JVP depends on Singhalese chauvinistic utterances to win

JVP depends on Singhalese chauvinistic utterances to win .....

Opposition to the proposed "Joint Mechanism"

By: Dr. Victor Rajakulendran - Sydney, Australia Source: TamilCanadian - June 17, 2005

The political crisis in Sri Lanka at the moment is the opposition shown by the Singhalese Nationalistic forces to the creation of a "Joint Mechanism" (JM) (an operational management structure and not a political one) between the Sri Lankan government (SLG) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). This concept of JM evolved as a result of consultations held between the SLG and the LTTE to find a way as how to utilise the money (now pledged to be $3 Billion) to be donated by the International community (IC), among all the communities affected by the tsunami in Sri Lanka, in an equitable manner especially in areas controlled by the LTTE. This concept of creating a JM has been welcomed and emphasized by the IC first at the "Sri Lanka aid Forum" meeting recently held in Kandy, Sri Lanka and again at the just concluded Washington meeting of the Co-chairs of the Sri Lanka donor groups - US, European Union, Japan and Norway.

We have seen for the last few days a hype of protest activities against the President Chandrika Bandaranayake Kumarathunga (PCBK). These were organised by her coalition partner the JVP, the Buddhist clergy of the JHU, Patriotic National Movement (PNM) a front organisation of the JVP and the National Bhikku Front (NBF) an organisation of nationalist Buddhist clergy. While Buddhist clergies went on hunger strikes, JVP threatened to quit the government coalition if PCBK does not withdraw from signing the JM agreement. Although the hunger strikes have abruptly ended JVP has made the PCBK's government a minority government making it dependent on its opposition to pbutt legislations in parliament.

Who are these opponents of JM?

JVP, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna or People's Liberation Front, is a former person organisation turned into a Marxist political party. JVP carried out two armed insurrections against SLGs and had brutally end more than 50,000 innocent civilians and its political opponents. When their leadership was almost wiped out after their second insurrection, they reorganised themselves into a political party and entered parliament without surrendering their weapons. They are anti-Tamil, anti-LTTE and totally against changing the unitary setup in Sri Lanka to a Federal system as recommended by India and the IC. JVP depends on Singhalese chauvinistic utterances to win the hearts of lower and middle clbutt Singhalese to beef up their vote bank. They started with one member in parliament, increased it to 19 and after PCBK formed an alliance with them and contested the last election to defeat Ranil Wickramasinghe (RW) they increased their parliamentary strength significantly to 39.

JHU, the Jathika Hela Urumya or the National Heritage Party was formed by disgruntled mainstream political party members. As they failed to gain parliamentary seats, in the first general election they contested, this party put out Buddhist priests as its candidates to contest the last election and won 9 seats in the parliament. From the time they entered parliament, these Buddhist priest turned parliamentarians have taken an anti-Tamil and anti-LTTE stand. JHU has been opposing the peace process from the beginning and like JVP, JHU is also opposed to changing the unitary setup to a Federal system. Provocative behaviour of JHU parliamentarians in parliament has resulted in even physical exchanges between some of them and other party parliamentarians.

PNM, the Patriotic National Movement although portray itself as an independent conglomeration of buttorted Singhala nationalists, everyone in Sri Lanka knows that it is a JVP front. JVP uses the PNM front to accomplish its 'broad front' strategy to politically permeate the widest cross section of the Singhala polity. JVP believes, the working clbutt movement in Sri Lanka failed to take state power chiefly because it ignored the large rural Singhala pebreast bourgeoisie which is more aligned to PCBK's Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) than to RW's, United national Party (UNP). JVP believes in taking state power with this clbutt firmly on its side, to defeat the ruling clbutt which is rooted in multi-national capital (UNP and to certain extent the SLFP). Although UNP could secure the temporary allegiance of the rural pebreast bourgeoisie from time to time by cynically whipping up Sinhala nationalism to achieve its own interests, JVP knows very well that SLFP traditionally gives leadership to this clbutt. This is why JVP formed an alliance with SLFP first to work from with-in to dominate and lead this clbutt of voters. JVP's idea is to later expose the SLFP in front of its consbreastuency by putting it in a position when it is unable to 'come clean' of its own inevitable buttociation with global capital, as it is in now in a post-tsunami environment. In this process JVP is using its front PNM very efficiently in whipping up Singhala nationalism.

NBF, the National Bhikku Front is a national organisation of Buddhist monks. Many members of this organisation are either Singhalese nationalists or Buddhist supremacists.

Why are they opposing?

According to PCBK the JM or, the Post Tsunami Operational Management Structure (P-TOMS) as the government like to call it now, is only an administrative arrangement with the LTTE to rehabilitate and reconstruct tsunami destroyed coastal areas in the North-East and it is operational only for a period of one year. According to PCBK the purpose of this JM is for her government to get the corporation of the LTTE in implementing reconstruction programs in the tsunami affected areas in the North-East, a significant part of which is under their control. Still JVP and JHU are saying that if the PCBK go ahead and implement the JM she will be paving the way for the LTTE to create a separate state in Sri Lanka. PNM is dancing to JVP's tune and helping the JVP to organise the crowd needed for protest marches.

Although JVP knows very well that the JM is not a threat to the sovereignty and the territorial integrity of the country as they are shouting, they are behaving like this to make use of this opportunity to achieve their long-term goal. As I have said before, JVP's intention when it formed the coalition with SLFP was to woo the large rural Singhala pebreast bourgeoisie which is more aligned to PCBK's SLFP than to RW's UNP, to their side from being within a coalition government with SLFP. From the time they joined the SLFP to form the coalition government they started to work on this. Although they were part of the government, they did not hesitate to condemn Norway's effort of peace making or to hold protest marches against the peace process. In the aftermath of the tsunami devastation, JVP even tried to woo the Tamil and Muslim section of this bourgeoisie by sending their volunteers into these areas to help these mbuttes. If JVP was really concerned about the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country they should have protested more vigorously when RW signed the Cease-fire Agreement (CFA) with the LTTE. Because the CFA recognised legally for the first time that there are separate government controlled and LTTE controlled areas in the country. At that time the same bourgeoisie JVP is targeting to woo to its side now, whose children were only dying in the battlefield fighting the LTTE, were yearning for the war to stop. At that time JVP had succeeded in getting only 19 members in parliament and they were contemplating whether to revert back to armed rebellion or continue to use the ballot to secure political power. The golden opportunity PCBK opened up increased JVP's parliamentary strength to 39 and therefore the JVP is now convinced that the time is ripe now to move forward with their final intention. With Presidential elections getting closer and closer, chances of PCBK contesting getting slimmer and slimmer JVP is having an eye on contesting for the Presidency too. JM was the first opportunity for them to start on their plan of action and they got into business and used their usual tactic of mere rhetoric and verbal threats to quit the government. As usual they have rented the crowd they needed to put out on the street shows of protests with the help of their front organisation PNM. Although JVP's tactics has not worked this time with PCBK and they have to leave the government, it is too early to judge who will be the winner of this political drama at the end.

JHU is not organised as JVP and new to electoral politics. They were elected to parliament by wooing Singhalese chauvinistic section of the voters. They portrayed themselves as anti-Tamil and anti-LTTE and also as the only party interested in safeguarding the interests of Singhalese Buddhists, during their campaign. JHU has demonstrated in the recent past that they are one step ahead of JVP in being anti-Tamil and anti-LTTE. In the "Sri Lanka Development Forum" held in Kandy, while the JVP ministers were pbuttively participating in the forum the leader of JHU took up the podium uninvited and addressed the delegates, slandering the LTTE and requested the delegates not to insist on a JM. Therefore when JVP raised the voice against PCBK signing the JM, JHU wanted to go one step further as usual. They do this because they compete with the JVP for the same rural Singhalese pebreast bourgeoisie for their electoral success. That is why, while JVP was giving mere verbal threat to quit the government and holding rallies, JHU went a step further and its General Secretary and parliamentarian Ven. Omalpe Sobitha Thero went on a hunger strike. Although he abandoned his hunger strike later on the request of Maha Nayakas, the leadership of the Buddhist clergy, JHU is capable of stirring up trouble again if necessary.

Members of the Buddhist clergy of the NBF and members of the PNM have been active in protesting in Colombo streets and particularly around PCBK's residence aiding and abetting JVP and JHU. However, for the first time in the history of Sri Lanka, members of the Buddhist clergy were teargbutted and water cannoned against their violent behaviour.

Possible repercussions due to opposition shown to JM

JVP with the help of PNM and NBF have reduced PCBK's government to a minority government. PCBK's government may not fall immediately but will not be able to pbutt major legislation in parliament. Therefore, theoretically PCBK's government may last until the next budget in November. Because UNP leader RW has pledged his butturance that his party will not bring down PCBK's government on the issue of JM, when PCBK table the JM agreement in parliament, it will be pbutted sans JVP and JHU votes (altogether 46) unless JVP, JHU, PNM and NBF take on to the streets and create mayhem and prevent parliament from sitting.

Once that is out of the way, and the $3 Billion starts flowing in, PCBK would hope that she could woo the electorate to her side and hold a general election and form a majority government on her own. This is very unlikely to achieve. Moreover, once the tsunami victims are taken care of, RW will press for an early presidential election for which he has already started his campaign anticipating all these changes.

PCBK should know by this time her days in the pinnacle of power are numbered now. That is why she is forging ahead with the JM plan amidst all these opposition. She may have no other alternative other than to promote Prime Minister Rajapaksa as the SLFP's Presidential candidate to prevent her arch rival RW becoming the President. JVP may make use of the situation and join in the presidential race on its own or even make a deal with PM Rajapakse to throw in their support to him to keep the Presidential palace out of reach of RW. In a three way presidential contest, chances are there for RW to become the President. Whether it is RW or PM Rajapakse becomes the next President, the new President has to face the same opposition of JVP and JHU inside and outside the parliament. If the new President genuinely wants to move the peace process forward, the only way for him is to avoid a general election and form a National Unity Government with or without JVP's and JHU's participation. Therefore even if the JM comes into place there is no chance for the peace process to move forward until a new President and a new government are in place in Sri Lanka.

This is what JVP, JHU, PNM and NBF have jointly achieved for Sri Lanka's near future, unless PCBK is prepared to rule the country using her extraordinary Presidential power for which she will need the full support of the armed services. Under the present CFA, considering the ground reality, it is very unlikely that PCBK will choose this option.

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Is this terrorism or democracy? Tamil Parliamentarians attacked by Sinhala mobs, 150 Tamils end - 1956

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" - 'The Sinhala political organizations and their leadership, which are deeply buried in the mud of Sinhala-Buddhist chauvinism, will never be able to comprehend the political aspirations of the people of Tamil Eelam. None of the major Sinhala political parties are prepared to recognize the fundamentals underlying the Tamil national question. None of the Sinhala political organizations is prepared to accept the northeastern region as the historical homeland of the Tamil-speaking people, that the Tamils consbreastute themselves as a distinct nationality and that they are enbreastled to the right to self-determination, including the right to secede. -

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Sri Lankan War Crime :

Sinhala person War Crime:

================================================= LTTE is a politico- military organisation, which is fighting for the right of self-determination of the Tamil people =================================================