Sri Lanka Perspectives – September 2012

Col R Hariharan

Highlights

• President Mahinda Rajapaksa met Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh at New Delhi during his visit to lay the foundation stone of the International University for Buddhist and Indic Studies at Sanchi.

• The ruling United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) swept the polls in North-Central and Sabaragamuwa provincial council elections underlining Rajapaksa’s national popularity. However, UPFA won a slender majority and formed the Eastern provincial council (EPC) government with the support of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC).

• Sri Lanka used the Commonwealth Parliamentarians Conference at Colombo to show case its achievements in rehabilitation and reconstruction in the post-war period.

• China continued its high profile forays into Sri Lanka with the visit of Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress Wu Bangguo and signed 16 agreements with Sri Lanka during the visit.

• The U.S. has continued its sustained engagement with Sri Lanka which gained momentum after the passing of the U.S. sponsored resolution seeking greater accountability from Sri Lanka at the last UN Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva in March 2012.

President Rajapaksa’s visit to India

President Rajapaksa visited India in the last week of September, amidst mounting protests from Tamil Nadu, to lay the foundation stone for International University of Buddhist and Indic Studies at Sanchi in Madhya Pradesh. Attempt by Pro-LTTE leader Vaiko of the Makkal Dravida Munnetra Kazagham (MDMK), leading a batch of about 700 protestors to reach Sanchi was thwarted by the MP government. Speaking at the Sanchi meeting, the President said, "It is important to recall that we in Sri Lanka have always considered India as a friendly land and people…The federal structure and the emergence of states has not erased our vision of India as a single land of friendship with the great bonds of history," apparently referring to the problems Sri Lanka faced due to Tamil Nadu’s stand. He said his government was planning to hold provincial council elections in the Tamil majority Northern Province but there were a number of steps including “finalisation of electoral rolls” to be taken and that was taking time. 

Of greater significance was the meeting between the visiting President and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at New Delhi. They were meeting the first time in two years and after India voted at the UN Human Rights Council meeting in March seeking greater accountability from Sri Lanka. According to media, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is understood to have reiterated that the sooner the Sri Lankan government finalises a road map with the TNA, the better it would be for all sides.

While India agreed that Colombo had engaged in serious dialogue with the TNA it felt the time had come to convert it into a programme of action. Rajapaksa had assured the Prime Minister that the Parliamentary Select Committee was to deal with the issue and he would talk to all the parties to take it forward. On the elections to the Tamil majority Northern Province he said there were a number of steps that need to be taken, main among them being the “finalisation of electoral rolls” and they would be held next year. Apart from the fishermen issue, Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), power linkages between the two countries and oil and gas also figured in the talks.

Provincial council elections

President Rajapaksa once again affirmed his popularity when the UPFA coalition led by him won North Central and Sabaragamuwa provincial councils with comfortable majorities. However, in the Eastern Province none of the parties was able to get a majority, though the UPFA performed better than others capturing 14 seats, four short of majority. The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) won 11 seats. Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) came third with seven seats. After hectic parleying by TNA and SLFP parties, President Rajapaksa convinced SLMC leader Rauf Hakeem to share power; according to the rotational arrangement chief minister’s post would be held by both the parties for a period of two and half years each.

Accordingly the SLFP’s lone Muslim member Mohammed Abdul Majeed was sworn in as the chief minister of Eastern Province. This is the first time a Muslim has become a chief minister in Sri Lanka. The United National Party (UNP) got only four seats. Across the parties, there are 15 Muslim members now in the 32-member Eastern Provincial Council, underlining the growing political influence of Muslim community in eastern politics.  The SLMC’s opportunistic decision to support the UPFA rather than TNA showed ultimately chances of stable power would decide the fate of coalition formation.

Commonwealth parliamentary conference

President Rajapaksa inaugurated the 58th Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Conference attended by nearly 1000 delegates from 54 countries in Colombo on September 11. Parliamentarians from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Puduchery were conspicuous by absence in the 76-member Indian delegation.

In his speech, Rajapaksa listed the achievements of his government and measures taken for the welfare of more than 300,000 persons affected by terrorism. He added the impressions of Sri Lanka in foreign countries were based on un-verified facts, deliberately manipulated disinformation and fictions carried out by individuals who once supported terrorism. They influence politicians in their new countries of domicile, to act against Sri Lanka. The President charged, “They do not bother to contribute to the reconciliation and development taking place here. But worse, they do not even contribute to the progress of the people whose cause they claim to champion, from their activities abroad. You can now see the truth and return to your countries with a deeper and richer understanding of Sri Lanka.”

A proposal to appoint a Commonwealth Commissioner for Democracy, Law and Order and Human Rights made at the conference was defeated. India’s strong opposition to the proposal would have warmed the heart of Sri Lanka which felt the proposal was targeted at it.

Sri Lanka-China relations

Close on the heels of the Chinese Defence Minister’s visit to Colombo last month, the chairman of China's National People's Congress Standing Committee Wu Bangguo, known as the Top Legislator, the second highest ranking member China’s party hierarchy, made a five-day visit to Sri Lanka during the month. During his meeting with President Rajapaksa, Wu proposed expanded cooperation between the two countries in infrastructure construction and as well as collaboration in new sectors such as marine scientific research, climate change, disaster prevention and relief, animal husbandry, agriculture product processing, bio-energy and tourism.

China signed 16 agreements with Sri Lanka during the visit; these covered a wide range including visa exemption for Chinese staff, marine development, infrastructure development, economic and technology cooperation and investment. Some of the important Chinese aided projects announced were:

• The signing of a strategic cooperation agreement worth $50 million between telecom provider China ZTE Corporation with Mobitel of Sri Lanka to establish 700 LTE base stations and transmission equipment for Mobitel’s stage VII mobile network expansion project in Sri Lanka. ZTE was the major vendor for Mobitel’s stage VI mobile network expansion project completed in June 2012.  

• The signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Sri Lanka government and the China Development Bank Company Ltd (CDB) under which the CDB will provide credit facilities to finance “infrastructure development projects with great significance to economic development.” The CDB is providing a loan of US$ 500 million (Rs. 64.6 billion) for the second phase of the Priority Roads Project in the north and the south. To get the project underway, the government announced the short listing of a consultancy firm each for the Northern and Southern regions  

• Sri Lanka is also in discussion with China to purchase 3,000 new buses for the state transport despite protests by private bus operators in the country.  

• Sri Lanka and China have agreed to cooperate in developing sports linkages between both countries. China’s Minister of the General Administration of Sports in China, Liu Peng has said that China would be allocating funds to Sri Lanka for purchase of sports equipment. Sri Lanka has offered to send cricket coaches to train Chinese players.

U.S.-Sri Lanka relations

The U.S. appears to be continuing its sustained interest in engagement with Sri Lanka particularly after it sponsored a resolution in the UN Human Rights Council last March seeking accountability from Sri Lanka for the happenings in the post war period. Robert Blake, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State visited Sri Lanka in the first week of the month.  In a press statement Blake said he had discussed in all his meetings the need for accelerated progress on implementing the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) recommendations and the National Action Plan. He also called for the Northern Provincial Council elections to be held as soon as possible and encouraged an early resumption of talks between the TNA and the government “to agree on powers to be devolved to the provinces.”

Blake speaking at a chamber of commerce luncheon stressed that the U.S. clearly wanted a guarantee that something concrete would emerge from the LLRC process. He also mentioned that new U.S. companies were facing an uphill task in investing in Sri Lanka; they faced barriers including “confusing and opaque rules on bidding for contracts, unpredictable government regulations such as the recent so-called Under-utilized Assets bill, and corruption.”

In this context, it is interesting to note the US House of Representatives appears to be holding back a strongly worded resolution by seven congressmen calling upon the Sri Lanka Government to “build on its establishment of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) and that Commission’s constructive recommendations on issues of paramount importance to Sri Lanka in a credible, transparent, and expeditious manner.”

Courtesy: South Asia Scurity Trends Vol 6 No 9 October 2012

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