Political parties welcome CFA abrogation

By Shanika Sriyananda

The majority of political parties welcomed the government's decision to abrogate the six-year old Ceasefire Agreement (CFA) with the LTTE and said that the LTTE used the CFA to strengthen their fire and manpower while weakening the other Tamil political parties who opposed them.

Media Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa said that the CFA was not honoured by the LTTE and immdiatly after it was signed, the LTTE had violated the agreeemnt by resuming their terror activities. " Since the agreement was signed they violated the CFA regularly. They have also used the CFA to intimidate the army and also those who were giving information in and outside the North and East", he said.

Minister Yapa said that LTTE did not allow to do the monitoring properly and used the CFA to strengthen themselves militarily. He said that the government continues to adhere to its stance to find a political solution to the ethnic problem through the APRC which would be announced next month. He further said recommendations of the All-Party Representatives Committee would be announced next month and the objective of the government is to eliminate terrorism.

CFA is already a dead document - PLOTE

The leader of the People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) Dharmalingam Sithadthan said that the CFA had been violated immensely by the LTTE and there was no CFA for the government to abrogate as it was already a dead document. The very first violation of the agreement was done by the LTTE when the CFA was just two days old.

"So we knew at the beginning that the CFA was not going to work and the LTTE will use it to weaken the other Tamil political parties.

A large number of people, including the cardres belonging to other groups who were not supporting the LTTE were killed and kidnapped by the LTTE for money", he said.

According to Sithadthan, the CFA did not help the peace process but helped the LTTE to strengthen its military. He said that the international community never took a serious note when the LTTE was killing the members of the other political parties and they were in favour of the LTTE.

He said that if the government wanted a new CFA to continue the peace process, the government should come up with a proper CFA which includes all other political parties which were involved in the issue otherwise the LTTE would engage in violence in the same manner.

According to the PLOTE Leader, the Indian participation in the peace process was more vital in the peace process than the participation of Western countries.

"A group of countries which can put pressure on the LTTE and the government should be invited to participate in the peace process", he said adding that the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission which was created under the CFA was totally biased and took the side of the LTTE.

LTTE killed thousands of innocents under CFA - EPDP

The Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP) Leader and Minister of Social Services and Welfare Douglas Devananda said that President Mahinda Rajapaksa's decision to end the CFA was warmly welcomed.

He said that the CFA was not in force as it was violated thousands of times by the LTTE and Prabhakaran did not need any agreement as his desire was a separate state.

"Prabhakaran will not survive without war. He had killed thousands of innocent people under the guise of the CFA", he said.

Fulfilling JVP's dream - S.B

Criticising the government's decision to scrap the CFA the National Organiser of the UNP said that it was done to please the JVP and JHU but the government would be unpopular among the international community.

He said that the move to abrogate the CFA was meaningless as it had been violated by both parties during the past few years and there were no benefits for the government by abrogating the CFA. " There are no military or economic benefits for the country but there will be economic repercussions as some powerful countries have already announced their displeasure to the government over this move", he said." I see this move as one to satisfy the JVP and the JHU which were clamouring to scrap the CFA", he added.

LTTE destroyed political opponents - TMVP

The Thamil Makkal Viduthalai Puligal (TMVP) said that the party welcomes the government's brave move to abolish the CFA and said that it only helped the LTTE to destroy the other Tamil political parties for their survival. " The abolition of the CFA would not hinder the government's efforts to free the North. The same thing would happen in the Wanni and the government would free the innocent people from the clutches of the LTTE terrorists", TMVP spokesman Azad Moulana said.

No need for new CFA - JHU

The CFA was signed when the LTTE was seriously defeated and they became stronger under the cover of the CFA, Jathika Hela Urumaya Leader Ven. Ellawela Medhananda Thera said.

He said that the LTTE was re-grouped, re-armed, re-organised and even infiltrated Colombo and other areas and attacked the vital bases of the country during the CFA. "We from the beginning warned the then Ranil Wickremasinghe government about the LTTE's tactics and requested him to abolish the agreement. The CFA is a document which gave benefits to the LTTE not to bring peace to the country", he said.

Commending the bold decision taken by the Mahinda Rajapaksa government to abolish the CFA, the JHU Leader said that unpatriotic elements spread rumours that the LTTE would launch attacks in the absence of the CFA.Ven. Medhananda Thera said that the JHU's request was to start peace talks without a CFA and the doors for negotiations should be open if the LTTE lays down arms.

Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna's Parliamentary Group Leader Wimal Weerawansa opined that the move was another victory by the patriotic movements of the country and the CFA was the main cover of the LTTE to launch offensives against the government.

"The JVP even before signing the CFA was totally against the CFA because we knew the gravity of such agreements. It was the main facilitation for the international community to intervene in our internal matters", he said.

Sunday Observer made several attempts to contact the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress Leader Rauff Hakeem regarding the party's stand on the abrogation of the CFA but he was not available for comment.