Sri Lanka: Stalemate continues: Update
49.
by Dr. S. Chandrasekharan
Though there have been hiccups before, for the first time the talks
between the LTTE and the Sri Lankan government appear to have stalled on
two major issues- one, the grant of interim administration to the LTTE in
the north east and two, de-escalation of high security zones in Jaffna. Of
these, the demand for an interim administration has taken an urgency
though both issues are inter-related.
The main objective of the LTTE is to regain control over Jaffna which
it could not succeed militarily but now sees a chance to succeed
politically and hence their inflexibility. Balasingham has made the
position of LTTE clear that what they need is a "politico-
administrative interim" structure for the north east without spelling
out the details. On another occasion he has demanded a radical overhaul of
the entire peace process and a redefined agenda again without giving the
details, thus making the issue more confusing.
It is clear from the statements that the LTTE is not going to spell out
clearly what they want. The Norwegian facilitators who had gone to London
to discuss with Balasingham were told that the Sri Lankan government
should present a set of proposals for an interim administration. This will
be first studied by the LTTE and improvements will be suggested and then
the parties could enter into negotiations to formalise an interim
administration. There will be no proposals from their side except in
general terms.
But what the LTTE wants could be gleaned from elsewhere. In the
"Tamil resurgence" rally supposedly sponsored by the Jaffna
students though in fact it was LTTE’s, the declaration read out to a
large gathering said
* An interim state structure possessing full powers must be
entrusted to . . . LTTE.
* The international community must recognise the state structure.
* The Sri Lankan Armed forces must move out of the Tamil Home land.
These three demands more or less meet LTTE’s objectives. What they
need in the north east is a "state structure" and this
would mean a "state within the state."
If there was any ambiguity, this was further clarified in another part
of the declaration which reiterated three of the Thimpu demands namely,
recognition of- Tamils as a distinct nation, Tamils having a traditional
home land and the right to self determination.
The problem is that no government in power can agree to an interim
structure outside the Sri Lankan constitution. G.L.Peiris, himself a
constitutional lawyer is aware of the difficulty. Prime minister
Wickremasinghe visited United Kingdom along with the Attorney General and
Peiris to obtain expert opinion from British legal and constitutional
experts.
The draft proposals made so far emphasise the resettlement and
reconstruction machinery for the northeast and not the politico
administrative structure. Media reports indicate that the structure
proposed will comprise one or two commissioners and district development
committees for the rehabilitation activities. As this is likely to be
rejected outright by the LTTE, fresh proposals are being drafted around
the 13th amendment under which the North east council came into
being and is still in existence on paper.
It is ironical that the present UNP government is taking up the 13th
amendment seriously now. During the IPKF operations when the LTTE was
fairly under control even in their strong holds like Mullaithivu, the then
UNP government did its best to undermine the administration of the North
East Council and went to the extent of clandestinely arming the LTTE to
resist the IPKF. It did not occur to them that the 13th amendment was the
best starting point for eventual settlement that would meet the Tamil
aspirations. It is too late now. LTTE is much stronger now and
believes that it has attained parity. It is also in control of a vast
swathe of land of what is called traditional Tamil home land. Even the
13th amendment may not be enough as the Tamils assembled in the
"Tamil Resurgence " day have been asked to demand a "state
structure" even for the interim administration!
There are two other serious issues that will have an impact on the
peace process- one the systematic elimination of important members of
non LTTE groups by suspected LTTE cadres in areas outside the control of
LTTE and the continuing efforts of LTTE to stock pile weapons.
Since the cease fire in 2002 there has been sporadic killings, but
after the Tokyo conference the LTTE appears to be in a killing spree. In
most of the cases the victims belonging to the EPDP and Varadan’s
faction of EPRLF have been selectively targeted. The most serious one was
the killing of Subathran, senior leader of Varada Raja Perumal’s
faction in Jaffna on 14th June. A senior member of the EPDP
faction was gunned down in Kalladi, Batticola around the same time.
So far the Norwegian facilitators have been unable to obtain a firm
assurance from the LTTE to stop further killings. Unfortunately one of the
terms of the cease fire agreed to, was to disarm the non LTTE cadres and
these cadres have thus become vulnerable.
On 14 June, there was a major incident off the coast of Mullaithivu
when a suspected weapon carrying tanker MT Shoshin of LTTE with 12 crew
members was sunk by the Sri Lankan Navy. The LTTE’s case was that
it was an oil tanker with a specific international flag and that the
incident took place in international waters. The Sri Lankan Navy
maintained that the interception was about 100 nautical miles off the
coast and the ship did not identify itself.
The Sri Lankan monitoring mission conducted a detailed investigation
and while it could not locate the exact site, it came to the conclusion
that the LTTE violated the UN Convention on the Law of Seas by not flying
an appropriate flag for identification. It had also made certain
suggestions to avoid such confrontation in future.
The SLMM for the first time gave a forthright decision and redeemed
itself partially after the preposterous suggestion they made some time
earlier that the LTTE should be given separate and exclusive space off the
coast of Mullaithivu for use by the Sea Tigers.
There is yet no danger of the cease fire process breaking down. The
Sri Lankan Prime minister believes that by involving other international
players and getting a large amount of aid for rehabilitation and
reconstruction of north east, the LTTE will have a stake in the stability
of the peace process. This is true up to a point, but the LTTE cannot be
taken for granted when it involves their core objectives
