Tamil Guardian editorial, June 18, 2004
The stalemate in Norway's peace process deepened visibly this week. Oslo's Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Mr. Hans Brattskar flew to Kilinochchi to meet with senior LTTE officials there whilst Special Envoy Erik Solheim is to meet with the LTTE's political strategist, Mr. Anton Balasingham on Thursday. Norway is striving to find a way past the impasse, but the reversal and subsequent hardening of positions in Colombo on the agenda for future talks does not leave much room for optimism. Having at one stage agreed to discuss the LTTE's proposals for an Interim Self Governing Administration (ISGA) for the Northeast with the movement, President Chandrika Kumaratunga is (now that the international aid conference has concluded) insisting the talks must be on a permanent solution also.
The
glaring
futility
of
a
minority
government
seeking
to
take
on
the
fifty
year
old
imbroglio
of
the
ethnic
question
instead
of
addressing
short
term
and
urgent
measures
to
improve
the
quality
of
a
million
people's
day-to-day
lives
is
apparently
lost
on
her.
The
ultranationalist
Janatha
Vimukthi
Perumana
(JVP)
-
part
of
Sri
Lanka's
ruling
coalition
-
is
meanwhile
railing
against
the
ISGA.
The
LTTE
has
every
reason
to
believe
that
President
Kumaratunga's
strategy
is
merely
to
resume
negotiations,
dismiss
the
ISGA
at
the
outset
and
then
allow
the
talks
to
meander.
This
will
allow
her
to
concentrate
on
her
own
political
ambitions:
ruling
Sri
Lanka
after
her
second
-
and,
according
to
the
present
constitution,
final
-
term
in
office,
while
keeping
the
LTTE
pinned
to
the
table.
Whilst
the
Norwegian
initiative
is
stalled
on
the
issue
of
the
agenda
for
talks
-
a
telling
stumbling
point
-
the
impasse
reveals
the
deeper
problems
underlying
this
conflict
resolution
exercise.
Essentially,
the
Sri
Lankan
state,
and
President
Kumaratunga
in
particular,
have
not
abandoned
the
objective
of
Sinhala
hegemony.
Perhaps
the
past
two
and
half
years
or
so
of
cease-fire
have
dulled
the
horrors
of
war.
Or
perhaps
there
is
belief
that
the
LTTE's
armed
struggle
has
been
extinguished
in
the
international
atmosphere
which
emerged
in
the
past
few
years.
But
the
hawks
are
soaring
in
the
south
and
there
is
a
palpable
sense
of
the
prospects
for
peace
slowly
fading
(Deputy
Defence
Minister
Ratnasiri
Wickremanayake's
unfortunate
fiasco
with
a
peace
dove
that
dropped
dead
has
apparently
further
frayed
some
southern
nerves).
Justifiably
rising
anxieties,
moreover,
are
being
fuelled
by
a
slow
deterioration
in
other
aspects
of
the
peace
process.
The
harassment
and
intimidation
of
LTTE
political
cadres
has
resumed.
Mannar
shut
down
in
protest
at
vicious
attack
by
Sri
Lankan
troops
on
civilians
protesting
the
interrogation
of
two
LTTE
activists
by
the
Army.
Long
simmering
tensions
between
the
Sea
Tigers
and
the
Sri
Lanka
Navy
flared
again
this
week
when
the
latter
imposed
new
restrictions
on
the
former's
movements
at
sea.
President
Kumaratunga,
notably,
is
conveniently
out
of
the
country.
Sri
Lanka
state
media
is
meanwhile
running
a
determined
disinformation
campaign
-
in
the
Tamil
language
-
about
violent
clashes
in
the
east.
As
we
argued
before,
it
is
in
the
volatile
Batticaloa-Ampara
districts
that
agent
provocateurs
stand
the
greatest
chance
of
reigniting
the
conflict.
No
doubt
hardliners
in
the
Sri
Lanka
military
are
gauging
their
chances
of
exploiting
opportunities
that
might
emerge
in
the
wake
of
the
LTTE's
putting
down
of
renegade
commander
Karuna's
rebellion
earlier
this
year.
They
would
undoubtedly
have
President
Kumaratunga's
tacit
approval.
The
impasse
is
exacerbated
by
a
growing
realisation
that
there
is
little
that
can
weaken
President
Kumaratunga's
intransigence.
The
international
community's
hesitation
in
unlocking
the
development
aid
package
pledged
last
year,
and
the
blunt
warning
issued
by
the
cochairs
of
the
donors
earlier
this
month,
have
made
little
impact
on
her
resolve.
But
Kumaratunga's
immediate
priorities
are,
of
course,
not
alleviating
poverty
or
ending
the
ethnic
conflict.
Her
focus
is
on
achieving
a
majority
in
Parliament
with
a
longer
term
intention
-
no
matter
how
unlikely
-
to
change
the
constitution
to
her
advantage.
Her
determination
to
rule
cannot
be
in
doubt.
In
the
past
she
has
prorogued
Parliament,
seized
ministries,
rigged
elections,
persecuted
the
press
and
unleashed
violence
against
her
political
opposition.
Furthermore,
and
perhaps
most
importantly,
the
possibility
of
the
President
resuming
the
war
against
the
Tamils
to
unite
Sinhala
public
opinion
behind
her
cannot
be
dismissed.
We
cannot,
after
all,
forget
1995.
www.tamilguardian.com
###
Posted June 20, 2004