THE RESPONSE OF NORWAY
Ms. Chandrika Kumaratunga has done something at last. She has requested the Royal Norwegian government as referred to in the infamous MoU signed by Ranil Wickremesinghe and Velupillai Prabhakaran, to call back the present head of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission. She has further requested the chiefs of the Sri Lankan armed forces not to take any advice from the retired major general Trygge Tellefson, the chief of the SLMM. As the commander in chief of the Sri Lankan armed forces she could have ordered the generals not to listen to the SLMM and its chief but she appears to have been too modest. The "government" of Ranil Wickremesinghe has not responded to the "action" by Ms. Kumaratunga and they are awaiting a reply from the so called Royal Norwegian government to the request by the President. Could not the "government" at least say that the SLMM chief has not been impartial.
What would the Norwegian government do under these circumstances. The MoU drafted by the Norwegians, especially by Westborg, has given the power to appoint the members of the SLMM to the Norwegian government. Thus the President has to request the Norwegian government to remove the SLMM chief. Though she is the executive president she does not have the power to ask the SLMM chief to leave the country. The MoU is a document signed by a prime minister who would say no to the westerners and a fascist murderer supported by the west. Has the president of the country to go by the MoU? Is the treacherous MoU binding on her? What happens if the Norwegian government refuse to call Tellefson back. What would the "government" of Sri Lanka do if Tellefson is not called back? Finally in such an eventuality what would be the position of Ms. Kumaratunga?
It is clear that Ms. Kumaratunga is under pressure from the nationalists in the SLFP as well as the JVP, not to mention thousands of others who are not members of either party to take some action on the Norwegians. What the nationalists want is sending off of not only Tellefson, but the entire SLMM. However, Ms. Kumaratunga being the "internationalist" would not take any such action. She is merely responding to the feelings of the nationalists and is trying to please her supporters in the nationalist movement. The Norwegians and the westerners realising this could call back Tellefson only to make sure that Ms. Kumaratunga does not come under attack from the nationalists in the SLFP and especially in the JVP. On the other hand they could also justify Tellefson's action and quote from the MoU to demonstrate that the President does not have much say in this matter.
From the response of the Norwegian government to the request by the president we would be in a position to know how the westerners read the situation. They have to take into consideration not only the president's request but the recent "developments" in Indo Lanka relations. The Indians are not happy about what is happening on this side of the Palk straits and the recent joint statement by the two countries is a clear indication of the new stand of India on the Tamil racist problem. India is no longer a passive observer and is determined to safeguard her interests. The prime minister of Sri Lanka was not in India to pay a courtesy call to his Indian counter part.
We are no better now than we were during the reign of J R Jayawardhne regarding the relationship between Sri Lanka and India. Just as now we then had a foreign policy that was dictated by the interests of the western powers. JR Jayawardhane government supported the Thatcher government over the Faukland issue when the other Asian and African countries condemned the British. Now we have Ranil Wickremesinghe telling us that Bush and Blair had no alternative when they decided to attack Iraq. Ranil Wickremesinghe wants an international policeman and would welcome USA fulfilling that role.
Indira Gandhi government in India helped the LTTE in order to use it as weapon against the JR Jayawardhane government. India today would not support the LTTE and they have a powerful ally in the SLFP if they are thinking not in terms of merely defeating the western powers. Though the SLFP was against the Indo Lanka pact signed in 1987, the situation has changed so much that even the JVP has a soft corner for India. In the immediate future we would be able to see India being forced to play a more active role in the Sri Lankan affairs.
However with all these developments Sri Lanka will become more and more dependent on other countries. It is unfortunate that we do not have a leader who could stand up to pressure from the so called international community on the Tamil racist problem. All that Ms. Chandrika Kumaratunga could do was to request the Norwegian government to call back Tellefson. While we appreciate the stand taken by Ms. Kumaratunga we cannot forget that she herself was brought back to Sri Lanka from her self exile by the non national forces. She is restricted by her pink socialist ideas and unless the nationalist forces make her another Dona Catherina she would not on her own ask the Norwegians to go home.
The Desha Hithaishi Jathika Vyapraya should evolve a policy that would help Ms. Chandrika Kumaratunga to become active as a politician helping he nationalist cause. If she is not doing that another politician would have to be groomed up sooner than later. Ms. Kumaratunga's term as president comes to an end in about two years and the SLFP, the JVP and the Jathika Vyapraya should be looking for a prospective candidate for the presidency. Having selected a candidate the DHJV should build the image of the candidate within the next year or so. All the non national forces will be with Ranil Wickremesinghe and all that he has to do is to follow the western line. Under him the SLMM will have a field day and the Sinhala people would be reduced to mere observers.
In a few days we would know the response of the Norwegian government to the president's request. That will give the DHJV an opportunity to read the western mind and prepare for the forthcoming battles. It is not going to be easy for the nationalists for the next two years analysing the western thinking and getting ready for the next presidential elections.
Professor Nalin de Silva
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