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| Saturday, 6 March 2004 |
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Franchise in the line of fire by Lucien Rjakarunanayake Mr. Sinnathamby Sunderampillai, a candidate in the Batticaloa District was the first victim of political assassination in the current election campaign. It is an irony that Mr. Sunderampillai was a candidate of the UNP, and his suspected and most likely killers are not from the UPFA but from the LTTE. The circumstances of his killing within the premises of the Batticaloa hospital, raises important questions about the security provided to him in the current circumstances. He was brought there after suffering gunshot injuries at his home the previous night, again by persons strongly suspected to be from the LTTE. According to the police the late Mr. Sunderampillai turned down security offered to him prior to the initial attack on him, for fear of drawing attention to him and in order to safeguard his wife and daughter. However, it is abundantly clear that the absence of adequate security for him at the Batticaloa hospital, did contribute to his killing. This cannot pass as an error of judgment by the police. It is a major lapse on the part of the police, and a glaring case of failure to perform one's duty, which requires the immediate attention of the Independent Police Commission, and not only the IGP. This and the later killing of an EPDP activist at Valaichchenai, brings into sharper focus the entire question of a free and fair election in the North and East. It cannot be made use of for cheap political gain as the Prime Minister has done, by saying that as the President now controls Defence, she must be held responsible for the killing of Mr. Sunderampillai. Such logic can only lead to the other conclusion that as Prime Minister must be personally responsible for all the killings of army informants and members and supporters of the EPDP and EPRLF, through the period when a member of his party held the portfolio of Defence. Or, is it the Prime Minister's position that such blame should be directed at Mr. Tilak Marapana, the then Minister of Defence? We now face a situation where the LTTE wants no Tamil candidate in the East to contest from any party other than its own proxy the TNA. This includes candidates of the UNP. It is a case of one of the two partners to the peace process, which excluded all other parties and players, threatening the other of even running candidates for election in areas where the writ of the LTTE's armed strength applies. It is a telling example of the oft repeated lie of how close to peace the country was brought to by the hunky-dory negotiations between the UNP and LTTE. The polls monitors The reaction of election monitors to the killings of Mr. Sunderampillai and the EPDP activist is an example of a dilemma they have in calling a spade a spade. The Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV) in its statement on the killing of Mr. Sunderampillai states: "Mr. Sinnathamby Sunderampillai, UNF candidate for Batticaloa District, was shot dead on March 1, 2004, while he was warded in the General Hospital Batticaloa. He had been admitted to the hospital following an incident on February 28 in which three persons entered his home at Arayampathy at about midnight, caused damage to the house and shot at Mr. Sunderampillai. Mr. Sunderampillai was subsequently admitted to Ward 11, Batticaloa Hospital in the early hours of February 29. "A complaint regarding the attack was registered at the Kattankudy Police Station (EIB 4/25) by his cousin, Mr. Seenithamby Sasikumar. In this statement, he identified the LTTE as being responsible for the attack. On March 1, 2004, CMEV spoke to the LTTE, who have denied any involvement in the attack and subsequent murder." The absence of any further comment about the LTTE makes it evident the CMEV is quite satisfied with the LTTE's denial of any involvement in this matter. On the other hand PAFFREL states: "We call on the government and LTTE, which are the only two parties with major security capacities to ensure that the environment in the North East is conducive to a free and fair poll. An important duty falls upon the Elections Commissioner and the international community to obtain such a reassurance from the government and LTTE." Even though mild, it is some form of admission that PAFFREL sees the hand of the LTTE in these acts of violence, although it does not say it in so many words. However, the US State Department, from its safety in Washington has no temerity in mentioning the suspects. It said: "The United States condemns the killing in the eastern city of Batticaloa on March 1 of a candidate, Sinnathamby Sunderampillai, in Sri Lanka's upcoming parliamentary elections. Although no one has claimed responsibility for the crime, we note recent statements by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam that were clearly intended to discourage Tamil candidates of whom they did not approve." It urges the Tamil Tigers to act responsibly during and after the election campaign. Violent actions of this sort raise doubts about their commitment to a political solution and illustrate why the Tamil Tigers remain on the U.S. list of Foreign Terrorist Organisations (FTO). The US also calls on the LTTE to renounce terrorism and cease terrorist acts, including political assassination, and comply with the terms of the ceasefire agreement they signed. If it was so clear to the US Department of State of the most likely role of the LTTE in this killing, why are the local polls monitors, well-funded from abroad, with informants and listening posts much closer than Washington, unable to be as forthright as to come to the correct conclusions from emerging developments since this election was announced? The issue of franchise All this comes into focus in the context of the recent calls for the people in the LTTE held areas to be given the right to exercise their franchise in a free and fair manner in this election. On the one hand the LTTE's Thamilchelvam has warned of dire consequences if the Tamil people were denied the right to vote. On February 26, 2004 the National Peace Council (NPC) made an appeal to the Elections Commissioner to somehow hold elections in the LTTE held areas, with a general plea that all parties and candidates should be allowed to campaign freely, even in LTTE held areas. The CMEV reminds us and the Elections Commissioner too, of the Supreme Court judgment that upheld the right of using one's franchise. It says: "It is incumbent on the Elections Commissioner and the Police to ensure that this judgment is respected and that adequate security is provided to all candidates, while also taking all measures possible to ensure that citizens of Sri Lanka can enjoy their right to vote in a secure atmosphere and one which is conducive to the carrying out of a free and fair election on April 2, 2004." All this is very easily said. But the Elections Commissioner faces a crisis caused by the Ceasefire Agreement (CFA) signed by Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe and Velupillai Prabhakaran. Whatever the NPC or CMEV may say, the CFA has created no-go areas for the Sri Lankan Police and its Security Forces. The areas designated as held by the LTTE. If the Elections Commissioner is to give an opportunity for the people in these areas to use their franchise, then it becomes necessary that the country's own police carrying arms, and even Security Forces personnel, be allowed into these areas. This is necessary to provide protection to rival candidates in the campaign, and especially on polling day. However, the CFA stands in the way of this taking place. It is obvious that in drafting the CFA, the neither the UNF government nor Prime Minister Wickremesinghe thought of providing facilities even for the holding of local government polls in these areas, which too require the presence of police carrying arms. Parliament and the LTTE. The LTTE, with its claim to be the sole representative of all Tamils, has endorsed the candidates of the TNA, handpicked by it, as being those whom Tamils of the North and East should vote for. This clearly demonstrates the LTTE's intent to enter Parliament through the TNA. However, its behaviour in support of the TNA and the threats against rival candidates, even of the UNP, does not show that it is ready to accept democracy, the free use of the franchise and the right of pluralism in politics. Whatever claims made or the number of seats the TNA will win, and how it will control the South, or UNP statements that it will form a government with the help of the TNA, it is clear that the TNA too does not want the Tamils of the North and East to be given a chance to use their franchise in a free and fair election. Those who make pleas that the Tamils in the LTTE controlled areas are given the right to use their franchise, and also ask that all parties and candidates in the North and East be guaranteed the freedom to campaign in all areas of the North and East, should address their pleas to the LTTE and not to the Commissioner of Elections. It is the Tiger that is stalking and targeting the franchise. The fate that befell the late Sinnathamby Sunderampillai, UNF candidate for Batticaloa District, stands in the way of the freedom of the Tamil people to use their franchise, and a free and fair election in the entire country. |
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