Joint Mechanism means end of UPFA, warns JVP

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 20 April 2005, 05:02 GMT]
At a time when the Norwegian facilitators indicated that the Government and the LTTE are coming close to enter into an agreement on the proposed Joint Mechanism for post-tsunami aid distribution in the North-East, the marxist extreme Sinhala nationalist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), a major ally of the ruling UPFA coalition, warned on Tuesday that such a deal would mean the end of the United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government.

According to local media reports, JVP Propaganda Secretary, Wimal Weerawansa has said that the proposed Joint Mechanism would do more damage to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country than the existing Ceasefire agreement of the former United National Front (UNF) government.

"The Ceasefire Agreement was a gross violation of the territorial integrity of the country by demarcating part of land as the LTTE territory. The Joint Mechanism will go a step further as it will see the government sharing its supreme power to handle finances with the Tigers," the Colombo-based English newspaper, Daily Mirror has quoted Mr. Weerawansa as saying.

He has also said that the JVP believed the Joint Mechanism was being pushed to achieve the sinister agendas of the certain Western players, NGOs and their agents in the government.

"As long as the JVP is there, nobody will be able to make this betrayal a reality," he has challenged.

The media report quoting the party sources also said that the JVP politburo has decided that its ministers would immediately quit their cabinet portfolios if the government goes ahead with the Joint Mechanism.

It has also been decided at the politburo meeting, chaired by party leader Somawansa Amarasinghe, that the resignation of the JVP ministers would be followed by tougher action, including the withdrawal from the government, to prevent the implementation of the Joint Mechanism.

Meanwhile, visiting US Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia, Ms. Christina Rocca is scheduled to meet the JVP leaders on Wednesday at the US Embassy in Colombo.

The agenda of the discussion is not immediately known.

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