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| Sunday, 25 May 2003 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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All givers, stakeholders will be there in Tokyo by Air Vice Marshall Harry Goonetilleke
A crisis of confidence and of conscience, of mega proportions has befallen this country since the LTTE declared over a month ago, on 21st April, 2003 to be precise, that they will not continue participating in the current peace process after having done so in six rounds of talks in quite a few western countries but mainly in Thailand, to the great delight of the international community up to this point of time. Not to be out done, our Head of State, by an administrative fiat on 8th May, 2003, virtually out of the blues and in an indecent hurry, has commandeered the Development Lotteries Board (DLB) with an yearly turnover of nearly one billion rupees at present, much to the consternation and utter disbelief of the second arm of governance, causing a serious rupture in the cohabitation arrangement, even though fragile, and yet unresolved up to this time of writing, threatening the very existence of both forms of government. The world in general, and Sri Lankans in particular, are not amused one bit by the antics of the Executive, the legislature and the LTTE, and would like to hear and see saner counsel prevailing in the rebuilding process of our country from the deep morass it has fallen into, in the shortest possible time. Let me be more specific and to the point in my observations above although my countrymen are generally aware of the reasons behind their actions without probing too much, except for what has been told them and made to believe by the respective parties. Taking the two issues separately that is causing this nation state much anguish, how is it that a belligerent and an unbenign organisation such as the LTTE which has been waging 'war' against its countrymen for two decades, but like a bold from the blue suddenly renounces violence less than 20 days after the present government came to power after staying out in the cold for over seven years, and even dropping the Eelam card for federalism, and participating in fruitful discussions for a negotiated settlement to our ethnic problem, is backing out from talks now? incredible Some analysts might say that they were looking for a reason to keep away in a manner not to displease the international community too much but methinks it has, primarily, to do with being left out at the pre-aid confab in Washington last month, with a ready made excuse that Sri Lanka had no control over the venue by a country that has proscribed the LTTE and therefore cannot sit with them at the deliberations. Surely, when one is discussing aid in millions and millions of dollars to a war devastated country with over 3/4 of the destruction occurring in the Northern and Eastern parts of our country, it seems incredible that the main actor is sidelined by a technical default, much like playing Hamlet without the Prince of Denmark, as someone said recently. Now, reflecting on that tete-a-tete, I would think that there was not a single Tamil to represent that community, although it can be said that the pow-wow was not on a communal basis but for me "Justice must not only be done but must seem to be done". What is even more interesting is that no effort whatsoever was made to look for an alternate venue leaving this writer with the impression that the two countries in question decided to "kill two birds with one stone" by stating that around 20 big wigs from as many countries were going to be there for a UN conference or some such thing, and that they were also participants at our meeting. So, the two birds, USA and India, could make their presence felt without any embarrassment to the LTTE, which they did, unlike at OSLO. If this was not enough reason for the LTTE to make their infamous pronouncement of 21st April to cause a lot of heartburn, surprisingly amongst the international community but less amongst our locals, however, not including our parliamentary opposition, the LTTE used the occasion to highlight what they saw as other shortcomings to buttress their argument for staying away. LTTE bargain And what was it that prompted the LTTE to up their bargain after their original disillusionment of being sidelined from attending the aid meeting, that hastened the international community from about three countries to come rushing to Colombo and the Wanni, including the Foreign Minister from Norway, to persuade and cajole the LTTE to remain on the peace track? Without persisting with their disappointment at being prevented from the initial aid pledging meet, the LTTE took up the position that a legal framework should be put in place to disburse the enormous sums of money coming in, amounting to over three billion dollars in three years for the rehabilitation and reconstruction, particularly in the North. Of course, they were expected to be a party to it! the other matter was that the sub-committee to provide immediate humanitarian and rehabilitation needs (SIHRN), which met several times during the many rounds of talks, has not addressed the issue properly of the return of the refugees to their lands and dwelling places in the High Security Zones (HSZ) of the North despite assurances from the government at these talks that it would be done speedily. This is a sore point with the LTTE, which has been stressed from time to time causing demonstrations and hartals leading to confrontations with the Military, and on one occasion, to death of several persons in the Eastern Province in the past one year. Let me illustrate this point with my own observations and comments that I made as Chairman of two separate committees appointed by the government in July and October last year in the North and the East, respectively, which reports were handed over to the highest authorities in the Island. To quote "..... I won't go into these as they are known to the high and mighty in governance through the TNA (that is about movement of people in restricted and HSZs), suffice to say that the HSZ in the Palai - Tellippalai sector covers approx 28 sq.kms, as of 20th July. I saw for myself on the drive from the Airport into a little beyond Tellippalai junction, a distance of about 5 to 7 kms, houses destroyed and fields abandoned on either side of road but believing that these owners did not want to move in just yet as repairs had to be effected, was told that they cannot enter the area.....Further, it was pointed out to me that to meet the deadline of 2nd August, the military is moving out from their earlier location as per the MoU but declaring the new areas they are occupying as HSZs complete with barb wire fences supported by palmyrah logs freshly brought in from the wastelands in the locality.....However, the safety precautions required by the military particularly in the Palali sector cannot be over emphasized in view of the artillery range of the LTTE which can be activated from a distance of 12 to 14 miles but this is not understood, or people that matter refuse to understand it hoping for a total pull out from built up areas. It is this latter scenario that a state decision has to be made but it could probably be differed for the peace talks to follow shortly when this issue may be used as the main Quid Pro Quo for a final peace settlement...... Kayts report Finally, the State, for its part, could probably interact more frequently with the Service Chiefs not only at Head of State level but also at Head of Government level for, in the present context, it would appear there are such discourses, it is believed, only at Commander-in-Chief level. I am certain that this would be welcomed by the Service Chiefs. "Those were excerpts from the Kayts report submitted in early August last year. Well, though there were great expectations that things would settle down after that inquiry and after cosmetic re-arrangements of a temporary nature, it didn't take long for another flare up in Pt. Pedro about a month or two later with an Army, Civilian confrontation, which fortunately did not end up on a tragic note, however, we were to witness another massacre in the Amparai district in October leading to a further official inquiry by the State into an uprising that killed 7 civilians, which had once again to do with enforced impediments to freedom of movement in military controlled areas. Here are quotes from that report too which was submitted to the powers that be in November last year, quite similar to the observations made in the Peninsula incident just three months before:.......Furthermore, it is the belief and the understanding of the HOI Polloi not only in the East but in the North as well, that with the signing of the MoU, they have the right to move about on the roads unimpeded with their heads held high......In the recent past, this happened in Kayts with the Navy, with the Army in Pt. Pedro and Trincomalee, and now with the STF in Amparai, and occurrences such as a show of defiance against the military is bound to recur over and over again even in a small way until peace talks are concluded......." strident demands "....Perhaps it might just be possible that the strident demands being made right now for the removal of all STF camps in this region may take a back seat for a while at least if issues such as these, reducing numbers in camps, payment for land and property acquired by the State for military and security purposes, and such like are addressed and resolved without undue dilly- dallying" "....In the Chairman's vision as maintained by him in his report on the Kayts incident, a withdrawal of the military from HSZs may be incorporated in a peace accord on successful completion of talks. This would also be an inducement for the LTTE not to prevaricate but get down to the serious business of meaningful discussions for an everlasting peace...Finally, only lasting peace should change the landscape in the North and East, militarily speaking". In the meanwhile, there is speculation and wide belief amongst a great majority of our Southerners that resumption of war is now inevitable with the collapse of the peace confab but you can take it from me readers, that it will not happen, however much the provocation by dissident and disgruntled elements, as long as this government continues in office and the peace process has the blessings and overwhelming support of the International community, which we witness today. All that would happen in the next year or so is that the peace process will proceed in fits and starts despite the LTTE pronouncement at this time of writing (20th Tuesday) that it is temporarily dysfunctioning, for reasons known by you but the Ceasefire Agreement (DFA) will hold, something stated categorically off times by them, and which I am prepared to bet on unless the government walks away from the MoU. To sum it all, until a peace accord is reached, there will be innumerable hartals, demonstrations and skirmishes, perhaps with a little blood throws in at sporadic intervals but without endangering the CFA in short, no killing spree. disenchantment Having said all that about one party to the disenchantment that prevails in the country today about its future, let me ponder and comment on the other source of concern and irritation that surfaced early this month that threatens to split the legislature and the Executive into two different camps with diverse views I referred to in my opening remarks. With the country and the government questing for the past year or so as to when our Head of State will deliver on her threat, at regular intervals, to sack the government and/or some of its ministers, including the removal of the duly elected Prime Minister, she dropped a bombshell less than three weeks ago announcing the takeover of the highly lucrative Development Lotteries Board (DLB) by her virtually within 24 hours, without so much as by your leave to her Prime Minister. We won't go into the details, as they are known by the populace by and large through the copious debates/discussions in the electronic and news media incessantly day in day out, except to examine the facts leading to the hurried acquisition by the most powerful Chief Executive in the world, as some say,of a seemingly innocuous looking function. It is also well known that when the kith and kin, the fiery red friends and some impatient ex-ministers were promoting the takeover of the media and the National Security ministries, a very necessary ploy in the context of Sri Lankan elections, the choice was the lucrative DLB which was doling out funds for the educational, health and social activities programmes that came within the purview of the Presidents office. This is somewhat like a conundrum, to be expected in Sri Lankan politics, that when we have a surfeit of ministers, there are subjects/projects handled by the almighty Executive, a phenomenon we are saddled with since the birth of the Presidential System in 1978. image building Perhaps this too was necessary for image building and retaining same with or without the checks and balances of a transparent public audit at the highest levels. I think - herein lies the problem, in that vast sums of money are required to support ongoing schemes but there isn't enough to go round; a good and vivid example as illustrated by the Minister of Trade a couple of weeks ago being the short fall of nearly one billion rupees into the Mahapola Scholarship Fund. On top of this, as if to compound the issue is the allegation made by none other than two Cabinet Ministers on TV on separate occasions, last week and the week before that Rs. 40 million has been used by the President's Fund for the December 2001 election campaign, and this was being investigated by the CID. This was sometime ago, the inquiry, and in fairness to the President and her office, the outcome must be made known to the people, who after all paid millions for the purchase of lottery tickets. In the final analysis we witness a President who promised to abolish this office in 1994, and gave it in writing to the JVP prior to the election that year, now using its power, egged on by the latter, to continue to wield the draconian powers enshrined in the constitution without the elementary courtesy at least of informing her PM whom she loudly acclaimed in her speech on Independence Day this year, of her takeover intentions. Well, someone has to come down from his/her high horse very shortly and the whole world is watching and waiting for the event. Perhaps a way would be found to back down without seeming to give in? In the meantime readers, take it from me, the Tokyo aid meeting would go on as planned for next month, and all the givers and stakeholders will be there. |
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