The Political Column

19th April 1998

Oslo deal for Lanka

By our Political Correspondent

The festive season is ending and everyone is getting back to base, though major planetary changes seem to influence certain circles more than the traditional New Year customs. The planet issue applies specially to the political elite who are in charge of our political destiny or who want to be in charge. I believe there are very few countries like Sri Lanka where the politicians place so much emphasis on the movement of the stars. While big ones cross the seven seas to dodge the malefic effects of the planetary changes, the poor folks have no place to go anywhere but to remain home.

Whatever the impact of these changes may be, there is no Cabinet change in the offing. Nor are there major changes on the cards as far as the UNP is concerned. The Wijeyapala Mendis motion appears on the Order Paper and is listed as the sixth item. This means it is not going to be debated soon.

The PA and the UNP are getting ready for May Day with both parties going all out to show their strength with a view to influencing the coming Provincial elections. While the government will hold its rally in Colombo the UNP has decided to move to the hill capital.

It is comforting to note that while all the political big guns are flying eastwards and westwards, the President has chosen to stay at home. Bill Richardson, the US envoy to the UN, arrived yesterday and at government level was expected to meet the President. According to Foreign Ministry sources, Mr. Richardson's visit had been arranged and canceled on a number of occasions, causing some irritation. Mr. Richardson has already visited several countries in the region and it is unlikely that he is coming here for anything special, though he is carrying a formal message from President Clinton. It is highly possible that Mr. Richardson will discuss the ethnic issue but it is doubtful whether he has any serious proposals to offer to the government.

On the eve of Mr.Richardson's arrival in Colombo the US embassy called The Sunday Times consultant editor Iqbal Athas and told him that the special American envoy wished to personally meet him.

Mr. Richardson's meeting with one of Sri Lanka's top investigative journalists is seen as an expression of US support for the free media in Sri Lanka.

The Commonwealth Secretary-General Chief, Emeka Anyaoku, is also scheduled to meet the President, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Constitutional Affairs and also former Foreign Minister A.C.S. Hameed of the UNP. Here too it is unlikely the Commonwealth Secretary-General has plans of resolving the on-going conflict but he is obviously trying to get a clear and full picture of the issue.

The Secretary-General cannot move on his own without being mandated, but certainly if he thinks that the Commonwealth has a role to play it is within his purview to promote such a role.

However, political analysts are wondering whether the government would be talking to the LTTE in the near future. This speculation is based on the President's New Year message where she has stressed the need for peace and communal harmony. The Prime Minister too has underscored a similar theme. Meanwhile, the LTTE is on record as saying it is prepared for talks, but perhaps the new planetary changes would decide the next chapter.

It looks as if the first person to whom the new planetary changes seem to signal good luck is Minister G.L. Peiris who is on record as having been well complimented by the IMF for the implementation of correct financial policies in Sri Lanka. The observation of the IMF certainly indicates a positive outcome at the forthcoming Aid Group meeting in Paris. The IMF Chief has issued almost a certificate of good health as far as Sri Lanka's economy is concerned and with the recent financial crisis in South East Asia and its impact on Japan, it is still a safe bet to assume that Sri Lanka's pledges would not be affected.

The clubs and pubs are full now and people are busy having the last one for the departing New Year. One common question that is being asked in these places is, "Do you know where all our Ministers have gone? Is it because of the Saturn's transition? Nobody knows.

Planets apart, something interesting took place in Norway recently when the foreign ministry there held a seminar for nearly 15 Sri Lankan MPs in Oslo.

The main topic was the current ethnic crisis here. The Sri Lankan Parliamentarians felt that the Norwegian officials were well briefed on the situation here and that there was a strong Tamil lobby in Norway.

The group of MPs was headed by Deputy Minister Nirupama Rajapakse.

Other prominent members who participated in their seminar were PLOTE leader D. Siddharthan, EPDP leader Douglas Devananda, SLMC's M.M. Zuhair, DUNF's Kesara Lal Gunasekara, UNP's Upatissa Silva and D.M. Seneviratne from the Communist Party.

During talks they had with the Foreign Affairs Standing Committee of the Norwegian government, Oslo showed interest in being a facilitator to resolve the ethnic question.

They pointed out that there are nearly 4500 Sri Lankans in Norway on work, and resident permits while nearly 6000 people have already received citizenship.

The Foreign Affairs Standing Committee also revealed that there are nearly 1000 asylum seekers whose applications are being processed.

The Director-General of Norwegian Immigration, Terje Sjeggestad, who came out with these figures said, "Norway gives temporary protection to any person who seeks asylum, whenever they need it and as long as they need it".

They pointed out that Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights provides for them. Article 14 (1) states: Everyone has the right to seek and enjoy in other countries, asylum from persecution.

The Sri Lankan group felt that the Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry should take it up with the Norwegian government and convince them that persecution on political grounds does not exist anymore.

However, Dharmalingam Siddharthan had appealed to the Norwegian government that nobody should be deported from Norway since there is a war situation in Sri Lanka, especially in the North and the East.

The Norwegian Committee wanted to know why the government and the opposition here were not expediting the ongoing process to end the ethnic crisis.

SLMC's M.M. Zuhair answering the question said that the main opposition UNP had come up with alternative proposals and the last installment was expected this month. Once the government receives the last part, it would consider the UNP proposals and try to accommodate them as far as possible.

But the Committee expressed its concern over what it saw as slow progress and indicated it might take steps to push things a little.

Sri Lankan MPs, however, pointed out that it was the LTTE which abandoned the peace offer and not the government.

"The government had no other choice - but doors are still open for a peaceful settlement. Whoever is interested could talk to the LTTE ," one MP said.

"But you have proscribed the LTTE," a member of the Norwegian Committee said. "We can't talk on behalf of the government, but the proscribing is a temporary measure and it could be lifted at anytime," a Lankan MP replied.

A resolution passed by the Norwegian legislature making it compulsory to take up Christianity as a subject in schools was also taken up for discussion by the Sri Lankan group.

This makes compulsory for every student to take up Christianity (Lutheran Church) as a subject respective of their religion.

M.M. Zuhair told the seminar that it was a violation of Article 18 (4) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The Norwegian officials agreed, but they said that the matter is now before the highest court in the land and those who challenged this piece of legislation are trying to take the matter up in the European court in case they fail in Norway.

Wegger Christian Stormmen, a special advisor to the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, also had a useful discussion with the Sri Lankan Parliamentary group.

He told them as to how difficult it was to handle the Israel-Palestine issue but they had pulled it off.

"The Palestinian issue was more delicate and difficult," he said.

Norway did not play the role of a mediator, but as a facilitator.

"We brought the parties involved in the conflict - Palestinians and Israelis to Oslo and put them face to face. It was kept a closely guarded secret because you wouldn't be able to do this with the CNN behind you," he added.

"The two sides spoke openly and sorted out the problem. If the media were behind them, they would have been compelled to take positions."

Mr. Stormmen pointed out most of the conflicts could be resolved if the parties involved meet face to face without the media.

"We have no neo-colonial interests unlike others. It is not the case with the United States which has hegomonic interests all over the world. In many places they had violated principles of Human Rights and maintained double standards," he said.

"The Palestinian issue was dragged on for a long time because of this attitude of the US. Norway does not have any vested interests. Our intention is to end conflicts in any part of the world," he added.

Besides this the Sri Lankan Parliamentarians had an opportunity to meet Asbjorn Eide, Director of the Norwegian Institute of Human Rights and Member of the United Nations Sub-Committee on Protection of Minority Rights.

When the question of the right to self-determination of minorities in Sri Lanka was discussed, Mr. Eide said the session was out of the question since the UN does not encourage separation on the basis of race, religion or language.

"In so far as the UN Sub-Committee on Protection of Minority Rights is concerned it would not recognise the right of Tamils in Sri Lanka for self-determination".

"The UN will not support the dismemberment of countries on the basis of religion, race or language, which means that you have to re-draw the map of the world. On that basis there will be several nations within nations and there is no room in the UN to accommodate all of them," he said.

In the controversy over privatisation, the Eppawela dispute has figured prominently along with the AirLanka and the Queen Elizabeth Quay deal.

The UNP which indicated the privatisation programme is opposing the Eppawela deal. The UNP believes Eppawela's phosphates should be converted into a value added merchandise before it is exported.

Former BOI Chief Rohitha Bogollagama met US Embassy representatives to brief them on the UNP's position since a US firm is involved in the deal.

Not only from the UNP, but also there is opposition to this deal even from within the government. One of the main opponents of the Eppawela deal is Minister Batty Weerakoon who claims that clauses not approved by the Cabinet had been included in the agreement to be signed between the government and the US firm. Mr. Weerakoon refers to the B.C. Perera Report on the matter to substantiate this claim.

In a Cabinet memorandum prepared by him, Mr. Weerakoon states:

"I wish to point out the agreement approved as stated in the report (B.C. Perera Report) contain provisions which have not received authorization from the Cabinet.

"This is a serious matter because the preamble to the agreement states specifically that the person signing the agreement on behalf of the government of Sri Lanka is acting with the approval and approbation of the Cabinet of Ministers".

Though Minister Weerakoon's amendments to the draft agreement were to be discussed at the previous Cabinet meeting, he was disappointed when he learnt that the President had decided to skip the meeting. Mr. Weerakoon's Cabinet Paper states thus:

"A photocopy of the unsigned "Mineral Investment Agreement" relating to the Eppawela phosphate deposit and its exploitation with foreign collaboration has come into my possession.

I wish to bring to the notice of the Cabinet, certain crucial provisions in it which, according to the record available to me, have not received Cabinet approval. As "record", I rely on a document titled, "Report of the Negotiating Committee on the Joint-Venture Agreement" with M/s Freeport McMoRan Resources Partners of USA for the manufacture of phosphate fertilizer for export utilizing the rock phosphate deposit at Eppawela". It is undated but one of its signatories has stated the date of his signature as 21.08.1997. This document is referred to hereafter as the "B.C. Perera Report" because it is the report of a committee apparently headed by Mr. B.C. Perera, Secretary to the Treasury.

"The B.C. Perera Report states that after the Third Round of Negotiations held in December 1996 Freeport McMoRan submitted drafts of the Mineral Investment Agreement (which is the principal agreement) and subsidiary Agreements for consideration, and on the issues relating to these which arose thereafter. HE the President directed that Mr. B.C. Perera, Hon. Sarath Silva (A.G. Mr. K. Austin Perera (Sec/MID), Mr. Thilan Wijesinghe, (C'man/DG BOI) and Mr. Vincent Pandita, (Snr. Advisor/BOI and Consultant MID) should "conduct one final round of negotiations and clear any outstanding issues along with the texts of the Mineral Investment Agreement and the subsidiary Agreements".

"The B.C. Perera Report is very clearly the outcome of this final round of negotiations that was conducted from 28.07.1997 to 04.08.1997. It states that in the round, the final drafts of the Mineral Investment Agreement and the subsidiary Agreements were agreed upon and initiated by S/Ministry of ID and representatives from Freeport and IMC Agrico.

"I wish to point out that Agreements approved as stated in this Report contain provisions which have not received authorization from the Cabinet. This is a serious matter because the preamble to the Agreement states specifically that the person signing the Agreement on behalf of the Government of Sri Lanka is "acting with the approval and approbation of the Cabinet of Ministers granted by virtue of the powers vested in them by the Constitution of Sri Lanka". On the evidence available to me from the B.C. Perera Report the following are among those that have not received the prior approval of the Cabinet.

"1.1 The foreign company that is party to the Agreement Para 2.01 of the B.C. Perera Report says with reference to the tender re this project. "When proposals were invited, Freeport McMoRan Resources Partners of USA submitted a proposal which after careful evaluation was identified as the best out of the proposals received. Thereafter several rounds of negotiations were conducted with them". Further above in the said Report at Para 1.03 it is stated that of the six responses to the notice calling for proposals the Committee that had been appointed by the Cabinet to handle the matter had decided with the approval of the Cabinet to undertake negotiations with Freeport McMoRan Resources Partners of USA corporations and of any business or other undertaking vested under any written law in the Government, laid before the Parliament along with reports of the Auditor General. You will appreciate that Standing Order 126 reflects the provisions that are contained in Article 154 of the Constitution which brings Public Corporations within the purview of Parliament only for the purpose of control of finance. Therefore the Committee has no authority to look into any matter or question any person except on the accounts that have been laid before the Parliament.

"Provisions contained in Sub Sections (3), (4) and (5) of Standing Order 126 are incidental to and can be used only in furtherance of duty to examine accounts. In the circumstances, I state that the Committee has no power to summon the officers of PERC and compel them to answer questions that were beyond the authority of the Committee."

In the main opposition UNP, the major issue still is the Mendis controversy.

The UNP is now planning to bring Mr. Mendis before a disciplinary committee for allegedly causing disrepute to the party.

Though the party had not decided as to how it should proceed with the matter, the leadership is now determined to get rid of Mr. Mendis who was found guilty by a Presidential Commission on charges of misuse of power.

Mr. Mendis has rejected pressure to step down and sent a letter to UNP MPs, explaining his position. However it is up to the UNP MPs either to accept Mr. Mendis' explanation or reject it. But the reality is that the UNP wants him to step down and retire from active politics.

Situation Report

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