Rajapakse's new agenda, a tactic to derail progress towards Geneva II- Kaviyalahan

[TamilNet, Sunday, 16 July 2006, 15:26 GMT]
The Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse, upon failing to meet the committments given by Sri Lanka delegation at Geneva I, has adopted a "choking tactic" to stifle current trajectory towards peace by launching a one-sided expert panel, to waylay the International Community, and to avoid Geneva II, said K. Kaviyalahan, the Head of Tamileelam Political Research Centre (TEPRC), the emerging Think Tank of the Liberation Tigers, in the weekly political analysis programme, Nilavaram, aired by the National Television of Tamileelam (NTT) Sunday night. Rajapaskse's new agenda circumvents the existing paradigm of the four and a half years old peace process, he argued.

The NTT Nilavaram programme analysing the current situation was titled: "Re-staging the show of political package." Jaffna Tamil National Alliance MP Mr. Sivanesan and Mr. Kaviyalahan of the Political Research Centre took part in the discussions.

The new agenda is aimed at circumventing the mechanisms and decisions of the four and a half years Cease Fire Agreement (CFA) and the peace efforts facilitated by Norway. The agenda is also designed to derail the existing trajectory of the peace process that would be leading towards Geneva II talks.

Comparing the periods when the former Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga launched her agenda of political package and the incumbant SL President Rajapakse's "new agenda" of the package, Mr. Kaviyalahan, told the viewers that both Sinhala leaders had employed the tactic of offering a "political package" when their strategy was to intensify military operations on the ground.

Rajapakse seemed to adopt the approach of Kumaratunga, who also formed an expert panel and a presidential committee, and organized an All Party Conference (APC).

While intensifying the war with the Tigers, Kumaratunga wanted the international community to believe that she was managing the war to enforce a political solution. She even branded her project as "war for peace."

Rajapakse, has launched his version of the package while intensifying a covert war on the ground, diverting focus from the agenda of Talks in Geneva, when the Tigers continued to remain engaged in favour of creating a conducive atmosphere to implement the CFA.

Having failed to deliver his committments agreed in Geneva I, Rajapakse was forced into a political vacuum, and the situation worsened when his forces ran a campaign of terror and International Community, including India, condemned the extra-judicial killing by the SLA in the NorthEast, Kaviyalahan told the Satellite televison broadcast from Vanni.

Responding to a question by Veera, the programme leader of Nilavaram, to comment on the recent development on military front, Kaviyalahan observed that the recent Vakaneri operation by the Sri Lanka Army was an offensive act as one Company of SLA soldiers had entered the LTTE controlled territory. It was the first act of an offensive operation by the regular ground forces of the Sri Lanka Army in contrast to the recent Long Range Recce Patrol (LRRP) attacks which were known as Deep Penetration Unit (DPU) operations, he further said.

"The time has now come for the Tigers and the International Community to verify from Rajapakse government whether his government is observing the ceasefire or not," Kaviyalahan said.

Asked on the the context of a framework of future talks, Kaviyalahan said, that the parameters for a such framework was articulated by the LTTE Leader in his Heroes Day Speech two years ago.

"The Sri Lankan polity should understand a political reality of the concept of Tamil homeland which has already become a reality. Seventy percent of the Tamil homeland has been freed. The de-facto civil administration has a record of 15-years of successful administration of the freed part of our homeland. Tamileelam Police has preserved law and order for 15 years, and the judiciary has served our people in dispensing justice for more than 10 years.

"Not only the JVP, but also the UNP and the SLFP must realise that for any objective future talks to succeed, the focus has to be on resolving issues related to the 30% of the homeland territories that are currently occupied by the Sri Lankan forces," Kaviyalahan said.