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IA proposals : Tigers tight-lipped

by Ranga Jayasuriya

President Kumaratunga postponed her address to the nation scheduled for Wednesday night in which she was expected to speak on the Government's Interim Administrative proposals, after her Secretariat was rocked with rumours of a confidential document, which it was said, had been sent to the LTTE by the Government outlining its proposals for the Interim Administration.

A close aide to the President said the secret document, as the President's Secretariat came to know it was quite different from the proposals which were disclosed by the press, of which the Government has briefed the President.

So the President postponed her televised address to the nation, till she gets the facts straight about the said proposals.

However when contacted, former Norwegian Ambassador Jon Westborg - the man who conveyed the proposals to the Tigers last week - said the proposals disclosed by the press was a "clear reflection of the proposals I conveyed to the LTTE".

"Apart from them I have no idea about any other document submitted to the LTTE". So there you have two possible answers to this controversy - one is that the Government has directly approached the LTTE leadership with the said secret proposals, which is highly unlikely given the obvious reason that the relations between the two parties had hit a new low since the Tigers suspended the peace talks. Or this is only a rumour.

So despite speculations and rumours, the SLFP central committee has appointed a five member committee headed by President's Foreign Affairs Advisor and the former Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar to study the Government proposals for the provisional administrative council, of which a copy has been sent to the President by the Prime Minister's Office.

Kadirgamar has been tasked to conduct a detailed study of the proposals. His observations will be presented to the committee for further discussion. The other members are Mahinda Rajapakse, Maithripala Sirisena, Mangala Samaraweera and D.M.Jayaratne.

As suggested in the proposals known as the Discussion Document, with which Westborg flew to the Wanni last week, the proposed Provisional Administrative Council for the North-East will comprise the members nominated by the Government including the nominees of the People's Alliance, members nominated by the LTTE and the SLMC.

The LTTE will have a majority in the Council and the Muslim and Sinhala communities will have "weighted representation". The Council will have one or two chairpersons subject to further discussion.

One interesting suggestion in the proposals is that any decision in the Council which affects either the Muslim or Sinhala community can be made valid if the decision is supported by a majority of the members of the Council and a majority of the Muslim or the Sinhala representatives as the case may be.

The suggestion, understood as a safeguard for the minority Sinhala and Muslim interests in a council dominated by the Tigers, ironically has some resemblance to the once rejected call by G.G. Ponnmbalam for 50 percent representation in the legislature for the minorities.

The Tigers it can be argued will not disagree with the said suggestion and possibly at a later stage of the constitution making process come out with the same proposal as a safeguard for minority interests in a Sinhala majority legislature.

According to the Discussion Document: (1) "The powers and functions of the Council will extend to enable the Council to participate effectively in the exercise and performance of such powers and functions as are at present being exercised and performed by the Government in respect of regional administration - except the area of police and security; land; and revenue - but including rehabilitation, reconstruction, and resettlement.

(2) The participation mentioned above shall include policy making, implementation and monitoring.

The detailed modalities required for 1 and 2 are subject to discussion between the two parties. So, in case of the Tigers accepting the Government's proposals, the two parties will have to take part in a series of discussions to work out the modalities and define the powers and functions of the proposed administrative structure.

And by giving the Tigers a loosely outlined set of proposals rather than a set of clearly defined proposals, the Government seems to be making room for the two parties to kick start the stalled peace talks.

The Tigers are tight lipped over the IA proposals, what is however encouraging this time is that there is no outright rejection as happened in the previous times.

A LTTE source said that a consultative committee set up by its leadership was studying the proposals adding that extensive discussions will be held in the Wanni and with London based Balasingham.

However while talking peace, the Tigers again snubbed the Scandinavian truce monitors. LTTE political chief Thamilselvam on Wednesday rang the SLMM chief Tryggve Tellefsen to tell (through his English speaking translator Bawan) that the LTTE will not abide by the SLMM ruling to remove the LTTE camp built in a Government controlled area in Kinniya.

Despite the SLMM ruling to withdraw the camp,the LTTE earlier said it would decide its course of action only after a team of LTTE surveyors verify the location of the camp.( The Tigers were not ready to accept the results of the survey conducted by the SLMM with the presence of both the security forces and LTTE representatives)

The LTTE's refusal to withdraw the camp has taken the SLMM by surprise and SLMM deputy chief Hagrup Haukland came strongly against the Tigers' decision saying if the Tigers are not ready to obey the SLMM rulings they should call for amendments for the mandate of the Scandinavian Monitors.

By signing the Ceasefire Agreement under which the SLMM was set up, both the Government and the LTTE are required to cooperate with the SLMM, of which chief is the final authority on any dispute on the interpretation of the CFA.

In an interview with the Daily News, SLMM chief Tellefsen said his weapon is not the rifle but dialogue.

So it is up to him to decide what he could do when the dialogue fails.

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