Political
Impasse Deepens
In Sri Lanka
By K. Ratnayake
World
Socialist Web
07 December 2003
Attempts
to patch up a compromise between Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga
and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe have run into trouble after
Kumaratunga released her own proposals for working relations with the
government last Friday, directly cutting across negotiations with Wickremesinghe.
It is one month
since Kumaratunga precipitated an acute political crisis by seizing
control of the defence, internal affairs and media ministries from the
United National Front (UNF) government, suspending parliament for two
weeks and moving toward imposing a state of emergency.
She accused the
UNF of making too many concessions to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil
Eelam (LTTE) in its peace talks to end the countrys 19-year-civil
war and thus endangering national security. Her anti-democratic
moves were aimed at appealing directly to Sinhala chauvinist groups
opposed to any negotiated end to the war.
But the major powers
including Washington insisted, for their own ends, that the so-called
peace process had to proceed. To sort out a compromise, Kumaratunga
and Wickremesinghe have held three rounds of talks and a committee of
their senior officials appointed has met five times during the past
three weeks. While all of the discussions have been held behind closed
doors, indications were leaked to the media that a deal was in the wind.
Last Friday, however,
Kumaratunga suddenly released a document to media, setting out her own
detailed proposals. She criticised Wickremesinghe for turning down her
previous appeal for a fully-fledged national government.
The prime ministers representative on the joint committee expressed
his surprise and indicated that he had not been given a
copy of her document prior to its release.
Far from being a
compromise, Kumaratungas proposals would further strengthen her
hand and undermine the governments ability to negotiate with the
LTTE. She would retain effective control of the three key ministries,
allowing only the appointment of an assistant defence minister to
coordinate between the president and prime minister.
The government would
continue to conduct talks with the LTTE but would be answerable to two
new committees. A Joint Peace Council (JPC) co-chaired by the president
and prime minister would oversee and manage the overall peace
process. An Advisory Council on Peace (APC) would be established
to provide ideas and suggestions contributing to furtherance of
peace and a lasting solution to the ethnic problem.
The second committees
composition is significant, as it would include representatives from
all political parties, the clergy, professionals and other national
groups. In other words, Sinhala extremists from the Janatha Vimukthi
Peramuna (JVP), Sihala Urumaya (SU) and the Buddhist hierarchy, who
oppose any concessions to the countrys Tamil minority and in some
cases openly advocate war, would sit on this peace committee.
Kumaratungas
plan was designed to put the government in a difficult position. It
would not only be responsible for the peace process and
its outcome, but would also be hamstrung by committees that would include
outright opponents of any deal with the LTTE. Not surprisingly, Wickremesinghe
and the UNF publicly rejected the proposals last weekend. A further
meeting between representatives of the president and the prime minister
was held on Monday but no outcome was announced. The two leaders are
due to meet again today.
The frustrations
in ruling circles with Kumaratungas unpredictability were summed
up by a commentator in the Daily Mirror on Wednesday, who declared:
Patience and tact are the last things one sees in most of the
presidential moves and if any consensus is reached, the president has
to give up the politics of adventurism which continue to startle the
most seasoned politicians.
A political balancing act
There is a logic
to Kumaratungas abrupt twists and turns, however. She is engaged
in a precarious balancing actnot wanting to offend the major international
powers, on the one hand, but coming under the political pressure of
Sinhala chauvinism inside and outside her own Peoples Alliance (PA),
on the other.
Up until last Friday,
she appeared to be prepared to reach a compromise with the government.
Early last week, the PA parliamentary leaders agreed with UNF not to
ask questions in parliament. They also announced that the PA would not
press for a debate on the recent speakers ruling declaring the
presidents decision to suspend parliament unconstitutional. Both
steps were designed to ease political tensions so as not to jeopardise
talks between Kumaratunga and Wickremesinghe.
Keen to end the
political stalemate, representatives of the Joint Business forum (Jbiz)
met with the prime minister and president. They explained to the Sunday
Times that both leaders were positive about a power-sharing compromise.
For the dominant sections of big business in Colombo, the war has become
an intolerable barrier to foreign investment and the economic opportunities
opening up on the Indian subcontinent.
At the same time,
however, Kumaratunga has come under increasing criticism from the JVP,
who applauded her moves against the government a month ago. At a meeting
in central Colombo on November 24, JVP leaders censured Kumaratungas
offer to form a national government with the UNF and declared that her
willingness to give into UNF pressure showed her servility.
A section of her
Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP)the main party in the opposition
PAis keen to form an alliance with the JVP, which has been stepping
up its agitation against any deal with the LTTE. The JVP-dominated Patriotic
National Front denounced EU External Affairs Commissioner Chris Pattens
recent meeting with LTTE leader V. Prabhakaran. When Patten came to
Colombo to met Kumaratunga, the JVP, along with PA parliamentarians,
organised a protest rally outside the Hilton Hotel near the presidential
palace.
Kumaratungas
proposals last Friday were meant in part to appease these layers within
the SLFP. In rejecting the plan, Wickremesinghes secretary, Bradman
Weerakoon told the media that, certain parts are very acceptable,
but the big question remains on the issue of defence ministrys
powers. Last week, chief government spokesman G.L. Peiris met
with foreign diplomats to urge them to pressure the president and promote
a viable solution to the political crisis.
If a compromise
is not achieved, the outcome may be a general election, which neither
big business nor the political leaders want. Business leaders have complained
about the expense of such a poll just two years after the last election.
Moreover, it is likely that an election under the countrys proportional
representation system would leave the balance of forces in the parliament
unchanged and therefore only heighten the current political impasse.
In the midst of
this political standoff, there is growing unrest among workers and the
poor. On Tuesday and Wednesday, tens of thousands of government health
workers throughout the country stopped work and held demonstrations
in support of their demand for a substantial pay hike. On Wednesday,
thousands of private sector workers held a one-day strike to protest
against the scrapping of a labour law limiting the ability of employers
to retrench workers. Also on Wednesday, thousands of workers and farmers
picketed in front of the central railway station in Colombo opposing
legislation to establish an authority take control of water resources
and to charge for their use.
The ruling elite
is increasingly nervous about these developments. Business leaders want
a deal with the LTTE in order to accelerate the program of market reform
and transform the island into a cheap labour platform for foreign investment.
Instead, there is an ongoing political crisis in Colombo that shows
no sign of resolution and an upsurge of opposition from sections of
the working class to the devastating social consequences of economic
restructuring.