Sri Lanka: Post-Election Tamil Politics

Analysis

By

Dr. S. I. Keethaponcalan-May 14, 2015

Some of the recent articles written from a

Tamil perspective on the 19th Amendment blamed Colombo for not
accommodating Tamil demands for devolution of power when enacting the
Amendment. Arguments centered around the point that if the government
was sincere in resolving the Tamil problem, it could have done so within the
framework of the 19th Amendment because the government had more than
enough majority in parliament to successfully adopt the new changes to the
constitution. A striking feature of these analyses is that they failed to look
internally at how the Tamil parties approached the issues of constitutional
change that were made in April 2015.

TNA and the 19th Amendment

Pertinent questions here are, did the Tamil parties make any demands for
their support of the 19th Amendment? Why should Colombo concede when
the Tamil parties were not asking for anything in terms of devolution of
power?
Tamils who expected the government to voluntarily devolve powers, one
can safely argue, have not learnt anything from the more than half a
century of conflict. It is clear from the past that the government will not
treat the devolution issue like a charity. The Tamils need to work, in fact
work hard if they want political powers devolved. This should be done
within accepted democratic principles taking advantage of political tools,
not through violence. The use of violence for political purposes almost
completely destroyed Tamil society and the country as a whole.
According to one source, the Eelam Peoples Democratic Party (EPDP)
requested the government to include provisions in the amendments to
address Tamil issues. This should be considered as token because the party
did not pursue this goal openly or earnestly. However, the EPDP is a minor
party in terms of its vote bank and parliamentary representation. What
about the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), the largest and leading party that
represents the Tamil community in parliament and outside? The TNA did not
link the 19th Amendment to the question of devolution of power in any way.
In fact, there was tacit approval for the Amendment sans any new
arrangements to address the ethnic conflict.
The original proposal for the 19th Amendment was presented without
provisions to either implement the 13th Amendment fully or improve upon
it. It is this draft that was taken to the Supreme Court. M. A. Sumanthiran,
now a leading figure within the TNA, defended vehemently the draft
presented in the Supreme Court. His speech on the 19th Amendment in
parliament did not include the words Tamil or devolution of power.
Obviously, the party voted for the Amendment. Therefore, the party
approved and lobbied for the Amendment in its original form. Hence, it is
not reasonable to blame the government when the Tamil parties were not
demanding anything to resolve their issues and unconditionally extending
support.
Should they have raised the devolution issue? Some of the Tamil
commentators believe that the ethnic conflict resolution issues should have
been linked to the question of constitutional reform. On the other hand, a

moderate section maintains that it should not have been linked to the
voting. The consensus is that while voting in favor of the Amendment,
Sumanthiran, in his speech, should have insisted on the need to address
devolution issues. This was an important opportunity to highlight Tamil
issues.
There are at least two reasons why the Tamil parties represented in
parliament should have raised this issue. One, the 19th Amendment was
not only dealing with presidential powers. It tried to resolve some of the
major problems facing the country. Resolving the political issues of the
Tamils is also important. Second, although the possibility for incorporating
devolution issues in the 19th Amendment was nil, it provided an
opportunity to highlight minority grievances. The opportunity should have
been exploited strategically. Through its attitude towards the 19th
Amendment, the TNA has now contributed to the view that ethnic issues
are not significant anymore. This would certainly upset the Tamil
nationalists.
Post-Election Politics
In fact, President Sirisenas election provided a new opportunity to engage
the government constructively because the Tamils played an important part
in his electoral victory. That opportunity was also not used wisely by the
Tamil parties.
When the war ended, the victorious government headed by Mahinda
Rajapaksa had two major means to achieve a desirable state of national
integration and perhaps ethnic reconciliation: (1) through a political process
where Tamil grievances are addressed within a reasonable framework, and
(2) through military means where attention is paid only to national security
at the expense of the rights of people who live in the North and East. The
former government chose the second path. Military control over Tamils was
tightened and the governor, a former army commander, ran a military type
administration. This was one reason why the Tamils constantly insisted on a
civilian governor.
Also, election to the Northern provincial council was delayed. This election
was eventually conducted under pressure from India. The Parliamentary
Select Committee (PSC) was set up only as a delaying tactic. The TNA
refused to participate in the PSC process. The party had a reason to refuse
to engage because the Rajapaksa government did not give the impression
that it was serious about finding a political solution. It was not sending

conciliatory signals. Obviously, Rajapaksa was catering to his voter base.

The political environment changed with the election of the new president.
Positive signals were sent constantly. For example, Major Chandrasiri was
removed from the governors office. Ms. Vijayaletchumi, former Chief
Secretary of the Northern Province, who was hostile to the TNA and
obviously serving the interest of the Rajapaksa government, was also
removed. Some of the disputed land that was under military control was
returned to its original owners. Reports from the North also indicate that
normalization is taking place in the region. Although they do not guarantee
that a reasonable solution to the ethnic conflict will be found under
President Sirisenas government, at least positive signals are being sent.
The TNA either remains ignorant or sends hostile signals. For example, the
Northern provincial council adopted a resolution calling for an international
investigation in March. To put it mildly, this was hostile and badly timed.
Interestingly, Chief Minister Wigneswaran who hitherto resisted the
resolution suddenly decided to bring it before the council as soon as
Rajapaksa was gone. This was a poor strategy. It is imperative to note that
the resolution was originally proposed by Sivajilingam last year. It is not
clear why Wigneswaran thought that this March was the time to get it
endorsed. Obviously, he was catering to his constituency.
The resolution and content of the discussions that Wigneswaran had with
international leaders who visited him clearly demonstrate the belief that the
international community, namely the United States and India, will find a
solution for the Tamil problem. This is one reason why the TNA leaders are
more interested in discussing their problems with international figures
visiting Sri Lanka rather than constructively communicating with the new
government.
From the inception, it was clear that the United States was promoting the
resolution against Sri Lanka for strategic reasons, although humanitarian
concerns also played a role. Some Tamils, including some of the leaders of
the TNA believed that the US would punish Sri Lanka for human rights
violations. This was a misplaced belief. Since the new government has
demonstrated willingness to collaborate with India and the West, these two
countries will now work very closely with the Sri Lankan government. The
visits of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Secretary of State John Kerry to
Sri Lanka were certainly a setback for the Tamils who believed that the
international community would save and defend them. Therefore, it is high

time that Tamil parties paid more attention to internal processes rather than
international help