COLOMBO: The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), the LTTE bashing political ally of President Rajapakse, is poised to rejoin the government but has cited a military defeat of the LTTE and the abrogation of the Norwegian facilitated ceasefire as two of its main pre-conditions, if it were to become a part of the UPFA government.
The party’s leader, Somawanse Amarasinghe, told journalists that the military’s successful ousting of the LTTE from the eastern Muslim town of Muttur on Saturday proved that the LTTE could be annihilated by strong military action.
The rebels, who moved into the government controlled town of Muttur at the height of battle last week waged by the military to free a key reservoir from the guerillas, withdrew after over 400 of its cadres were killed.
“It is because of this that we are insisting that the Tigers can be defeated. We want the government to lift the morale of the army and continue its fight against LTTE terrorism,” publicity secretary of the JVP Wimal Weerawanse noted. The Marxists are also demanding that the Mahinda Rajapakse regime build up a close union with Asian countries instead of the West in finding a solution to the Tamil ethnic question.
President Mahinda Rajapakse in a television discussion with a panel of journalists last week admitted the JVP was considering joining the government but did not specify if he will agree to conditions placed by the party.
The JVP, which signed an LTTE bashing pact with Rajapakse prior to Rajapakse’s election as President in November, says the clauses in the document have not been properly implemented so far.
Previously, the JVP became part of the UPFA alliance in early 2004 but quit in 2005 after the government under the then President Chandrika Kumaratunge signed a tsunami aid sharing agreement with the LTTE.
Analysts say the return of the JVP to the government fold could only mean an end to the peace process.
“The JVP re-joining the government clearly means that the hardliner attitude will be re-imposed, ending the peace process,” says Dr Pakiasothy Saravanamuthu, head of the Colombo-based think-tank, the Centre for Policy alternatives.
“It is the recipe for stalemate and deadlock,” said Saravanamuthu. “The Mahinda Rajapakse administration will clearly have to define if it is war or peace they want. But the most vital question is where it stands with regard to a political settlement for the Tamil question,” says Saravanamuthu.
“There is no point in crushing the LTTE militarily if a political solution is not offered to the Tamils,” he adds.
A month ago the government appointed a panel to look into the possibility of a political solution and a possible amendment to the constitution but analysts say the lack of a clear deadline for the committee to produce a solution is not a positive indication.
“All we have seen is a lot of tactical manoeuvring,” says Saravanamuthu. Meanwhile, despite the ‘water war’ ending on Tuesday with the government freeing the Mavilaru reservoir in the eastern Trincomalee district from the LTTE, another anti-LTTE front, the Patriotic National Movement (PNM), is putting pressure on the government to capture strategic areas in the eastern Trincomalee district which are under LTTE control.
The government said on Wednesday it did not want a war and accused Tigers of pushing the government to the war.
“The government has used maximum patience with the LTTE. We resorted to hostilities a week ago because the latest LTTE provocation was connected to an essential humanitarian need. The rebel water blockade meant that thousands of civilians in government controlled areas were left in serious condition,” government spokesman Keheliye Rambukwella said.
In New Delhi, visiting Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera on Tuesday asked Tamil Tigers to return to discussion table as interaction commenced with Sri Lankan and Indian constitutional experts for the sharing of views related to federalism. President Mahinda Rajapakse has promised to come up with a ‘Sri Lankan model’ of federalism while studying other examples such as India and Britain.
“Yes, there are many promises but we have to see the results. With the JVP set to join the government, we have serious doubts about the peace process getting anywhere,” says R. Sampanthan, the head of the pro-LTTE Tamil political party, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA).
