UPFA upbeat about winning Jaffna election

By Ranil Wijayapala

Hailing from the hamlet of Kokkuvil in Jaffna S. Thavarasa went through the mill of politics from the age of 18 on behalf of the Tamil community since 1970s. He closely associated with Douglas Devananda from the date he formed ENDLF and later the Eelam People's Democratic Party. As a member of the EPDP he first contested the 1994 general election and got the chance of becoming a MP. Subsequently he also represented the fourth Parliament from 2000 to 2001. A financial advisor by profession Thavarasa acted as an advisor to Minister Douglas Devananda during the past few years.

He has now been nominated as the lead candidate of the ruling UPFA candidates in the Jaffna district. The Sunday Observer interviewed him about his candidacy and the prospects of the UPFA in Jaffna at the forthcoming Provincial Council elections.

Following are the excerpts of the interview had with S. Thavarasa:

S. Thavarasa

Question: Prior to the announcement of Northern Provincial Council elections Minister Douglas Devananda expressed his willingness to contest the Provincial Council elections from the North. Now you have been nominated as the lead candidate of the UPFA in the Jaffna district. How do you feel it?

Answer: It makes no difference whether Minister Douglas Devananda is contesting or me contesting the election. Actually I will hundred percent carry out the policies of Minister Devananda if we get a chance to run the Council.

There is no difference between his policies or the things I am doing. This will be exactly the same situation whether Minister Devananda contesting or me contesting. If there is a possibility to win the election and if there is no legal barrier we don't mind giving him the chance of becoming the Chief Minister.

There is no problem who will be the Chief Minister the problem will be which party will come first.

Q: As a Tamil political party which has considerable experience in the democratic politics how do you see this election for the Northern Provincial Council elections? Do you think it would be a free and fair one?

A: In fact before 2009 we had difficult times. I contested the 2004 election and that election was rigged by the LTTE for the TNA. If you refer to the PAFFREL and CMEV reports of that time they very categorically stated that elections were rigged in the North.

But after 2009 we have had four elections but we can categorise it as three elections, General elections, Presidential elections, and the Local Government elections. All those elections were comparatively free and fair.

You can't expect things to happen hundred percent perfect. But compare to the Asian standards of the elections they were free and fair.

Even compared to the elections that was held in South it was more free and fair. So we hope this election will also be a free and fair one.

Q: This is the first time elections are being held for Northern Provincial Council after the de-merger of the North Eastern Province. As a political party which has been advocating for the full implementation of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, how do you view this situation?

A: Although there was a elected body soon after the 1987 Indo-Lanka Peace Accord and after the 13th Amendment to the 1978 constitution was passed in the Parliament, at that time elections were held under difficult conditions. We cannot call it a free and fair election. Even the elected Provincial administration had to carry out their duties under very difficult circumstances.

But this is the first time people of the North have got the opportunity to elect their representatives to administer the Provincial Council in a free and fair manner.

Therefore, I think this is an opportunity for the people in the North to make use of that opportunity to elect their own administration. Provincial Council system itself is an outcome of the suffering of the people and due to the the sacrifices of the people particularly in the North.

Our party has been insisting during President Premadasa's time that there should be a political authority, whether it is elected or appointed for the North Eastern province and now the Northern province. Now, after 25 years of Provincial Council came into being, I think, that is going to happen by September 21 and people would definitely chose best group to administer the Council.

Q: The EPDP is getting the chance of representing the UPFA the ruling party of the country in the North as you are getting majority number of nominations in Jaffna and as a whole in the North. So how are you going to make use of this opportunity?

A: In the Jaffna district 16 candidates to be elected and 19 nominations have to be submitted.

Of the 19 the EPDP has been given 10 names. Even in Kilinochchi we have got four nominations. So we have been given fair number of nominations. We have been given fair share in the nominations.

Q: As the EPDP are you happy with the number of nominations given to the party?

A: We are happy with the number we have been given.

Q: No regrets?

A: If we were given we would have been happy. But we are prepared to manage with what have been offered to us.

Q: What are the prospects for the EPDP and as a whole for the UPFA to win the Northern Provincial Council elections since this is a big challenge for the Government?

A: It is a very big challenge. We accept that. We are working hard to win the election because it is a good opportunity as Provincial Council system is a outcome of the sufferings of the so many political groups and democratic parties. We have good chance because our main opponent has not come through the political process. On the other hand we are the best option for the people in the North as we are having good rapport with the Government to solve any issue affecting the people in the North. By electing a party protesting against the Government and taking problems in the North to India and US they cannot expect solutions for their problems. So we have the better chance of winning the elections as people have realised that only having a good rapport with the ruling party only they can get their things done.

Q: How do you weigh the Chief Ministerial candidate of the TNA?

A: Their lead candidate has been there in a top Government position as a Supreme Court judge. But my opinion is that he is like a drop of milk which has fallen into a pot of venom. Even a drop of milk gets diluted and turns into venom when it falls into a pot of venom.

I respect his calibre. But this is a political system wherein he and I have come to the political system.

A person like Senathiraja has come through the political system undergoing all the difficulties in political life. From the age 18 I have come through this system. But our main opponent candidate had not come through that process.

He is a person come through a different course and trying to come to this system. So I think that people will definitely identify that difference. Because whoever come to power or whoever trying to come to power for the Provincial Administration should be a person who had come through this process.

Q:How do you think the people in the North will benefit by electing EPDP members to the Council when considering the ongoing debate on the 13th Amendment to the Constitution?

A: We are the best option for the Tamil people to implement the 13th Amendment.

We are the only party out of the parties contesting having very good rapport with the Government and we are a constituent party of the UPFA. President has told in many interviews that if Douglas comes to power he doesn't mind giving him Police and Land power.

I think he has repeated it in many interviews. According to my interpretation he doesn't mean that it is a particular person Douglas. He means a person who is having the qualities of Douglas or a quality to go along with the Government policy. I think this is what his Excellency the President has meant. So we all have that qualities. We don't cry and complain to Obama or you won't go and complain to Dr. Manmohan Singh against the Government. We negotiate with them. We don't complain and we don't make it a political issue.

There are lot of issues to be resolved. We talk to the government. This is the best opportunity for the people in the North if they elect us as their representatives in the Northern Provincial Council. We can do lot of things. We are the only party which can implement the 13th Amendment.

Q: What do you think the people in the North are expecting from you basically from the Government is it the development or the political freedom?

A: I will take the development first. Actually I think to the best of my knowledge this government after defeating the LTTE had done enormous development activities in the North. From 2009 May approximately Rs. 30 billion has been spent on Jaffna district and similar amount on Mullaitivu and about 25 to 26 billion to Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu etc.

Recently the President came to Kilinochchi to open the A 9 road and after his speech somebody raise the question and said His Excellency you have done all the main roads, but you come interior and see the conditions of the roads. To which the President replied that he has done whatever he can do, the rest I left for the Provincial government to do.

Coming into political rights I would say even to have their political rights they have to live.

Then only they can enjoy the rights. Without basic conditions to live, without development without all these activities without the means of livelihood there is no point of talking about the rights. We have been telling that we have suffered lot, we lost lot and our economy has gone down, our educational standard has gone down. We have to bring the glorious past. That is the need of today.

The world is developing very fast in education and knowledge. Our communities are deprived of all these opportunities all those time. So I think that is what the people in the North need urgently rather than talking about political freedom.

Q: What are the main slogans of your party at the election platform?

A:We are the only party who are having good rapport with the Government and only through us the 13th Amendment can be implemented in full which we have been advocating all the time. Others can say but they can't deliver. They don't talk to the government in power and they go to somebody else. We cannot solve the political issues coming to the Provincial Councils as propagated by the TNA.

How can they resolve the political issue after getting elected to the Provincial Council. There is no mandate under the 13th Amendment to resolve political issues.

To do that you have to go to the Parliament Select Committee. Therefore we are the best option for the people to get it done but not the TNA.

The other issue we are concentrating on is unemployment. There are so many women breadwinners and large number of the differently abled people and small number by natural causes, but very large number of people due to the war. So we are preparing data base on them. We will definitely attend to all these things.

To resolve the unemployment, we never promise the people government jobs. We told them that the Government jobs are only 30 percent of the employment in the country. So we are creating conditions for the private sector to come, we are creating employment. We never say that we will give employment.

Q: There are allegations that the Government is unevenly distributing the funds for the Local Authorities in the North. How do you react to this situation?

A: In the Jaffna district we have 17 Local Government bodies and out of that we are running four Local Government bodies and 13 are controlled by the TNA. Out of these four, one is a Municipal Council and three Pradeshiya Sabhas.

Last November the Government has allocated Rs. 100 million for each of these Pradeshiya Sabhas. But Pradeshiya Sabhas controlled by the TNA they don't have money even to buy a paper to the community centres. We tell the people that it was because of the good rapport we are maintaining with the Government.

Some people say that it is not fair by the Government and it should treat all the Local Government bodies equally. This is the politics of Asia and you have to see the reality. Even in India it is the same. If there is a state government from the same party that goes very well with the centre they get more grants and more assistance from the centre. Nobody will do for party who canvass against the Government.

Q: How do you estimate the capabilities of the UPFA team. Are you satisfied with the team?

A: We have a good team. As I said earlier the Provincial Council system has been the outcome of the sufferings of many political groups. Anybody who has taken part in that process has to come into the scene. About two thirds of the candidates are from that category.

Other than that we have professionals. One of our candidates is a former Education Secretary of the North East Province. Another candidate is a journalist who had worked at many places. Another candidate is a woman.

The TNA has not fielded any female candidates at the election. We as a people who had made a woman as the Mayor of Jaffna and we recommended women to be the Vice Chancellor of the Jaffna University. Even the Chief Secretary of the Northern Province is a woman. So we have given more rights to women.

Q: There are several allegations against the military and the EPDP in Jaffna. These issues may definitely taken by your opponents for their advantage. So how do you react to these allegations?

A: All these are all false allegations. One TNA MP has gone to Canada and said he had saved about 200 young girls who are to be taken by Army and raped.

These are hundred per cent lies. I don't know why the Government is not taking any action against such statement made by a Member of the parliament. They are coming out with total lies. I really respect Mr. Sampanthan, he is a senior politician in our community.

He had made a statement saying that there are hundred thousand Army in Jaffna. People of that calibre should not come up with such a lie. Army is there, I don't say Army is not there. But the total army strength is about 100,000 then how can they deploy 100,000 in Jaffna alone. This is how they make sensational news and people get worked up. But we are telling the truth.

Q: The land issue and the High Security Zone issue are also becoming a big issue in Jaffna. People are demanding their lands back from the military. What are your plans for this situation?

A: I would like to say that soon after the war in 2009 about 42 Grama Divisions in Thelippalai, Kankesanthurai areas where the high security zones were established. Our party General Secretary was having continuous discussions with the Army and the Army systematically reduced their presence in that area.

To get that done we did not cry, we did not protest and we did not go to Manmohan Singh. What we did was we continuously talked to the Army and got it done. As of 2009 there were 42 Grama Niladari Divisions in occupation in the High Security Zone alone. Sixteen Grama Niladari Divisions and about partly eight are in occupation. In addition there were lot of houses occupied by the Army. Last week they released 32 houses in Ariyalai and Kopai. And they are planning to release more.

We have seen a very tough war. We have come through very tough time. We need Army to strengthen the national security.

But they are systematically shifting from the civilian occupied areas. Still we are insisting that more areas have to be vacated.

We are continuing our dialogue with the Security Forces and day by day they are reducing their presence.

We will negotiate and we will see that the lands that are not really necessary for the security of the country be released back to their owners.

I can understand the fears of the Sinhala community.

Sinhalese will not allow the Army to come out from the High Security Zones. If we bring a situation where people have no fear and conducive environment, then definitely we can see that more lands are given back to the people. So there is a progress and that has to be taken forward.

Q: What are your expectations at the elections?

A: I have confident that people will be with us if not TNA does not come out with total lies and false, sensational and emotional false at the last moment of the election. I am sure people will support us. I am thankful to the Government which is giving all its support not for the elections but to fulfil the reasonable needs of the people in the North.

When Minister Douglas Devananda requests something the Government will never say no. So we hope people will keep their trust on us in future also.