{"id":54327,"date":"2012-09-17T08:47:03","date_gmt":"2012-09-17T08:47:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=54327"},"modified":"2012-09-27T20:11:15","modified_gmt":"2012-09-27T20:11:15","slug":"make-an-offer-the-tna-cannot-refuse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/make-an-offer-the-tna-cannot-refuse\/","title":{"rendered":"Make An Offer The TNA Cannot Refuse!"},"content":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0Malinda Seneviratne<\/a>\u00a0–<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Malinda Seneviratne<\/p><\/div>\n

It\u2019s been almost a week since the elections for the Sabaragamuwa, North Central and Eastern Provincial Councils were held. The votes were counted and the elected have been separated from the losers but the Chief Ministers have not been named yet.<\/p>\n

In the North Central Province there is a tussle between incumbent strongman and aspirant strongman.\u00a0 Sabaragamuwa is quiet.\u00a0 The noise is coming from the East.\u00a0 There\u2019s no clear winner and therefore many are claiming bragging rights.<\/p>\n

The ruling party (UPFA<\/a><\/span>) won the largest number of seats and therefore can say \u2018we won\u2019.\u00a0 The opposition, as a whole, can say, \u2018the UPFA doesn\u2019t have a clear majority, so it has lost; consequently, we won!\u2019\u00a0 The TNA<\/a><\/span> says, tagging along so to speak, \u2018we got the biggest slice out of the opposition (which won by the way) and therefore we are the winners\u2019.\u00a0 The SLMC<\/a><\/span> says \u2018we are the king makers\u2019.\u00a0 Wimal Weerawansa\u2019s PNF, which was snubbed at the nominations by the SLFP-led UPFA, still managed a single seat (equal to the JVP<\/a><\/span>) and can say \u2018we won too\u2019.\u00a0 The UNP<\/a><\/span> and JVP can say (in consolation) \u2018the UPFA lost\u2019.\u00a0 They are not in a position to dictate in the post-election machinations.<\/p>\n

Someone must cobble together a majority, either by aligning with one or more parties or by persuading a few people to join ranks.\u00a0 The latter seems to be the easier path.\u00a0 It might not be the best, though.<\/p>\n

The difficult thing is to work with \u2018sworn enemy\u2019.\u00a0 The SLMC, during its campaign used the communal card in raw and distasteful ways, especially considering that its leader is a Cabinet Minister in this Government.\u00a0 The principled thing would have been to first resign.\u00a0 Now, after bad-mouthing, when the king-maker claim is tossed out, it implies a willingness to hold hands with the \u2018baddies\u2019.\u00a0 The TNA was no better, but it didn\u2019t have the \u2018cabinet-handicap\u2019.\u00a0 On the other hand, a party that was so slavish to Prabhakaran cannot really point fingers at anyone.\u00a0 \u00a0The UPFA may have some higher moral credit here, but then again there was the usual abuse of state machinery in the campaign.\u00a0 As the incumbent at the center, the UPFA can call the shots, hence the talk about \u2018purchasing\u2019 support or getting a few to defect.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s all about maneuvering and bargaining, brinkmanship and arm-twisting, promise of goodies and preying on vulnerabilities.\u00a0 But let\u2019s face it neither the parties nor the elected can be called decent, respectable, democratic, principled entities. \u00a0Take any party and you can find fault and 101 reasons not to work together.\u00a0 There are also 101 arguments for working together.<\/p>\n

The TNA was the LTTE<\/a><\/span>\u2019s pawn. So what?\u00a0 They were victims of circumstances just as must as they were happily complicit in that sordid political story.\u00a0 The SLMC is made of politicians, just like the UPFA is. They \u2018invest\u2019 by campaigning and they want to recover investment.\u00a0 Just like anyone in any other party.\u00a0 No one is cool.\u00a0 The UPFA has the inside track, as mentioned above.\u00a0 For all the bragging, in the end, the UPFA\u2019s decision will stand.<\/p>\n

In these circumstances, the SLMC will have to play second-fiddle. The TNA cannot afford to do so.\u00a0 But the TNA cannot play communal politics and ever hope to do anything for the Tamil people in the East.\u00a0 Indeed, the election result (the three-way split) puts paid to all arguments for a North-East merger and rips apart the \u2018Exclusive Traditional Homeland\u2019 thesis. \u00a0Demography counts and the count is now out there for everyone to see.<\/p>\n

The UPFA can do without the TNA.\u00a0 This, interestingly, is the very reason that the UPFA can and must brush aside the TNA\u2019s long history of scuttling discussions, dodging issues and playing the communal card as \u2018what any political party in reduced circumstances and slipping fortunes would do\u2019.<\/p>\n

The UPFA can call the TNA bluff.\u00a0 The UPFA can do what the TNA will not be able to deal with.\u00a0 The UPFA can tell the TNA something like the following:<\/p>\n

\u2018Look, we know your history.\u00a0 We know who is above you and who is below you. We know about strings and string-pullers, puppets and puppeteers.\u00a0\u00a0 We know your strengths and weaknesses.\u00a0 And we know you know us too.\u00a0 Very well.\u00a0 So here\u2019s the offer.\u00a0 You run the East.\u00a0 You pick your Chief Minister.\u00a0 We don\u2019t want anything in return.\u00a0 We promise only one thing.\u00a0 Come budget-passing time, we will make sure that you don\u2019t lose the vote.\u00a0 Take it.\u00a0 Do your best. Good luck!\u2019<\/p>\n

If the Government considers a puppet-TNA a headache, the above would be the palliative.\u00a0 The TNA cannot refuse and also claim that the \u2018Sinhala\u2019 Government is not interested in \u2018power-sharing\u2019.\u00a0 And if the TNA accepts, it would amount to a decision to work within the existing framework.\u00a0 That would be historic.<\/p>\n

As for the SLMC, it might teach its leadership something about not being able to have it both ways.\u00a0 The SLMC\u2019s headaches should not worry the Government.\u00a0 They will go away, by and by.\u00a0 The TNA, not the SLMC, is the party to work with. That\u2019s the challenge.<\/p>\n

Malinda Seneviratne is the Chief Editor of \u2018The Nation<\/a>\u2018 and his articles can be found at\u00a0www.malindawords.blogspot.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[…]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":44732,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,8],"tags":[1934,1942,4543,4236,1158],"class_list":["post-54327","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-editorial","tag-devolution-debate-sri-lanka","tag-devolution-in-the-eastern-province","tag-eastern-provincial-council-elections-and-slmc-and-tna-and-unp","tag-provincial-council-elections-in-north-and-east-sri-lanka","tag-tna"],"yoast_head":"\nMake An Offer The TNA Cannot Refuse! - Colombo Telegraph<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/make-an-offer-the-tna-cannot-refuse\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Make An Offer The TNA Cannot Refuse! 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