A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
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Back to 500BC.
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Thiranjala Weerasinghe sj.- One Island Two Nations
?????????????????????????????????????????????????Tuesday, June 20, 2017
Northern Provincial Council At Peace – For Now
It was a relief to many that the Northern Provincial Council representatives
for whom the people of the North had voted overwhelmingly, had reached a
settlement today over their infighting over the sacking of their own
four ministers for alleged corruption.
R. Sampanthan had made a trip for talks with Chief Minister C. Wigneswaran.
Working round the clock, Sampanthan first met with his team and CVW
with his. Ultimately a deal was sealed. The motion of no confidence by
the Federal Party section of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) against
the Chief Minister will be withdrawn by the FP. For Chief Minister C.V.
Wigneswaran’s part, the two Ministers cleared by the Inquiry, namely Balasubramaniam Deniswaran (Minister
of Fisheries, Transport, Trade and Commerce, Rural Development, Road
Development and Motor Traffic) and Pathmanathan Sathiyalingam (Minister
of Health and Indigenous Medicine) will remain in office.
Although
the latter two were cleared, CVW insists that files have gone missing
and the clearance was because witnesses did not show up. He had insisted
that they should go on leave so that new inquiries are not interfered
with. Now after the deal, however, he has relented saying they may stay
on but without interfering in any new inquiry. Initially Sampanthan had
said he had no authority to give such an undertaking but that
disagreement appears to have been ironed out.
Hatchets
are buried for now, but for how long? Analysts say there are really no
grounds for unity when the Tamil Congress’ Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam
only wants vengeance against his grandfather’s nemesis, the Federal
Party. Said a Federal Party Central Committee member, “Although the
Federal Party is the only party negotiating for devolution and getting
at least some army occupied lands released, Gajendrakumar is shouting
against the FP claiming it has no principles. Suresh Premachandran of
the EPRLF is resentful that he lost at the last elections and his
brother Sarveswaran was not made a Minister in the NPC. PLOTE’s
Tharmalingam Siddharthan should be grateful to us that we moved him from
the Vanni where he had no chance of winning to Jaffna where he won by
getting his father’s FP vote. But he is ungrateful.”
The
next disagreement will be over whom CVW will replace the two sacked
ministers with. Analysts say the FP would like trustworthy FP members
while the Chief Minister will want Suresh Premachandran’s brother
Kandiah Sarveswaran and Ananthy Sasitharan, both of whom stood by the
Chief Minister in this mêlée.
Another
bump on the road ahead is the allegation from the Chief Minister’s
supporters that the two who were cleared are really guilty and got away
because witnesses did not turn up. Tenders for Italian equipment for
which a commission of 30% was asked for and declined, it is claimed by
supporters of the CM, was paid when the dealer agreed to supply Chinese
equipment with Italian labels for the tendered price. The rub from the
FP’s point of view is that any new inquiry with new witnesses may lack
credibility and be seen as a witch-hunt. One can go on holding inquiries
until there is a guilty verdict, argued a Federalist.
A
group of nonpartisan Tamil professionals met in Jaffna to discuss their
concerns that this disunity would be bad for the Tamils as it is the
time to negotiate with the government in strength. But at the same time,
some felt that the problem is festering with likely bumps all along the
road with no end in sight because of the inherent personality and
policy differences masked only by the TNA label. It is therefore better,
they argue, to be rid of the chief minister and the three partners of
the FP, and move on alone even if with reduced strength. They underscore
their point citing a group of 20 who went to discuss matters with the
CM only to be told that he plans to form a new party on the framework of
the Tamil Makkal Peravai. Recall that the TMP demonstrated on Friday
(16th) for the CM, protesting the no-confidence motion him and causing untold misery to the public.
The CM has done further harm to his cause by holding talks last week with Douglas Devananda for support when
it seemed that the no-confidence motion was likely to be moved. It was
an anticlimax for someone trying to be V. Prabhakaran’s successor,
praising him during the PC elections at a time when the TNA was trying
to make-over from its radical past.
Prof.
R. Sivachandran, once a member of the Federal Party Central Committee,
points to the lack of principles in the CM and disclaiming any support
for him. Prof. Sivachandrn says the basic problem is lack of democracy
in the FP where nothing is done by the constitution. Nominations are
handed out arbitrarily. He says he has been removed from the Central
Committee while he was the Chief Organizer for Velanai where he braved
Douglas Devananda’s thugs, but has never been told he has been removed
and if so why and under what articles of the FP constitution. It is this
lack of democracy, he asserts, that has led to all this turmoil
including bringing CVW into the party without consultation. He recalls
that at the last parliamentary elections, CVW refused to campaign for
the FP.
Adds
Prof. Sivachandrn, “I am sad that after all our struggles, our deaths,
and our ongoing problems over occupied lands and Sinhalese settlements
in our homelands paid for by the government, we are engaged in a
prestige issue and making our youth tend towards extremism once again.”
Countered
a retired Jaffna Tamil, “The only extremism is from the CVW side. But
certainly when the corruption started with the Chunnakam ‘Oil in the
Ground Water’ business, no one took a stand, not the Chief Minister, not
Mavai Senathirajah. The CM’s office even helped arrange for the experts
who gave false reports claiming the water to be pure. These basically
gave former Minister Ainkaranesan a free hand. Now both sides are
pretending to be stalwarts against corruption!”
Since Colombo Telegraph published Mr. R. Sampanthan’s letter to CM C.V. Wignesawaran yesterday, for balance we give the latter’s reply of 17th as well as all exchanges between them: