COLOMBO, Nov 8: President Chandrika Kumaratunga has tightened her grip on security in Sri Lanka while backing down from a state of emergency and offering a political sop to her nemesis Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

Setting the tone for her last two years in power, Kumaratunga on Friday made it clear she will tightly guard the defence portfolio she wrested from Wickremesinghe on Tuesday while he was away in Washington and from now on will closely oversee the Norwegian-led peace process with Tamil rebels.

The Norwegian embassy said two top envoys will go ahead with a visit here from Monday in which they will try to arrange the first direct talks between the rebels and government since the process stalled in March.

In a late night televised address to the nation, the president accused the prime minister of gravely endangering the country’s security by dropping his guard during peace talks with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

She said Wickremesinghe’s administration had held back money needed to maintain naval craft and airforce planes while allowing a free hand to the Tiger rebels.

“Numerous arms shipments have been brought into the country (by the rebels),” she added, explaining why on Tuesday she sacked the ministers of defence, interior and information.

All three, she said, were closely linked to the safety and security of the nation of 18.66 million people.

Since Wickremesinghe’s government signed a ceasefire accord with Tamil Tiger guerrillas in February last year, she added, the rebels had built up their numbers from 6,000 to 18,000 after enlisting child soldiers.

The Norwegian-arranged truce with rebels was illegal, she charged, yet she had ordered troops to abide by the ceasefire.

Kumaratunga accused the government of failing to tackle the problem of rebel camps on Sri Lankan soil and had instead elected to “throw this baby on the Norwegian lap”.

Wickremesinghe, the president added, had neglected the armed forces “thus rendering them unprepared to execute their duties.”

Police, too, were failing the nation. “Law and order has never deteriorated to the levels it has today,” Kumaratunga charged.

The situation, she said, could not have been allowed to continue, which was why she had taken over the three ministries, suspended parliament for two weeks and declared a state of emergency.

“I wish to reiterate that my decision was a simple act of government,” Kumaratunga said. “It is totally legal and a constitutional act.”

On Friday, following days of economic fallout, cancellations of holidays by tourists and bloodletting on the stockmarket floor, she rolled back the emergency, but instead published regulations which give troops greater search and arrest powers.

On the peace process, she said Norway will continue its role as Sri Lanka’s “peace facilitator” but will have to work under strict terms.

“Clear instructions will be issued to them (regarding) the parameters and limits of their responsibilities within the terms of reference that will be issued to them,” she said.

Wickremesinghe will continue to head the government’s peace drive with the LTTE, she added, but made it clear the Tigers’ first-ever blueprint for a political settlement, handed over to the Colombo government on October 31, was unacceptable as it was a stepping stone to a separate state.

She was emphatic that from now on she would handle all defence matters.

“I shall take responsibility for the defence of the nation with the participation of the prime minister and the cabinet of ministers,” Kumaratunga said.

She also offered a government of national unity to pull the country out of its worst political turmoil and invited all political leaders, including Wickremesinghe, to discuss the proposal.

Commentators said, however, the offer was meant for international consumption and would not be taken seriously by political leaders here.

Sri Lanka was plunged into an uneasy cohabitation in December 2001 when Kumaratunga’s party was defeated at parliamentary elections by Wickremesinghe.—AFP