Sri Lankan Peace talks. What next?
- Update No. 36
by Dr. S. Chandrasekharan
Peace talks between Sri Lankan Government and the
LTTE are due to start on 16 September, 2002 for
three days. The venue chosen is Sattahip, a fishing
village close to U Tapo Airbase in Thailand. LTTE
has since been de proscribed thus removing the last
hurdle for the talks to begin.
In welcoming the talks there have been subtle
variations in the statements made by USA, UK and
Japan. Philip Reeder, Dy. State department
Spokesman said " A political solution to the
conflict in Sri Lanka which maintains the
country’s territorial integrity would be welcome
by the international community including the US.
This statement emphasises the territorial integrity
of Sri Lanka. The Japanese Foreign minister pledged
continued assistance for humanitarian projects in
the North East and stressed that Japan will spare no
efforts to contribute to the
reconstruction-rehabilitation of those areas once
durable peace is achieved. Here Japan wants
"durable peace" before assistance could
come in a big way. This statement has been made
after the Japanese embassy officials made an
extensive tour of four days to the North East. The
British Foreign office Minister, Peter Hain said
" We continue to encourage both sides to work
towards a negotiated settlement that meets the
aspirations of all communities. " The emphasis
is on meeting the aspirations of all the
communities. Peter Hain got into trouble earlier
once when he said that while Eelam will receive no
recognition, "the principle of self
determination and control over most if not all the
key policies affecting daily life would be supported
by the international community."
One cannot but sympathise with Prime minister
Ranil Wickremasinghe for the problems he is
facing in going ahead with the talks.
* Firstly he is facing a tough opponent in the
LTTE which is very clear on how to go about in
achieving their objectives. So far they have been
successful, but it will not be that easy anymore
when the peace talks go beyond preliminaries to an
interim administration set up and other
substantive issues. He has indicated that the
interim administration should be according to the
constitution of the country. He was vague on a
permanent solution as one "without dividing
the country and upholding democratic ideals."
* Secondly, the biggest problem he has, is with
his own President who is out to make it as
difficult for him as possible in all aspects of
administration. The President openly declared that
she was against de proscribing the LTTE. The
latest, one heard was, that she has insisted on
one of her representatives being in the official
team to the Bangkok talks. This confrontational
politics had gone to such an extent that the
ruling UNF had decided to issue a gazette
notification curtailing the powers of the
President particularly in the matter of dismissal
of the lawfully elected government after one year
of its existence. Luckily better sense prevailed.
* Thirdly the opposition has taken recourse to
seek the support of the Buddhist monks in delaying
if not scuttling the peace process. On September
2, under the aegis of the newly formed ‘National
Conference of Buddhist Monks’ hundreds of monks
demonstrated in Colombo denouncing the Peace
Broker Norway and demanding the government to
abandon plans to lift the ban on LTTE ahead of the
talks. Media reports indicate that President
Chandrika assured the monks that she will prevent
the lifting of the ban. Wickremasinghe is fully
aware of the powerful influence of the Buddhist
clergy in Sri Lankan politics and in ethnic
strife. His Defence Minister had called on the
Malwatte Mahanayake Thera to obtain his blessings
of the peace process and assured him that the
government’s decision to lift the ban on the
LTTE would not be harmful to national security.
Perhaps most surprising and important was the
visit of Richard Armitage to the North.
In his one day visit to Sri Lanka, Richard
Armitage visited Jaffna and saw some of the worst
scenes of destruction. He was heard to recall his
own experience in Vietnam. He visited the second
biggest town in the north, Chavakachery besides
meeting a TNA delegation led by veteran politician
Sampanthan. On return to Colombo, he met Prime
Minister Wickremasinghe and Kadirgamar, the latter
in his capacity as President Kumaratunga’s
international Affairs Advisor.
Armitage’s visit has been variously described
as ‘symbolic’ by the media and one of the
well-known foreign weekly has described it as
interest of USA in taking over the Trincomalee as a
base for their fleet as Diego Garcia is too far away
and USA would need a good base nearer home in Asia!
. It looks that Armitage’s visit was more to show
USA’s continuing interest in the peace process and
the need to carry on with the peace talks despite
hurdles. There is a message to LTTE too as USA has
made it clear that a solution has to be within a
united Sri Lanka and the peace talks will have to be
carried on. It is to be noted that USA and for that
matter all other countries have not de proscribed
the LTTE.
The Talks begin on 16th
September. The LTTE has already announced
the composition of the team. Besides
Balasingham and wife who would act as Secretary,
there are two others who are not so well known.
The first is Vishwanathan Rudrakumar, UK based
lawyer and son of former Jaffna Mayor Raja
Viswanathan. He is the informal legal adviser
to the LTTE. The other is the Australia based
political scientist and constitutional expert Dr.
Maheshwaran. The Sri Lankan government team has
since been announced. It includes Prof. G.L.
Peiris, the Constitutional minister , other
ministers Milinda Moragoda and Rauf. Hakeem of SLMC
and Bernard Gunatilake from the Peace Secretariat.
The surprise inclusion is that of Rauf Hakeem who
had earlier declared that he will be there to
protect the interests of Muslims. The LTTE had
privately objected to his inclusion as it has been
always part of the strategy of successive Sri Lankan
governments to show that the Muslims are separate
from other ethnic Tamils though their mother tongue
is Tamil. ( Surprisingly these tactics did not
work with the Christians). It is known that
Rauf Hakeem travelled all the way to London and
explain his position to Balasingham.
No problems could be expected in the first round
of talks. This is understood by both parties and
the first round will focus on the modalities. Later
the tough issues like "interim
administration" will crop up. The LTTE team
would also insist on the economic reconstruction and
the full implementation of the cease fire agreement
besides pressing for an interim administration
immediately.
