LTTE ORGAN SAYS A FUTURE ELECTION VICTORY FOR RANIL IS VERY MUCH IN DOUBT AND FOREIGN PEACE PLAYERS KNOW CHANDRIKA MOVED WITHIN HER CONSTITUTIONAL POWERS
By Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
November 10, 09.45 AM: In the aftermath of the current political crisis an election victory for the pro-peace Ranil Wickremesinghe government on a mandate of peace is in very much of doubt, lamented the main organ of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eeelam (LTTE) in its latest issue.
The newspaper, Tamil Guardian said, since the dividends of the Ceasefire did not reach the impoverished masses and charges of treachery had been raised against the Ranil Wickremesinghe government, “the UNF’s traditional recourse to claiming a popular mandate for peace is no longer a sure bet.”
Though several foreign countries- actors in Sri Lanka’s Norway managed peace process- had all expressed their concern about the recent political upheaval caused by the sacking of three ministers, this could bring little comfort to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe since they acknowledged that President Kumaratunga acted within her constitutional powers said the Tamil Guardian in an editorial published in its latest issue..
The weekly Guardian in its issue of November 5 2003 said, “The United States, European Union, India and Japan have all expressed their concern - although this can be of little comfort to Mr. Wickremesinghe, as they also acknowledge that President Kumaratunga is acting within her constitutional powers.”
The LTTE organ said President Kumaratunga is now in complete control of the military. The President in her sacking of ministers “moved decisively” against the administration of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe
While commenting that the President is ‘firmly in charge now,’ the LTTE organ said Kumaratunga’s timing, also while the Prime Minister was out of the country, was impeccable
Blaming the Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe for not listening to the LTTE organ the Tamil Guardian said that but with hindsight, nothing that happened this week should have been unexpected.
The LTTE organ said, “This newspaper, along with many other voices advocating a negotiated solution to the island's protracted ethnic conflict, has repeatedly warned of the considerable threat President Kumaratunga and the phalanx of Sinhala hardliners she heads pose to the Norwegian peace process. >From the outset of Mr. Wickremesinghe's assumption of power in December 2001, we have urged him to - at the very least – clip her enormous constitutional powers. Instead, he opted to pursue a futile policy of cohabitation, the abject failure of which has been plain to all - except the Premier, it seems. Even as his cabinet colleagues hurriedly marshal UNF ranks and organize press conferences to counter Kumaratunga's blitzkrieg, Wickremesinghe's assumed air of nonchalance was at curious odds with the turmoil in the island - which, contrary to his assertion Wednesday, cannot be dismissed as the routine 'ups and downs' of Sri Lanka's politics.”
During the last 20 months in more than few dozens of editorials, the LTTE organ advised their Ceasefire partner Ranil Wickremesinghe to clip the powers of President Chandrika Kumaratunga. But they did not openly show a way of clipping the powers in the background that Wickremesinghe lacked two thirds power in the parliament, the only way of clipping the Presidential powers. It was anyway, customary for the LTTE to tell Wickremesinghe to contravene the country’s supreme law and act according to LTTE proposals. Constitutional experts and President Kumaratunga say that the Ceasefire Agreement, hailed by the US and UK were signed contravening the country’s Republican Constitution
The LTTE organ said the pro-peace UNF has no longer had a sway over the country’s military forces.
The LTTE journal cautioned that the victory of the UNF was in doubt at a future election since the dividends of peace did not reach the impoverished masses and charges of treachery have been raised against the UNF. The newspaper lamented, “Those advocating a peaceful solution to Sri Lanka's conflict are well aware of the importance of Wickremesinghe's government. The question of the
moment is whether it will survive Kumaratunga's strike.”
