TULF: Stage set for new leadership

By Taraki

The Tamil political scene is undergoing some fundamental changes.The TULF now carries on without the active guidance of M. Sivasithamparam. And it appears that the stage is set for the emergence of a new leadership.

Those in the party who have been sympathetic to the PA have lost their former influence. Mr.Anandasangari is the only leader of the TULF who is now prepared to rise to the defence of the President and her policies despite persistent attacks in sections of the Tamil press accusing him of unabashed treachery. (A Tamil political fortnightly reported last week that an aide of Mr.Aanadasangari had helped the Bamabalapitiya Police arrest an LTTE suspect in Colombo and that it had later transpired that the youth was the son of an ardent TULF supporter.)

Mr. Sampanthan and Dr.Neelan Thiruchelvam have become more prudent in expressing their sympathies though the latter had been unhappy that he had to vote against the Government on the budget.

The fading away of Mr. Sivasithamparam has prepared the ground for Joseph Pararajasingham to consolidate his power as the de facto guiding force in the TULF. The statement of Mr. Anandasangari to the Daily News on Thursday, criticising opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe, embarrassed all the MP's in the party. And it will be occasion for the formulation of a policy and procedure for issuing statements which will further strengthen Mr. Pararajasingham's hold on the party.

A report in the Hindustan Times on the appointment of Maj. Gen. Asoka Jayawardena as Governor of the northeast has also contributed to the growing unease in the TULF about the embarrassing political incoherence among the leadership.

The report said "A TULF spokesman said that any Tamil occupying the post of NEP Governor would be automatically included in the LTTE list of "drohis" (traitor) and annihilated. The moderate Tamil party also felt that a military man might be best suited for the office at this juncture when the civil administration in the province was only an adjunct of the military in the context of the on-going military operations.

The TULF further said it would be wrong to dub a man as anti-Tamil based only on preconceived notions about military officers and the Sinhalese.The report angered some MPs and working committee members and will be among the issues that will be taken up at the next Politburo meeting. "This statement is totally unwarranted," a Batticaloa MP of the TULF said.

The eastern MPs say the party's future would be doomed if it is seen by the Tamils as an unscrupulous lackey of the PA.

The possibility of a force emerging in the TULF that might be amenable to the interests of the Government remains extremely remote today basically because of the unstable security situation in Jaffna.

It was expected when things were seen returning to normal in the north that the pro-Government sections of the TULF leadership would become more assertive and overshadow the Batticaloa MPs. But now Jaffna has become almost out of bounds for the TULF.

Matters are actually worse for the party's pro-Government coterie than they were before the holding of the local government polls in January.

As the election year approaches, the future looks somewhat bleak both for the Batticaloa group and for the others. Contesting the general elections in Jaffna is well nigh impossible if there is no improvement in the security atmosphere in the peninsula.

And in the East things are no better. Most of the TULF vote banks in Trincomalee and Batticaloa are in areas currently dominated by the LTTE.

The problem that worries the TULF in Batticaloa is the possibility that three or four of the district's five Parliamentary seats might go to the Muslim candidates of the SLMC and the UNP.

If the LTTE retains its current influence in the district then voting in the Tamil majority areas will be almost nil. This will affect the TULF alone. The PLOTE, EPDP and the TELO here are not bothered about the future. They are more concerned with their survival amidst the growing threat of increasing LTTE infiltration into the heart of the Batticaloa town.

It should be remembered here that the single national list seat the TULF was able to obtain at the last general elections was mainly due to the large number of votes the party got in the Batticaloa district.

The situation in Trincomalee is no different. Potential TULF candidates privately say they would first seek the LTTE's approval rather than risk their lives. Mr.Thangathurai got most of his votes in the Mutur area. The Tamil majority parts of this region are largely under the influence of the Tigers now.

Vavuniya is a veritable mess. The presence of LTTE in this town and its suburb is felt almost ubiquitously now. The activities of the PLOTE's armed wing that is now a law unto itself has made things worse. The TULF is but a shadow of its former self here. The Tamil moderate alternative that the government essentially needs to effectively push its case in international fora seems doomed.

The TULF and some informed leaders of the EPDP, PLOTE and the TELO are worried that the EPRLF might shrewdly cash in on this situation by completely and unreservedly throwing in its lot with the PA at the next general elections in return for a national list seat and by negotiating a deal to do what the EPDP did in Jaffna under UNP's patronage in August 1994 - stuff ballot boxes. The EPRLF, of course, denies all this.

But other groups point to some tell tale signs that things are afoot. The Razik group is today the most powerful adjunct of the army. The EPRLF weakly insists that it has nothing to do with this special auxiliary force of the army while the reality on the ground points to a definite link.

One ex-Tamil militant leader said if this is going to be the case there are only two options available to them today to plot the course of their future.

One is to strike a deal with the PA and assist it to garner votes at the Presidential polls in the northeast and hope for very convenient concessions to manipulate the outcome favourably at the next general elections. The other is to ask the PA to postpone elections to Parliament by holding a referendum to prolong its life in return for the votes they could secure for the PA's Presidential candidate. This will further discredit their already dwindling political credibility. They sadly agree. But the situation seems inexorable as Prabhaharan once again reiterates his determination to continue with the war in his Maveerar day speech.

An enfeebled TULF and an aimless set of assorted ex-Tamil militants are not going to help the government win the war. It will only create an inevitable polarisation of the polity. And nothing more than this could help the LTTE find more people for its cause.

Desmond the Good

Einstein once remarked "to obtain an assured favourable response from people it is better to offer them something for their stomachs rather than their brains." Desmond, you have kindly followed this advice - we are already as satisfied as we can be.

Trying nevertheless to occupy everybody's brain just for a minute, I have been chosen to say a few words of farewell in this exclusive group of those with whom you have worked most closely together.

What is most striking about you? You are a very kind person and you represent the perfect argument against the widespread opinion that good people cannot advance in business, government or generally in life.

Some of you may recall that two years ago in Berlin in the Russian embassy I compared Ross Harper with famous historical rulers, reaching from Ross the Terrible to Ross the Pious. I do not know where exactly we settled for Ross, but talking about Desmond, the most suitable comparison is Philippe le Bon, who ruled in Burgundy during the 15th century. Under his rule, Burgundy, (which at that time included today's Belgium and Holland) lived mostly in peace, cherished the arts and grew and prospered by trade and arranged marriages.

Let me quote from a Belgian historian's portrait of Philippe le Bon: "Avec lui disparaissait une des pius grandes figures et une des figures les pius sympathiques du XVe siecle". "With him disappeared one of the greatest and one of the most sympathetic figures of the 15th century."

The author continues that Philippe's personal qualities were the secret of his success. While courageous on the battlefield, instead of resorting to arms, he preferred diplomacy. (Actually, I just heard that Philippe le Bon lost a battle near Dusseldorf - this must have been due to my ancestors).

While Philippe le Bon was a tireless worker and protector of the arts, one has to admit that he was also "un amateur de femmes" (which is not the equivalent to an amateur in today's English).

Nevertheless, he was Philippe the Good, not simply in the sense of being good-natured but in the sense of achieving good results for his country.

So far the Belgian author - you will agree that this could have been a portrait of Desmond Fernando.Being called "the Good", in my view, is the utmost a ruler can achieve, while I am deeply suspicious about titles such as "the Great" or "the Victorious" and similar attributes which usually indicate that the glory has been achieved at the expense of others (except,of course, in the case of "Ross the Pious.")

Now being good does not mean being too lenient or tardy in pursuing one's goals. Actually, being good is a most efficient weapon in pursuing such goals. While an aggressive approach immediately creates opposition and resistance, who can resist a kindly insisting personality like Desmond the Good when he quietly (but firmly) clarifies his point of view?

Have you ever seen somebody openly objecting to a statement made by Desmond? Have you ever seen somebody challenging Desmond when he declares a council resolution being carried by a (somewhat incomplete) show of hands? And, after all, has anybody in this room ever heard Desmond raising his voice? Why should he, people agree with him anyway.

Being Desmond the Good, as in the case of Philippe le Bon, does not mean being afraid of fighting. We all talk about human rights. We are very proud of our human rights institute which plays a remarkable role in defending human rights and in upholding the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary. But only very few of us, if any, can claim to have directly risked our own lives in the fight for human rights. Desmond is known to have done just that repeatedly.

Now, Desmond, are you not only "the Good" but are you a saint? If one is in danger of climbing too high above the ground is always wise to listen to Oscar Wilde, who once stated that the only difference between a saint and a sinner is that every saint has a past and every sinner has a future. Desmond, you must make your own choice. It may help you that there is the old story about St. Ives who lived in the 13th century in Brittany and supposedly was the only lawyer who ever made it to heaven. I do not know if you would qualify. Desmond, but you are certainly more qualified than most people I know, including your successor.

What else comes to mind? Desmond, you are highly educated. We have not exactly conversed in Latin, but you know it very well, you have an open mind for and a deep insight into political and business developments and, a very sympathetic trait, you are no fanatic - realising Mark Twain's comment that fanaticism is nothing else but the doubling of efforts after having lost track of the goal. Desmond, I am proud to have worked with you for the past four years, and all of us are proud to be among your friends.

I do not know if you are relieved to see your term ending. You may be sorry to lose your power; but being the down to earth person you are, you will continue to follow Henry Longfellow in his "Psalm of Life":

Not enjoyment and not sorrow is
our destined end or way
but to act that each tomorrow
Finds us farther than today.

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