DISSOLUTION AGAINST DEVOLUTION
The President has finally dissolved the Parliament listening to the party members of the SLFP and of course to the JVP ignoring the advice given by the embassies of some western countries and India, according to informed sources. However, India has denied any involvement, since the publication of news items to that effect. Even the dependent political leaders sometimes have to listen to the rank and file of the party disregarding the advice of the "international community". The SLFP has come a long way since Ms. Chandrika Kumaratunga was installed as the leader of the party by the non national forces in the early nineties and the rank and file of the party is obviously not to be tamed down by lectures given by "intellectuals" who have learnt a few theories on international relations, economics and other social sciences from the western masters and mistresses.The elections to be held in April 2004 will be different from the elections held ten years ago in 1994 when the PA had the support of all the non national forces. This time unlike in 1994, they will have to rely on the nationalistic elements. Incidentally the election in April 2004 will be held, almost to the date, forty eight years after the 1956 elections.
As we have said in these columns it is not so much the direct political power of the west that rules us but the concepts and theories that are created in those countries and exported to us. If one goes through the newspapers of the last few weeks one would come across many articles by "intellectuals" arguing against an election, using western theories. Many more articles would appear in the weeks to follow claiming that dissolution of the parliament is no solution to the problems of the country. Obviously the dissolution would not solve any of the problems from the north east problem to privatisation, that arise from blindly following policies dictated by the west. However, the dissolution has made sure that the UNP -LTTE alliance if not the "UNP - LTTE government" is defeated. The LTTE proposals on an interim government would be thrown to the waste paper basket, where they belong, much to the dismay of the "international community" of the western Protestant countries. Dissolution, though not a solution to the problems, is against devolution. The university teachers will now be relieved from making their comments before the fifteenth of February on the draft Universities Bill aimed at dissolving gradually the state university system with Faculties of Arts and Science, and paving the way to Technical Schools, whether grandiosely called Computer Science Schools or Institutes of Accountancy. The trains will start running though it would take a few days for the Railway people to get back properly on the track.
Though the dissolution is not a solution to the problems as the LSSP has said, in a way, it has stopped the UNF from giving the northern and the eastern provinces to the terrorist and the murderer Prabhakaran on a platter. Incidentally where would the LSSP and the CP stand in the coming elections. They are in the PA but not in the newly formed alliance and it would be interesting to see what the political bureaus of these two Marxist parties would decide in their socialist wisdom. Would they join Vasudeva Nanayakkara, Dharmasiri Bandaranayake, Swarna Mallawaarchchi, and others in yet another "peace company", who held a meeting at the New Town Hall in Colombo barely a few hours before the President dissolved the parliament, to demand that the parliament should not be dissolved. The Nanayakkara argument is that the SLFP - JVP alliance that oppose the LTTE proposals should not be given an opportunity to form a government. It is not strange to see the so called radical left that is left out of politics joining the "reactionaries" to support the LTTE proposals that are aimed at depriving the Sinhalas the northern and the eastern provinces. The "radicals" and the "reactionaries" are so much brainwashed by western theories that they have lost their roots in the country to become agents of the "Protestant Powers". The dissolution of the Parliament, though not a solution to the problems, has prevented creating grave problems arising out of establishing a confederation paving the way for a separate state. It would be ideal if the left outs including Vasudeva, Vickramabahu, the LSSP, the CP and the others form an alliance and contest the elections on their own. They may have difficulties in getting such an alliance registered in view of the dissolution of the parliament but Messrs. Vasudeva and Vickramabahu must be having enough name boards of alliances that can be "resurrected" with the help of the "radical priests". If they contest the elections as a separate group then they would know for themselves the support that they have in the country.
There are some who are of the opinion that the President should not have dissolved the parliament when the "government" commanded a majority in the house. This could have been a good argument if the President did not call for another election. The people now can decide whether the President was correct in dissolving the Parliament. If a SLFP - JVP - MEP government is elected then it would amount to an endorsement of the decision to dissolve. In any event it is ironical that the constitution of J R Jayawardhane and A J Wilson being used against a UNP - LTTE "government" elected only three years ago.
The UNP led UNF "government" danced to the tune of the western Protestant countries and showed its character of having "no character" from the very beginning. The UNF "government" that was dictated by the western countries was being used to establish a separate state. Despite the dependent "political" leaders that included Ms. Kumaratunga, and the "intellectuals", opposition to the negotiations with the LTTE was growing. The "intellectuals" who associate only with those who have similar views in politics were out of touch with the ordinary Sinhala people, and did not grasp the situation at all. They were having dreams of Sinhala people supporting the establishment of a confederation with only a handful of "extremists" against the Norwegian sponsored negotiations between the "government" and the LTTE terrorists. The Sinhala nationalist forces gained the support of the Sinhala people, and the SLFP, in spite of some of its leaders and the west that was behind them, was forced to take a decision against the policies of the "government". The result was talks between the JVP and the SLFP, though Ms. Kumaratunga herself was not enthusiastic with the prospect of forming of an alliance of the two parties. However, she had no other option in the matter as her survival itself depended on the alliance. The children of fifty six were forced to come together ignoring all those "intellectuals" who began to vomit the theories that they had learnt on international relations and economics.
The President had no alternative but to send home the chief of the SLMM and the Sinhalas came to know the true intentions of the Norwegians. When a few of us organised a picket outside the Norwegian embassy about eight years ago not many people understood what led to our action. However, the momentum gathered slowly at first, and today many Sinhalas have an idea of what Norwegians are up to in this country. It is true that the President is still keen to claim that it was she who invited the Norwegians to "facilitate" the negotiations between the terrorists and the "government". It is not known officially who was behind this invitation but it is clear that Ms. Kumaratunga at that time acted on the advice given by the western countries. This advice was against Sinhalathva and Ms. Kumaratunga listening to the west had acted against the interests of the Sinhala people.
The MoU signed by Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe and the terrorist and murderer Prabhakaran in February 2002 under the auspicious of the Norwegians and the other Protestant and Anglican countries in the west and their agents in Sri Lanka, recognised the LTTE on par with the "government", and the terrorist outfit the equivalent of the Sri Lankan Army. That was the beginning of the end of the UNF "government". The MoU failed to recognise the sea tigers as equivalent to the Sri Lankan Navy giving the latter some freedom to fight against the former. It created problems and in April 2003 the so called peace process came to an end. The LTTE proposals, drafted with the help of Pasupathy, Soranaraja and Company, and over which the left out comrade Vasudeva is enthusiastic, did not come as a surprise. They were to be the last attack by the LTTE against Sinhalathva under the UNF "government". There was no way that the "negotiations" could go ahead, and even the Hakeem faction of the SLMC had reservations on "peace" as well as "negotiations". All these happened much before the President took over the three ministries in September, though the Prime Minister and Dr. G. L. Peiris attempted unsuccessfully to convince themselves, more than the others, that the "peace process" ceased to exist after the taking over of the three ministries. Incidentally Dr. G. L. Peiris could be now thinking of joining the SLFP or even the JVP or the MEP, so that he could become the minister in charge of "peace" negotiations under a government of the new alliance.
The action by the Navy against the sea tigers, unceremonious send off given to the SLMM chief, and finally the taking over of three important ministries were the results of agitation by the Sinhala people who realised that the MoU and the "peace" would only divide the country. The Sinhalas had to say that "enough is enough" and the President was under tremendous pressure from the nationalists in the SLFP to form an alliance with the JVP. January 20th saw the coming together of children of fifty six under an umbrella organisation and writing was on the wall for the "government" as we said last week.
What is most significant about the dissolution of the Parliament is that it was carried out against the wish of the international community. It is thus a victory for the Sinhala nationalists and others who are against western Christian colonialism though some of them may oppose the dissolution for parochial reasons. However, this does not mean that everything would be rosy in the future. The elections have to be fought and the UNP - LTTE alliance has to be defeated at the polls. The vast majority of the Sinhalas, especially the Sinhala Buddhists will vote for the new alliance but the UNP - LTTE could gain a few more seats in the northern, and to a lesser extent, in the eastern provinces. However, the gain for the UNP - LTTE will not be in the range "feared" by some. In any event, even in the Parliament that was dissolved there was indirect representation of the LTTE and this should not be of much concern unless the LTTE sends a few human bombs to the Parliament. Even then it should not be a factor to be considered when deciding on elections as postponement of the elections would not solve this particular problem. If the LTTE wants to send its representatives to the Parliament it would do so whether the elections are held now or after two years.
There is no guarantee that a new government formed by the alliance of the SLFP, JVP, MEP and the other parties would not talk to the LTTE. They would be under pressure from the "international community" and new packages could be introduced. The MoU signed by Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe though not a valid document could be endorsed by the President. However, if the Sinhala people speak with one voice, (one could always disregard the NGO "intellectuals", who speak on behalf of their masters and mistresses in these matters) they should be able to stand up to any "international" pressure and defeat Tamil racism in this country that was created and baptised by the Europeans. The Parliament was dissolved against the wish of the "international community" and a determined nation should be able to stand up to any pressure from western colonialism, carrying their dependant "leaders" with them.
Professor Nalin de Silva
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