Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
04COLOMBO226
2004-02-10 10:32:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Colombo
Cable title:  

Sri Lanka: PM appears relaxed about elections;

Tags:  PREL PGOV EAID CE JA NO EU 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 COLOMBO 000226 

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR D, SA, SA/INS

NSC FOR E. MILLARD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/10/14
TAGS: PREL PGOV EAID CE JA NO EU
SUBJECT: Sri Lanka: PM appears relaxed about elections;
Mission's revised draft of February 17 joint statement

Refs: (A) SA/INS - Colombo 02/09/04 unclass e-mail

- (B) Colombo 217
- (C) Colombo 154

(U) Classified by Ambassador Jeffrey J. Lunstead.
Reasons 1.5 (b,d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 COLOMBO 000226

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR D, SA, SA/INS

NSC FOR E. MILLARD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/10/14
TAGS: PREL PGOV EAID CE JA NO EU
SUBJECT: Sri Lanka: PM appears relaxed about elections;
Mission's revised draft of February 17 joint statement

Refs: (A) SA/INS - Colombo 02/09/04 unclass e-mail

- (B) Colombo 217
- (C) Colombo 154

(U) Classified by Ambassador Jeffrey J. Lunstead.
Reasons 1.5 (b,d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: Ambassador Lunstead met with Prime
Minister Wickremesinghe late February 9. The PM
appeared relaxed regarding the just announced
parliamentary elections scheduled to take place April 2.
He said he had always expected President Kumaratunga to
go for elections and he predicted that his party would
do well in them. He said he hoped the peace process was
not harmed by what would probably be a rough campaign.
He did not provide any indication on how cohabitation
ties might be improved after the elections if his party
wins.


2. (C) The PM also said he definitely thought that the
Tokyo co-chairs meeting on February 17 in Washington
should go forward. Despite the collapse of the
cohabitation talks and the calling of elections, Mission
strongly agrees with that assessment. A revised draft
of a suggested joint statement to be issued after the
February 17 meeting is for Department's review in
Para 8. END SUMMARY.

--------------
Meeting with PM
--------------


3. (C) Ambassador Lunstead met with Prime Minister
Ranil Wickremesinghe late February 9. The PM appeared
relaxed regarding the parliamentary elections called by
President Kumaratunga on February 7 and scheduled to
take place April 2 (see Ref B). Wickremesinghe related
that he found Kumaratunga "more and more erratic," but
said he had always thought that she would call
elections. In the final analysis, a cohabitation deal
simply did not seem possible. He had offered to drop
his demand that all Defense Ministry powers be returned
to his government and had said he was willing to share
them with her. She had demanded, however, that he also
agree to postpone Provincial Council (PC) elections.
(Note: PC elections seem set to take place after the

April 2 parliamentary elections.) He could not agree to
that.


4. (C) Regarding reports that the President wants
wholesale cutbacks in the PM's 60-plus ministerial
cohort, the Prime Minister confirmed that she could fire
ministers during the pre-election timeframe. The PM
noted that she could fire him, for example. At this
point, she could not add new ministers, however. Asked
about prospects for the elections, Wickremesinghe said
he was confident that his United National Party (UNP)
would do well. The UNP had done very well in the March
2002 Local Council elections, for example. He also
thought that the UNP would do well with Sri Lanka's
estimated 400,000 new voters. Wickremesinghe said he
thought that the calling of early elections was not
popular with the public. Kumaratunga and her party
would take the blame for that, as they were the ones
that wanted elections. The UNP would make the peace
process and the economy key issues in the campaign. It
would be "between him and her," the PM said referring to
Kumaratunga. He did not provide any indication on how
cohabitation ties might be improved after the elections
if the UNP wins.


5. (C) Regarding the peace process, he said he hoped
the upcoming campaign did not damage the progress that
has been made. He expected a tough, divisive campaign,
however. The President's recent appointment of former
foreign minister Lakshman Kadirgamar as Minister of
Information and Media was bound to upset the Tamil
Tigers, he said. (Note: Kadirgamar is a Tamil fiercely
and vocally opposed to the Tigers. To protect him, his
residence in Colombo is fortified and bristling with
many armed guards.) The Prime Minister noted that he
had spoken with Norwegian Ambassador Hans Brattskar and
asked him to pass a message to the group to the effect
that he (the PM) had not been the one who called for
elections and did not want them. (Note: In a February
8 posting on the pro-Tiger website "TamilNet, the group
called the elections "a grave setback" for the peace
process, but underscored their adherence to the
ceasefire and peace in general -- see Ref B.)

--------------
COMMENT: FEBRUARY 17 MEETING
--------------


6. (C) The PM also said he definitely thought that the
Tokyo co-chairs meeting on February 17 in Washington
should go ahead. He thought the meeting was an
important opportunity for the international community to
underscore its support for the peace process, and to
underline that Sri Lanka should expand on the gains that
have been achieved and not go backward.


7. (C) We have spoken to numerous contacts who agree
with that view, and, as flagged in Ref B, our assessment
is that the meeting should go forward. Mission has
provided Department a revised draft of a suggested joint
co-chairs statement to be issued after the meeting,
which is contained in Para 8. (Note: Ref C contained
Mission's initial draft, in addition to an in-depth
analysis of Sri Lanka's political and economic
situation, as well as options in the assistance arena.)
Compared to the initial draft, this revised draft has
only a few changes, noting, for example, the
international community's disappointment at the failure
of the cohabitation talks. It also calls for free, fair
and peaceful parliamentary elections that would be
followed in a timely way by a resumption of the peace
talks. As with the initial draft, the revised draft
also underscores the need to increase the pace of
delivery of assistance, while noting that the full
release of assistance funds will not be possible without
progress at the peace table. END COMMENT.

--------------
Revised Draft of Proposed Joint Statement
--------------


8. (SBU) Revised draft of proposed Tokyo co-chairs
statement to be issued after the February 17 meeting in
Washington follows:

Begin text:

(Opening pleasantries, etc.)...and we are pleased to
note that the ceasefire in Sri Lanka has held for two
years. With each passing month of peace, more displaced
Sri Lankans continue to return to their homes, more
humanitarian demining occurs, and daily life in
previously contested areas becomes progressively more
settled and bearable. The co-chairs applaud these
indicators of peace, while at the same item calling for
the earliest possible resumption of the peace talks
which have been suspended since April 2003. Progress at
the peace table is essential if the encouraging progress
in the peace process is to be sustained.

In the same vein, the co-chairs note their
disappointment that the "cohabitation" talks in the
South between the President and the Prime Minister did
not result in an agreement. The tense situation in the
South remains a serious impediment to an early return to
the peace table, and is also harming prospects for
economic investment and growth. The co-chairs call on
all political figures in Sri Lanka to work to ensure
that the upcoming parliamentary elections are free,
fair, and peaceful, and that the campaign is not used in
ways that undermine the important gains that have been
made in the peace process. After the elections
conclude, we urge that the parties in the South work
expeditiously to find a method to establish clarity of
responsibilities, so that the peace negotiations -- and
the entire process of governance -- can resume
regardless of which party or parties form the majority
in Parliament.

The co-chairs also note that in the absence of peace
negotiations support for the peace process throughout
the country becomes even more important. They call on
all donors to find appropriate mechanisms through which
adequate amounts of humanitarian relief and assistance
to improve the quality of life at the community level
can continue to be delivered to all needy areas of the
country. At the same time, the co-chairs wish to draw
attention to the specific language in the Tokyo accords
which makes clear that full release of aid funds pledged
at the Tokyo conference cannot go forward in the absence
of substantive progress at the peace table. (Closing
pleasantries, etc.)...

End text.


9. (U) Minimize considered.

LUNSTEAD