Under intense international pressure, particularly from India, to come up with a viable proposal to end Sri Lanka’s festering ethnic conflict, President Mahinda Rajapakse this week inaugurated an elaborate mechanism comprising a new constitutional affairs committee and the long running all party conference.
In front of the assembled diplomatic corps in Colombo, President Rajapakse launched the ‘All Party Representative Committee on Constitutional Reforms’ and a panel of constitutional experts on Tuesday.
His speech, couched in pious musings about peace and compromise, was very different to the tub-thumping arrogance of his inaugural speech as President in December.
But the pomp and ceremony of Tuesday’s launch belie the serious political difficulties which beset his administration – difficulties, moreover, caused by his own political machinations – and cast serious doubt on the efficacy of his committee and conference.
The main opposition United National Party (UNP) has withdrawn from an India-brokered bipartisan agreement to cooperate on resolving the ethnic question, accusing Rajapakse of trying to destroy it by trying to get its MPs to cross over to government ranks.
The UNP has now reportedly decided to support the peace ‘process’ but not the government – which means that the government cannot rely on the support of the UNP on any offer it makes the Tamils. (see page 4 also)
And the small but powerful ultra-nationalist Sinhala parties, the Janatha Vimukthi Perumana (JVP) and the Jeyathi Hela Urumaya (JHU), have sworn to oppose any changes to the unitary character of the Sri Lankan state.
Indeed, only last week the JVP stepped up its criticism of Rajapakse – for whose Presidential campaign it did more than his own Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) – and demanded he take military action to defeat the LTTE (see page 4).
The main Tamil party in Sri Lanka, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), hasn’t even been asked to participate.
And the panel of experts is dominated by Sinhala hardliners – it is led by the ultra-nationalist ideologue, H. L. De Silva. There are Tamils and Muslims on the committee, but none with a credible history with their respective communities.
Most importantly perhaps is Rajapakse’s administration’s undisguised reluctance to truly share power, a sense that could not be kept out even of his speech Tuesday: “a solution to the national problem must exclude any division of the country.”
“Our objective must be to develop a just settlement within an undivided Sri Lanka,” he said.
The President argued that “the international community, notably India and the Co-Chairs have endorsed our approach” – though the latter – the United States, European Union, Japan and Norway – as well as the former are all agreed that federalism is the way forward for the island.
He blamed the LTTE for “imposing a war on the lives of the people of the Northeast.” – even though last week the number of Tamils who have fled to India seeking refuge from the Sri Lankan armed forces topped five thousand.
“The solution we offer should be one that offers an immediate resolution to the ones affected. It is not enough to keep people waiting in fear for an uncertain future,” he said, even though his much-vaunted All Party Conference (APC) has failed to produce any agreement despite months of deliberations – from which the TNA has been excluded.
In any case, the credibility of Rajapakse’s latest initiative is already weakened amid the UNP’s outrage, the absence of the TNA and the sniping of the JHU-JHU bloc.
Mr. Rajapakse’s persistent efforts since becoming President in November 2005 to tempt opposition lawmakers to government benches has been a constant point of exasperation for the main opposition UNP.
The UNP’s irritation is heightened by its sure knowledge that, had the Liberation Tigers not called for a boycott amongst Tamils, the opposition leader, Ranil Wickremesinghe would have become President.
In a bid to knock the Sinhala leaders’ heads together and produce a bipartisan consensus on producing a viable proposal to put before the Tamils, India last week despatched a senior official to Colombo.
Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran met with both Mr. Rajapakse and Mr. Wickremsinghe and, having secured, the necessary comittment, returned to Delhi. But within two days, the deal collapsed: Rajapakse tempted a UNP parliamentarian over with the promise of a deputy ministership.
The outraged UNP promptly suspended cooperation with the President and the SLFP.
Startled, President Rajapakse, is reported to have decided to refrain from welcoming UNP Parliamentarians into the government’s fold - “for the time being.”
Some reports said that in an unprecedented request, UNP leader Ranil Wickramasinghe has reportedly asked India to help him stop MPs crossing over to the government.
Colombo news agencies reported that the UNP leader made a request to Indian High Commissioner Nirupama Rao to convey a message to President Mahinda Rajapaksa as early as possible.
Ms. Rao, a close diplomatic friend of the President, had reportedly refused the request since she “has nothing to do with the internal politics of Sri Lanka.”
The Island newspaper reported that the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) leader Rauf Hakeem would and try to bring a settlement between the SLFP-led coalition government and UNP-led Opposition.
The SLMC had backed the UNP leader at last November’s polls. The largest Muslim party has since been in negotiations with Rajapakse, but its main rival, the National Unity Alliance (NUA) is already safely ensconced in the SLFP-led coalition.
Meanwhile the developments on the ground which have taken Sri Lanka to the brink of war – from which the past two weeks have seen both the government and the LTTE pull slightly back – could render the entire exercise irrelevant: Rajapakse’s military is continuing its shadow war against the Tigers and the latter are striking back.
Speaking to the assembled diplomats, President Rajapakse was at pains to protest his innocence in the shadow war: “our attempts at bringing the LTTE to the negotiating table continues, we have a responsibility to address the national question” he intoned.
“The issue we are dealing with is of the gravest importance,” he said.
The UNP, for one, would question his sincerity, particularly since Rajapakse has reportedly begun telling close advisors that, having secured six years in power, it was time to prepare the ground to get a second term.
In front of the assembled diplomatic corps in Colombo, President Rajapakse launched the ‘All Party Representative Committee on Constitutional Reforms’ and a panel of constitutional experts on Tuesday.
His speech, couched in pious musings about peace and compromise, was very different to the tub-thumping arrogance of his inaugural speech as President in December.
But the pomp and ceremony of Tuesday’s launch belie the serious political difficulties which beset his administration – difficulties, moreover, caused by his own political machinations – and cast serious doubt on the efficacy of his committee and conference.
The main opposition United National Party (UNP) has withdrawn from an India-brokered bipartisan agreement to cooperate on resolving the ethnic question, accusing Rajapakse of trying to destroy it by trying to get its MPs to cross over to government ranks.
The UNP has now reportedly decided to support the peace ‘process’ but not the government – which means that the government cannot rely on the support of the UNP on any offer it makes the Tamils. (see page 4 also)
And the small but powerful ultra-nationalist Sinhala parties, the Janatha Vimukthi Perumana (JVP) and the Jeyathi Hela Urumaya (JHU), have sworn to oppose any changes to the unitary character of the Sri Lankan state.
Indeed, only last week the JVP stepped up its criticism of Rajapakse – for whose Presidential campaign it did more than his own Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) – and demanded he take military action to defeat the LTTE (see page 4).
The main Tamil party in Sri Lanka, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), hasn’t even been asked to participate.
And the panel of experts is dominated by Sinhala hardliners – it is led by the ultra-nationalist ideologue, H. L. De Silva. There are Tamils and Muslims on the committee, but none with a credible history with their respective communities.
Most importantly perhaps is Rajapakse’s administration’s undisguised reluctance to truly share power, a sense that could not be kept out even of his speech Tuesday: “a solution to the national problem must exclude any division of the country.”
“Our objective must be to develop a just settlement within an undivided Sri Lanka,” he said.
The President argued that “the international community, notably India and the Co-Chairs have endorsed our approach” – though the latter – the United States, European Union, Japan and Norway – as well as the former are all agreed that federalism is the way forward for the island.
He blamed the LTTE for “imposing a war on the lives of the people of the Northeast.” – even though last week the number of Tamils who have fled to India seeking refuge from the Sri Lankan armed forces topped five thousand.
“The solution we offer should be one that offers an immediate resolution to the ones affected. It is not enough to keep people waiting in fear for an uncertain future,” he said, even though his much-vaunted All Party Conference (APC) has failed to produce any agreement despite months of deliberations – from which the TNA has been excluded.
In any case, the credibility of Rajapakse’s latest initiative is already weakened amid the UNP’s outrage, the absence of the TNA and the sniping of the JHU-JHU bloc.
Mr. Rajapakse’s persistent efforts since becoming President in November 2005 to tempt opposition lawmakers to government benches has been a constant point of exasperation for the main opposition UNP.
The UNP’s irritation is heightened by its sure knowledge that, had the Liberation Tigers not called for a boycott amongst Tamils, the opposition leader, Ranil Wickremesinghe would have become President.
In a bid to knock the Sinhala leaders’ heads together and produce a bipartisan consensus on producing a viable proposal to put before the Tamils, India last week despatched a senior official to Colombo.
Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran met with both Mr. Rajapakse and Mr. Wickremsinghe and, having secured, the necessary comittment, returned to Delhi. But within two days, the deal collapsed: Rajapakse tempted a UNP parliamentarian over with the promise of a deputy ministership.
The outraged UNP promptly suspended cooperation with the President and the SLFP.
Startled, President Rajapakse, is reported to have decided to refrain from welcoming UNP Parliamentarians into the government’s fold - “for the time being.”
Some reports said that in an unprecedented request, UNP leader Ranil Wickramasinghe has reportedly asked India to help him stop MPs crossing over to the government.
Colombo news agencies reported that the UNP leader made a request to Indian High Commissioner Nirupama Rao to convey a message to President Mahinda Rajapaksa as early as possible.
Ms. Rao, a close diplomatic friend of the President, had reportedly refused the request since she “has nothing to do with the internal politics of Sri Lanka.”
The Island newspaper reported that the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) leader Rauf Hakeem would and try to bring a settlement between the SLFP-led coalition government and UNP-led Opposition.
The SLMC had backed the UNP leader at last November’s polls. The largest Muslim party has since been in negotiations with Rajapakse, but its main rival, the National Unity Alliance (NUA) is already safely ensconced in the SLFP-led coalition.
Meanwhile the developments on the ground which have taken Sri Lanka to the brink of war – from which the past two weeks have seen both the government and the LTTE pull slightly back – could render the entire exercise irrelevant: Rajapakse’s military is continuing its shadow war against the Tigers and the latter are striking back.
Speaking to the assembled diplomats, President Rajapakse was at pains to protest his innocence in the shadow war: “our attempts at bringing the LTTE to the negotiating table continues, we have a responsibility to address the national question” he intoned.
“The issue we are dealing with is of the gravest importance,” he said.
The UNP, for one, would question his sincerity, particularly since Rajapakse has reportedly begun telling close advisors that, having secured six years in power, it was time to prepare the ground to get a second term.
