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| Sunday, 21 December 2003 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Why this obsession with the Ministry of Defence? by Lucien Rajakarunanayake The issue of the Prime Minister not having the portfolio of Defence either in his hands or that of a cabinet minister of his own choice remains the bugbear of current politics in the country. It is presented as a threat of various types. At the recently concluded sessions of the UNP, the Prime Minister warned or rather threatened that the country should be ready to face a general election if the matter of defence control is not resolved, the way he wants it to be.
In the same manner he explained to his members how the delay in resuming negotiations with the LTTE, after its unilateral suspension of the talks and the globe trotting delay in preparing its proposals for an Interim Administration for the North & East, would pose a serious threat to the economy. It will not bring foreign investors here, warned Ranil Wickremesinghe in an attempt to keep us alive to the dire consequences of such absence of investment for the development of the country. The more one looks at this issue seriously, the more it appears to be a crisis that has been caused by the Prime Minister's reluctance or refusal to accept reality. It is this apparent obsession of the Prime Minister in wanting to have the portfolio of defence with him, that has led to what the LSSP and CP has very well argued is a breakdown of government. Breakdown at highest level But for this breakdown at the highest level, through the Prime Minister's unrealistic and even fanciful demand and belief that defence should be his, there is in fact no major crisis in the country. A budget has been presented in Parliament and it has been passed in the second reading stage, and all indications are that by the time this is published it would have been passed in the third reading stage too. The Prime Minister himself has agreed to answer questions in Parliament with regard to the three ministries, including defence, taken over by the President. It has been shown that the wheels of government can turn, within its usual levels of inefficiency and not any more, despite the President holding the portfolio of defence. The President being the Minister of Defence and Interior has not in any way affected the day to day lives of the people, as it goes on with difficulty, burdened by a steeply rising cost of living. Privatization of what should be sold out and others that should not be, also continues uninterrupted, whether it is all in the interests of the people or not. So what is this huge problem that bothers the Prime Minister who is by no means an inexperienced politician? Although he says that the Constitution does not provide an exclusive right for the President to be Minister in charge of Defence, he cannot have forgotten that he was a minister in the governments of three Presidents who did not give even the slightest inclination of parting with the portfolio of Defence. The closest that came to such a development was the appointment of the late Lalith Athulathmudali as the Minister of National Security charged with the conduct of the war against the LTTE, while that wily old fox, J. R. Jayewardene, held on firmly as Minister of Defence. There seems no difficulty whatever for a similar understanding to be reached with the President, where the Prime Minister will have the necessary powers relating to defence, inasmuch as it is needed to proceed with the peace process. This is the crux of the matter. This would require the Prime Minister to consult with the President on matters relating to Defence and the Interior. Such necessary consultation pushes the Prime Minister to put into practice what the 1978 Constitution has provided for. It is cohabitation in a situation where the Executive and the Legislature are controlled by two different parties. Whether J. R. Jayewardene did this by choice and calculation, or whether it is an unexpected result of his highly personalized constitutional arrangement, this is the reality that has to be faced by the Prime Minister, his political party and the country. It is this refusal by the Prime Minister to carry on with serious, committed, consensual and genuine political cohabitation that makes him keep making noises that range from whining to threatening about his not having control over defence. It is the record of his absence of sufficient consultation with the President on matters as serious and far-reaching as the terms of the MoU and the Government's proposals for an Interim Administration for the North & East that placed the Executive and Legislature on a path of confrontation. This was added to by the failed efforts made by the UNF to clip the wings of the President. No danger to peace We recall how Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe on his arrival from his visit to the USA to be blessed by George W. Bush, shouted on the tarmac to the large crowds who had come and were brought there to receive him, that President George Bush and the American Congress had endorsed his policy of peace, and he saw no dangers to it. Isn't it strange that he now says the peace process is in danger because the President has control over Defence? Has the Prime Minister bothered to ask himself as to why his great supporter, President Bush, who keeps trying to set the political agenda for any country in the world, has not yet made any indication about the dangers to the peace process, as a result of the President being the Minister of Defence? Quite to the contrary, even last week the US government announced that it continues to condemn the LTTE's recruitment of children for military purposes, its continued attacks and killing of political rivals and the many other violations of Human Rights carried out by the Tigers. And, what of the other partners of what the Prime Minister boasts of as being his international safety net. Chris Patten may have come and offered Pooja to the LTTE leader Prabhakaran on the latter's birthday, as many other diplomats (with the gratifying exception of the USA and India) have become used to doing these days, but the European Union has not called for the President to hand back the portfolio of Defence to the Prime Minister to get the peace process back on track to wherever it was moving? Has the Prime Minister bothered to ask himself why his safety net has not come forward to strengthen his demand to keep defence within his total purview? Apart from the niceties of these countries not wanting to interfere in the internal affairs of another country, something the Bush-Blair coalition was not bothered about with regard to Iraq, it is the fact that these countries understand the constitutional correctness of the President's act, whatever they may be thinking of the timing of it. Therein lies the crunch. Even Yasushi Akashi from Japan may come again, and possibly meet Prabhakaran once more even at the risk of again getting a two-hour long dressing down that once made this seasoned diplomat shiver from top to toe, but nothing will be said by him about the President having to hand back defence to the control of the Prime Minister. Correct move As to the timing of this constitutionally correct move, whatever interpretations those who are opposed to the move itself may give, there was pretty much less the President could do after the LTTE presented its proposals of an Interim Self Governing Authority (ISGA) for what was believed to be an interim administration for the North & East. Having seen the serious deterioration with regard to the defence in the 18 months since the signing of the MoU between Ranil Wickremesinghe and Velupillai Prabhakaran, and observing the policy of appeasement the Government followed throughout the period of the "peace talks" as well as before it began and after its suspension by the LTTE, it would have been most dangerous to have the UNF retain control of defence, under the new circumstances. No one knows what concessions the Prime Minister and his LTTE worshipping negotiators would have agreed to. It could even mean the acceptance of the Sea Tigers as a regular navy, or the agreement to the structure of the ISGA just as the LTTE wanted it to be. Far from negotiations with the LTTE breaking down because of the new development over defence, it can in fact be more meaningful with the necessity for the Government's negotiators having to consult with the President on matters of defence. The Prime Minister is indeed seeking to make capital of the statement by S. P. Thamilchelvam of the LTTE to members of the TNA that the LTTE will not negotiate with a government that does not have control over defence. A shove by the Tigers on behalf of Ranil. This is where Ranil Wickremesinghe has to get his international safety net moving, by getting them to bring the necessary pressure on the LTTE that it is not its prerogative to dictate terms on the composition of the Government of this country, although it may have an unelected and ruthless rule in areas under its own control. Both the Executive and the Legislature of the country have been elected by the people, and they function in accordance with the existing constitution, whatever flaws it may have. Both the LTTE and the UNF should understand that whether either or both of them like it or not there is still only one elected government in Sri Lanka, led by the President who under the Constitution is both Head of State and Head of Government. The Prime Minister has so far failed to explain clearly at any instance why he should have control over defence to proceed with the peace process. The peace process is about solving the ethnic crisis and ensuring peace, without the use of bullets. Why then the need to control defence for the pursuit of peace? Will the Prime Minister having defence with him prevent the LTTE from recruiting children to its armed cadres, which it did quite openly when defence was with Ranil? Will Ranil having defence make the LTTE stop the killing of its political rivals among the Tamils? How can control over defence help in the tasks of reconstruction and rehabilitation in the North & East? Genuine change Does one need to have defence under one's wing, to go about the business of building roads, restoring and building schools and hospitals in the North & East? Is having defence with the negotiators an assurance of preventing the LTTE from carrying on with its policy of illegal taxation and extortion, abductions and the increasing threats it poses to the Muslim population in the East? What is needed is the ability to persuade the LTTE to allow genuine change to take place in the North & East and give a real opportunity for the people of the North & East to achieve their aspirations in life both as a community and a part of the Sri Lankan polity. It is time the Prime Minister takes the people into his trust and tells us clearly as to why he needs to have control over defence to achieve any of these objectives that are the real goals of the peace process. |
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