Political Perspectives

Partnering the LTTE in post tsunami reconstruction

BY MARK Anthony

THE battle lines in the PTOMS / mechanism battle are drawn and even as this article is being written the JVP have made good on their ultimatum to President Kumaratunga and have withdrawn from the UPFA Government, leaving it a minority in Parliament.

A Minority Government

A minority government, per se would not be unsustainable in the short term and realistically such a government could continue up until the need to pass its next budget around the year end, when the opposition might coalesce for another general election.

However a collapse of a minority SLFP government would require both the UNP and the JVP to desire elections at the same time or the decision of both parties is required to get the numbers to defeat the Government.

It is highly unlikely that the Leader of the Opposition could cobble together an alternative government from the current parliament.

However the decisive and divisive issue of the post tsunami reconstruction structure has raised two fairly polar positions in the Sinhala polity. Among the nay sayers led by the JHU and the JVP the position adopted is that any dealing with the LTTE is in principal wrong.

The JVP would further nuance this to add some procedural arguments regarding the processes involved in evolving the proposed PTOMS, claiming that it as a major partner in Government has been kept in the dark regarding its contents.

However its opposition is notwithstanding its lack of full knowledge of the Structure / Mechanism and is opposition to the basic principal of LTTE involvement. Its position is that the only thing the Sri Lankan State should do with the LTTE is adversarial hard bargaining at political talks dealing with the core issues of the conflict.

A minor administrative arrangement

A close reading of the contents of PTOMS in newspapers of a few days ago would reveal the salient features of this structure which demonstrates that the Mechanism as it is popularly called is certainly no bogey and more importantly is a limited in scope exercise.

The area is limited the Tsunami devastated areas defined as Tsunami disaster zone (TDZ), which is essentially the coastal strip of the districts of the North and East, extending no more than two kilometers (2Km) inland from the coast. Further the whole arrangement is limited to a period of twelve months; it can certainly be reexamined at that point.

Particularly at the district level, the Committee is a model of inclusiveness with the Government Agents chairing the same and comprising all sitting members of Parliament, including opposition and TNA MPs, civil society, NGOs and international NGOs.

Presenting to Parliament

The President in a speech to a public rally in Kandy on Thursday evening, which was broadcast live to the entire nation defended and promoted the need for the Tsunami Relief Board and also less than gently chided the JVP for its walkout from government. More importantly though the President indicated that the PTOMS would be presented to parliament.

The decision as to whether the PTOMS would come in the form of regulations under an existing statue or as an adjournment motion is the topic of speculation which has not been clarified by the President's Office to date.

However the presentation of PTOMS to parliament, a key demand of many of the skeptics of the arrangement is a political response to the political opposition that the Government faced from within the ranks of the coalition.

The expectation is that the main opposition UNP will abstain, though having first and publicly promised support, the Muslim MPs may also abstain, while the JVP and JHU will vote against it. However, the SLFP, TNA, CWC, the Up-Country People's Front and the EPDP could be expected to support the measure.

A principled position

Most importantly the President and the SLFP have taken a principled stand with regard to the PTOMS. Faced with the real prospect of the Government being reduced to a minority, President Kumaratunga and the Government did not give in on the fundamental demand of a withdrawal of the proposed PTOMS. The JVP as well created a remarkable blunder in giving the President an ultimatum.

The ridiculousness of the JVP giving an independently elected head of state and government an artificial and self appointed dead line, has only served to further the resolve of the SLFP half of the UPFA to rally together.

As one analyst described the JVP's tactics indicate that they are attempting national politics with the style and tactics they adopted at university student council politics.

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