Political Column

THEN: The Indo-Sri Lanka Agreement of 1987 notwithstanding, then President, the late Ranasinghe Premadasa, declared war on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Eelam War II was in swing. One of the darkest chapters in the history of Sri Lanka during this phase was the killing of 600 Policemen near Batticaloa. In September 1990, then LTTE 'Eastern Commander' Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan better known as 'Colonel Karuna' is reported to have ordered the massacre. Later, Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias Pillayan became Karuna's able lieutenant.

NOW: Friday, May 16 2008 - Pillayan, 33 years of age, once a fierce Tiger guerrilla committed to establishing a separate state of Eelam, had done a full turn around. He achieved what his leader, Karuna, at the tail end of a term at Britain's Wormwood Scrubs, could not. From the comfort of a room at the five-star Galadari Hotel, he drove a few yards to the Presidential Secretariat, to be sworn in as the first Chief Minister of the de-merged Eastern Provincial Council. His Tiger stripe camouflage uniform and rubber slippers then had given way to a lounge suit and leather shoes now. Pillayan vowed allegiance to the Sri Lankan Constitution and to the nation's unitary character. That was when he was sworn in before President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who despite the controversies surrounding him was sporting a high sense of pride.

Rajapaksa underscored the reality when he declared that the East has now "come under a democratic administration after decades of gun culture." He added: "It is also the day those who depended on the bullet abandoned their weapons and turned to be genuine representatives of the downtrodden masses. Today, the Muslims and the Sinhalese who had been taken hostage begin to enjoy a sigh of relief.

Therefore, the change between then and now, seemed the gulf between two galaxies. Neither the LTTE nor the opposition parties have been able to prevent, for whatever reason, the coming together of the two different worlds, that of the Government and the 'Karuna faction,' now styling itself the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal -TMVP or the Tamil People's Liberation Tigers.

On Friday, coinciding with the planned swearing-in of the new Chief Minister of the East, a Tiger guerrilla suicide bomber rammed a motor cycle against a Police riot squad bus. Eight police officers - three of them WPCs, and two civilian passers by were killed. More than 90, the majority of them police officers, were injured. It was only late Friday morning that the Police had decided to deploy riot squads and additional security around the Presidential Secretariat. There were two reasons - the swearing-in of the Chief Minister and the decision by the Opposition parties to converge in Maradana, just after Friday's Jumma prayers in the mosque there, to lead a protest march that would end outside the Presidential Secretariat. They were to protest against the conduct of the May 10 Eastern Provincial elections because it was rigged and involved state-backed violence.

Police learnt later that the suicide bomber's target was Pillayan and his group. The constant postponement of the swearing-in ceremony, the result of serious bickering within members of the Government side of the provincial council, had led to confusion. Thus, Police deduce, the suicide bomber found he had little choice but to target the riot squad bus, which had formed an outer ring to protect the Presidential Secretariat. The incident clearly questioned official claims that the City of Colombo has been cleansed of guerrillas. It showed their cells still operated and were capable of carrying out deadly attacks such as this.

However, the saturation of Security Forces and the Police following the re-capture of the Eastern Province in July last year had a salutary effect. Barring a few incidents including the sinking of a Navy cargo vessel and a bomb explosion in Ampara, the provincial polls were held. Quite clearly, the guerrillas were not able to disrupt them. Neither Friday's suicide attack at Lotus Road in Colombo, nor the activities of the lame duck opposition whose protest demonstration was disrupted due to the ensuing closure of roads and traffic jams, caused any dent to the post-election political process. A crisis within the Government ranks was to be the focus.

The swearing-in of a Chief Minister for the East was first scheduled for Thursday and later put off for Friday. There was wrangling over who should be the Chief Minister. An influential section spearheading the Government's 'war on terror' against Tiger guerrillas was of the view that the post of Chief Minister should go to Pillayan. They were strongly of the view that such a move would further consolidate the Government's hold of the Eastern Province since the TMVP, whose members still continue to hold arms, could help Security Forces and the Police. There was also another over riding factor.

The Government had not only re-captured the Eastern Province from guerrilla control but had also restored democracy by conducting Provincial Council elections. Such Councils had come into being as part of measures to devolve power and alleviate concerns of the Tamil community. Hence, it was argued that Pillayan, a Tamil, would be the obvious choice.

But Muslim Cabinet Ministers held a different view. They favoured M.L.A.M. Hisbullah (of the All Ceylon Muslim Congress) who contested under the United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) ticket. Hisbullah on his own was insistent that he should be the Chief Minister since Muslim members had secured more seats on the grounds that a Muslim would be the Chief Minister. The one time deputy Minister had in fact made public statements that he had been assured he would be made Chief Minister.

The move to place the Chief Minister mantle on Pillayan was a humiliating come-down for Hisbullah. After all, he had broken away from the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) because he felt that he would be assured of the post should the Government win. Last Thursday morning, when the swearing in of a CM was scheduled, Hisbullah met Pillayan at Temple Trees. They hugged each other before the Rupavahini cameras. The footage was repeatedly played on Friday night after Pillayan was sworn in. But, besides that embrace, there were more developments that were to end in disgrace for Hisbullah. There are reports from insiders at Temple Trees, from where the President works, that Hisbullah had a heated exchange with the President.

Not happy with the outcome of talks with President Rajapaksa, Hisbullah shot off a letter to the Governor of the East, retired Rear Admiral Mohan Wijewickrema. In that he declared that together with two colleagues, he would sit as an independent group in the Council. In other words, Hisbullah does not want to be a part of the UPFA group in the Eastern Provincial Council.

Hisbullah's move, apart from everything else, shifts the numerical balance in the Council. Soon after the elections, the UPFA won 20 seats. It was made up of TMVP 06, SLFP 05, National Congress (A.L.M. Athaullah's party) 04 and All Ceylon Muslim Congress (M.L.A.M. Hisbullah's party) 03. The exclusion of the Hisbullah group would mean the Government side would have only 17 seats.

This compares equally with the 17 seats held jointly by the Opposition parties. They are made up as follows: UNP 06, SLMC 09, JVP 01 and TDNA 01.

The Opposition now claims that under these circumstances, the swearing-in of Pillayan is illegal. They quote the Constitution and say that the Governor should have consulted all the parties elected to the Council and come to a decision as to who would command the confidence of the Council, rather than the President taking it upon himself to pick the man of his own choice.

They point out, that unlike in the case of Parliament, matters before a Provincial Council can be canvassed before a court of law, but it was unlikely that they would test this in courts.

A highly placed Government source insists that Hisbullah's move to function as an 'independent group' will not make the working of the Eastern Provincial Council untenable. Speaking on grounds of anonymity, he told The Sunday Times "he is very much with us. He has an electorate to explain things. Thus, he will have to take up a position for the time being but not for too long." If that contention is correct, Hisbullah is only posturing. He will join in when the ambitious development projects in the East get under way. However, on Friday, the Sirasa tv news channel quoted Hisbullah as saying that he would initiate talks with Athaullah's party to get more of its members to sit in the independent group. This is being viewed as the Muslims in the East in general, and Hisbullah in particular, trying to use greater leverage for bargaining with the Rajapaksa administration.

The day before the swearing-in of Pillayan, crackers were lit in the eastern Batticaloa town, the stronghold of the TMVP in anticipation of the event scheduled for the next day. It would seem that Pillayan had been informed by then to come to the Presidential Secretariat to take his oaths. But soon after the swearing-in, Muslims in the Eastern areas started rioting. In Kattankudy, Hisbullah's hometown, some shops were closed in protest, but by afternoon, in probably one of the first acts by the new Chief Minister, army platoons together with TMVP cadres moved into Kattankudy and began ordering the shops to re-open for business.

Tension prevailed until yesterday (Saturday) in many of these areas as Hisbullah kept questioning the Pillayan appointment (please see separate interview with him on the opposite page), in spite of the video footage telecast on state media of Hisbullah hugging Pillayan before the swearing-in.

Members of the Athaullah group, however, were not only present at the swearing-in ceremony for Pillayan on Friday evening but applauded him as he took his oaths. The theory of the Muslim community being badly let down with Pillayan's appointment was further pooh-poohed when those who style themselves as frontline leaders of the Muslim community were also cheer leaders at the swearing-in ceremony. They included Western Province Governor Syed Alavi Mowlana, though Cabinet Minister A.H.M. Fowzie and one time parliamentarian A.H.M. Azwer were conspicuous absentees.

The post-election developments, like the period before, have once again brought into question the effectiveness of the country's Opposition. Both the United National Party (UNP) and the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) have charged that there was large-scale rigging and unprecedented state-backed violence. Without question, the charges are justifiable. But the two parties garnered 42 per cent of the votes polled.

Whatever Government is in power during an election, the Opposition accuses it of both violence and vote rigging. This has been the case whether a UNP or a SLFP Government is in office. And, most of these allegations are also true. That apart, the role of the Opposition, and how its campaign was conducted also require examination.

For the UNP, its main partner the SLFP-M faction, was absent during the campaign. The leader of the latter faction, former Minister Mangala Samaraweera was abroad. His close associates spoke of astrologers advising him to leave Sri Lanka for safety reasons. UNP frontliners kept insisting that he would return and be at the forefront of the campaign. That was not to be. Even in Colombo, Samaraweera was missing from the street protest. His excuse being that he was stuck in a traffic jam. UNP's S.B. Dissanayake, took part in just two meetings in the Ampara district. Mind you, this is the party's National Organiser. Later, he had the temerity to tell the media that the eastern elections would have been won if he was placed in charge of the campaign.
Many in the UNP felt that their MPs from outside the East could come in soon after the Avurudhu celebrations, camp out for two weeks and win the elections.

One major weakness in the Opposition appears to be the gross inability to spearhead its campaign both for polls and routine protests associated with an Opposition in any democracy. A nasty comment made these days is when someone says that the people get the Opposition they deserve. The best compliment they get is when people say that the Government party will do better as an Opposition and the Opposition in Government, but that is not the reality.

The party seemed unprepared, but when thrust into an election they seemed disjointed, hoping the SLMC will bring the Muslim votes, that the Tamils would vote for them and split the Sinhala vote between themselves, the UPFA and the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP). Thuggery and intimidation would be part and parcel of any Government's armoury to win elections, and if the UNP does not recognise this factor it would be making a regular habit of bitterly complaining after each defeat in future elections as well. While this is by no means an endorsement of thuggery and intimidation at elections, no amount of foreign observers who don't even speak the language of the locals, local observers, street demos and election petitions would rectify what eventually would be the declared winner by the Commissioner of Elections.

The breakaway group of the UNP held a news conference soon after the Eastern elections complaining that the UPFA had ignored them and the final results would have been even better if they had been brought in to the campaign. The group got Ampara MP P. Dayaratne to say this. On the Government side, some members complained that the pole-vaulter group of the UNP did not do their best during the polls campaign, crediting the success to their main architect, Senior Presidential Advisor and MP Basil Rajapaksa. There is perhaps some truth in this assertion.

Last week, the leader of the pole-vaulter group Karu Jayasuriya went East, but that was to the Far East - to Indonesia. Members of the delegation he led said that he had to be moved in a wheel chair to a Jakarta hospital. He had sustained a leg injury while he was there. So much for the UNP (D) campaigning in the East. Their position is no different to that of two other coalition partners of the UPFA - the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP) and the Communist Party (CP), both of whom were not invited by the UPFA hierarchy to participate in the campaign. It is obvious that they are only required to make the numbers in Parliament.

With that kind of luxury, President Rajapaksa would now be embolden to plunge into a poll in the majority Sinhalese hinterland of Wayamba. The mention of elections at Wayamba would send shivers down the spines of the country that would recall arguably the worst case of election violence in the country that made even the hard-nosed then President Chandrika Kumaratunga blush and admit "some incidents".

But some of those who masterminded a victory for the then Kumaratunga government are now with the UNP, or the SLFP (M). The UPFA on the other hand, will no doubt not be shy of using State power to win. Though the official term of the Council ends only on 31 March, 2009, Rajapaksa is known to have told the incumbent Chief Minister S.B. Nawinna to be prepared for an election in two months. Is that the test run before a General Election itself later this year?

Rumbling over eastern jumbling