{"id":134493,"date":"2014-12-08T11:39:41","date_gmt":"2014-12-08T06:09:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=134493"},"modified":"2014-12-14T00:01:00","modified_gmt":"2014-12-13T18:31:00","slug":"dealing-with-the-tamil-concern-of-broken-promises","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/dealing-with-the-tamil-concern-of-broken-promises\/","title":{"rendered":"Dealing With The Tamil Concern Of Broken Promises"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Jehan Perera<\/span><\/a> –<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Jehan<\/a>

Jehan Perera<\/p><\/div>\n

The political campaign for the presidential elections will begin in\u00a0earnest after nominations close on December 8. With a close contest\u00a0expected the ethnic minority vote can be decisive. However, the main\u00a0Tamil and Muslim parties have yet to make formal decisions regarding\u00a0which candidate they will support. They have said that they await the\u00a0respective political programmes of the rival candidates before making\u00a0their choice. Those parties that have been in the government\u00a0coalition would hesitate to make their choice in favour of the\u00a0opposition. Not only would it lead to an immediate loss of their\u00a0positions in the government.\u00a0 The sense of betrayal on the part of the\u00a0government could lead to retaliation especially in the aftermath of a\u00a0victory.<\/p>\n

However, the position of the TNA which is the main Tamil party is more\u00a0nuanced. They have been in the opposition and been totally sidelined\u00a0by the government during the past ten years. There is little that\u00a0they have been able to do for the people who voted for them and this\u00a0is visible in the rural areas of the North and East. Some leaders of\u00a0the TNA have explained their delay in taking a stance due to concern\u00a0that the government will use any public support given by them to the\u00a0opposition to discredit the Opposition Common Candidate amongst the\u00a0Sinhalese voters. But there is another reason that may explain the\u00a0delay in taking a stance. This is the concern amongst sections of\u00a0Tamil opinion that a victory for the opposition will be a setback to\u00a0the gains that the Tamil nationalist cause has been making\u00a0internationally in recent times.<\/p>\n

\"Mahinda<\/a>At the present time the reputation and credibility of the Sri Lankan\u00a0government with the international community is at a low point.\u00a0 It is\u00a0facing a war crimes investigation led by the UN.\u00a0 The results of this\u00a0investigation will be publicised next year in the month of March at\u00a0the next session of the UN Human Rights Council. It could lead to\u00a0sanctions being taken against the country, and particularly against\u00a0the government members. However, if a new government is elected, this\u00a0build up of international pressure might subside, and it may prove\u00a0difficult to revive again in the short term. The anxiety of Tamil\u00a0nationalists such as those found in the Diaspora<\/span><\/a> and even within Sri\u00a0Lanka is that the election of a new government will buy time for the\u00a0Sri Lankan government. They fear that even a new government will do\u00a0nothing to provide justice to the Tamil people. Therefore, they would\u00a0prefer the international process of accountability to continue without\u00a0a break.<\/p>\n

Common Understanding<\/strong><\/p>\n

The thinking that it is better to let a situation get worse, before it\u00a0can get better is sometimes rooted in repeated failure to achieve\u00a0success by cooperation. In the past there were many efforts by Tamil\u00a0political parties to cooperate with governments and achieve a just\u00a0solution for the Tamil people and ethnic minorities in general. There\u00a0was such cooperation in 1957 through the Bandaranaike- Chelvanayakam\u00a0pact, again in 1965 through the Senanayake-Chelvanayakam Pact, in 1987\u00a0through the Indo-Lanka Agreement and finally in 2000 with the\u00a0constitutional package of Chandrika Kumaratunga.\u00a0 But all these\u00a0agreements came to nought.\u00a0 The fear is that history will repeat\u00a0itself once again if the opposition wins the election with Tamil\u00a0support.<\/p>\n

However, the experience of 2005 shows that non-cooperation can lead to\u00a0worse results. At that time the LTTE urged the Tamil people to\u00a0boycott the presidential election that pitted the government candidate\u00a0Mahinda Rajapaksa<\/span><\/a> against opposition leader Ranil Wickrmesinghe<\/span><\/a>. The\u00a0reason that the LTTE gave publicly for their call was that the Tamil\u00a0nation had no role to play in the political power struggles of the\u00a0Sinhalese nation. But the ulterior motive was different. They did\u00a0not say it out aloud, and so used the power of the gun to impose their\u00a0ideas upon the Tamil people. They hoped that the victory of the\u00a0government would lose it international support due to its advocacy of\u00a0Sinhalese nationalism, and this would benefit the Tamil cause. This\u00a0turned out to be a fateful mistake.<\/p>\n

It is understandable that not all issues will be canvassed openly\u00a0during the election campaign as some of them will felt to be too\u00a0politically controversial. However, two issues in particular need\u00a0some agreement within the contesting political groupings, at least at\u00a0the level of principle, prior to the establishment of a new\u00a0government. After the election there are bound to be a host of new\u00a0and unexpected issues that will emerge to capture the attention of the\u00a0new government. At that point of time there will be no time for\u00a0reflection, only for action. The two issues of critical importance to\u00a0the country’s future but which are likely to remain in the background\u00a0of the election campaign are the political resolution of the ethnic\u00a0conflict and the international probe into war crimes.<\/p>\n

A positive development at this early stage of the election campaign is\u00a0the statement by the JHU leadership inviting the TNA to join the\u00a0common opposition campaign. \u00a0JHU General Secretary, Champika Ranawaka<\/span><\/a>\u00a0has requested the TNA to support the Common Opposition. He has said\u00a0that “All the Parties in the Opposition are uniting to form a national\u00a0alliance government. This is not a Sinhala Buddhist government. The\u00a0issues we are confronting right now in this country are common to\u00a0Sinhalese, Tamils and the Muslims.” This is a position that needs to\u00a0be taken forward within the opposition alliance if it is to become\u00a0truly broad-based. The opposition needs to come together to identify\u00a0the principles on which a political solution to the Tamil and minority\u00a0issue is to be found and pledge that they will implement the solution\u00a0they agree upon soon.<\/p>\n

Opposition Task<\/strong><\/p>\n

The second issue that needs to be discussed is the UN-led probe into\u00a0war crimes. This investigation is advancing to its conclusion.\u00a0Opposition parties, including the Common Opposition Candidate, have\u00a0given public commitments that they will do their utmost to protect Sri\u00a0Lanka’s governmental leaders and military from international war\u00a0crimes processes.\u00a0 Their pledges recognise the sentiments of the\u00a0majority of the people who continue to believe that the military\u00a0victory over the LTTE even at high cost was necessary for the country\u00a0to move forward.\u00a0 However, those who were directly victimised by the\u00a0war, and who lost their loved ones and lost their livelihoods remain\u00a0deeply dissatisfied by the present condition where the past is sought\u00a0to be buried.\u00a0 The TNA represents many of these people.<\/p>\n

There is a need to find a middle path, that is not merely a\u00a0compromise, but a higher path than the two extremes of an\u00a0international war crimes probe on the one hand, and a denial of the\u00a0past on the other hand. What happened during the war period in Sri\u00a0Lanka needs to be dealt with. Other countries that experienced\u00a0conflict-related human rights violations on a large scale have had to\u00a0face similar issues of truth, justice and accountability. Sri Lanka\u00a0is not unique in this respect. As a result, however, Sri Lanka has\u00a0many international experiences to learn from, and even get assistance\u00a0from.<\/p>\n

Over a year ago, the South African government responded positively to\u00a0a request by the Sri Lankan President to assist in addressing issues\u00a0of post-war reconciliation. The process at that time was led by\u00a0government leaders who had been closely associated with the war and\u00a0who saw the need to deal with the matter sooner rather than later.\u00a0The visit of South Africa’s Vice President Cyril Ramaphosa was a high\u00a0point in that initiative. It is unfortunate that the government was\u00a0unable or unwilling to continue with that process.\u00a0 It may still not\u00a0be too late.\u00a0 A South African supported initiative in post-war\u00a0reconciliation that is undertaken by Sri Lankans can still offer a way\u00a0out. \u00a0It is in the interests of the opposition to reach agreement on\u00a0this issue now too without leaving this to the government alone, as\u00a0they have made promises to the electorate that they will need to keep.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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