle and Nigel Hatch, Attorney-at-law, a legal advisor to the President, returned to Sri Lanka early yesterday after talks in New Delhi about the proposed agreement. They held talks on Thursday and Friday with Indian military and defence officials on the scope and content of the proposed agreement. An Indian delegation is now expected to visit Colombo for follow up talks. Before the three -member team left Colombo; they met President Kumaratunga for a briefing on Tuesday. She is learnt to have discussed the broader outlines to be encompassed by the proposed agreement. Reports from New Delhi say both Sri Lanka and India will form joint committees to study certain specific aspects of defence co-operation. According to these reports, until finality of the proposed agreement is reached, the close military co-operation between the two countries will continue. Firmly in the saddle with the subject of defence in her hand and an assurance from the LTTE that they would abide by the Ceasefire Agreement, President Kumaratunga now looks to the UNF's response for the next phase. In the event of an accord between her and the UNF, the peace talks can move on a common front. However, this is highly unlikely. In the alternative, polls will no doubt become an inevitable option. But President Kumara-tunga is also looking at many other legal options available. Until then, as the Tamilnet website quotes the LTTE as saying "We do not want to interfere in the current constitutional crisis between the President and the Prime minister. We are prepared to wait until the dispute is resolved by the Sinhala leadership." Like the LTTE, all other Sri Lankans also wait in awe for the political events to unfold in the coming weeks. President
orders tough action against safe-house raiders Last Tuesday, President Kumaratunga is learnt to have discussed with senior officials the course of action against Army and Police officers on whom strictures have been made. As a first step, The Sunday Times learns she has asked the Army Commander, Lt. Gen. Lionel Balagalle, what his recommendations are on the type of action to be taken against those officers and men. She had listed out all the names and the references made in the Commission report in a letter delivered to him. Lt. Gen. Balagalle who returned from New Delhi early yesterday morning is expected to send President Kumaratunga a comprehensive report. Army sources say punishment he will recommend are likely to include withdrawal of commission, compulsory leave, cashiering of some and non extension of tenure of service for others. However, the exact basis on which such punishment is to be meted out is still not clear. Similarly, The Sunday Times also learns that President Kumaratunga has written to Inspector General of Police, Indra de Silva, to conduct a formal departmental inquiry and frame charges against the Police officers named. Police sources say the Police Chief will name a special team next week to conduct follow up inquiries. Thereafter he is to frame charges against those concerned and make recommendations to the Police Commission for disciplinary action. Court action afterinvestigations are completed is also to be pursued. A retired Judge of the Court of Appeal, D. Jayawickrema, was appointed as one man Presidential Commission of Inquiry "into the disclosure of the existence of and the raid on the Safe House operated by the Sri Lanka Army at Athurugiriya. In his report, Mr. Jayawickrema declared that the Police raid was a "total betrayal and absolute treachery to the nation". He charged that former SP Kulasiri Udugampola, who was Director (Operations) in the Kandy Division, who conducted the raid "backed up with political patronage" stalled these covert operations and "betrayed this gallant unit." Chapters dealing with "FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS ONLY" were first released to the media from the 202 page report (with annexure) by the President's Office on December 11. Based on that, the Commission also made its own conclusions. The Commission sat from August 2002 to November 2003 and heard 69 witnesses. Following the release of the Commission report, the United National Front has moved to appoint a Parliamentary Select Committee. Its task is to probe the findings of two Army Courts of Inquiry and the Presidential Commission's own revelations. |
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