Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
04COLOMBO266
2004-02-18 03:03:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Colombo
Cable title:  

Campaign Snapshot: PM lashes out at President

Tags:  PGOV PREL PINS PINR PHUM CE LTTE 
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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 000266 

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR SA, SA/INS, INR/NESA, DRL/CRA

NSC FOR E. MILLARD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/18/14
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINS PINR PHUM CE LTTE
SUBJECT: Campaign Snapshot: PM lashes out at President
in campaign kickoff speech; LTTE endorses Tamil grouping

Refs: (A) FBIS Reston Va DTG 180303Z Feb 04

- (B) Colombo 242, and previous

(U) Classified by James F. Entwistle, Deputy Chief of
Mission. Reasons 1.5 (b,d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 COLOMBO 000266

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR SA, SA/INS, INR/NESA, DRL/CRA

NSC FOR E. MILLARD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/18/14
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINS PINR PHUM CE LTTE
SUBJECT: Campaign Snapshot: PM lashes out at President
in campaign kickoff speech; LTTE endorses Tamil grouping

Refs: (A) FBIS Reston Va DTG 180303Z Feb 04

- (B) Colombo 242, and previous

(U) Classified by James F. Entwistle, Deputy Chief of
Mission. Reasons 1.5 (b,d).


1. (C) In this message, Mission reviews the following
items revolving around Sri Lanka's April 2 parliamentary
election campaign:

-- PM Wickremesinghe blames President Kumaratunga for
cohabitation tensions in nationally televised address;

-- Actively engaging in the campaign, Tamil Tigers
publicly endorse the Tamil National Alliance;

-- SLFP-JVP alliance names leadership group;

-- "The Flavor of the Campaign": Extremist SU party
announces all Buddhist monk candidate slate.

========================
PM Hits out at President
========================


2. (SBU) In a taped televised address given late
February 17, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe lashed
out at President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga,
laying the blame squarely at her feet for the long-
standing cohabitation tensions between the two. He also
accused her of calling parliamentary elections for
sheerly political reasons and in the face of indications
that the dispute between the two leaders over the
control of the Defense Ministry was near resolution. In
the approximately 20-minute address, Wickremesinghe also
complained that the President's decision to call
elections was "like kicking the will of the people." He
then went on to defend the record of his United National
Party (UNP) government, which has been in power the past
two years. In doing so, he highlighted the advent of
the peace process with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil
Eelam (LTTE),the country's relatively upbeat economic
performance, and the beginning of enhanced assistance
efforts by donors.


3. (C) COMMENT: The UNP has seemingly had a tough time
getting its campaign off the mark since Kumaratunga

announced early elections on February 7. Up until his
February 17 speech, Prime Minister Wickremesinghe had
not appeared much inclined to leap into the fray either,
which no doubt had slowed down the UNP's campaign
machine. With his February 17 speech setting a tough
tone, however, the PM has effectively kicked off the
UNP's campaign and, in the process, underscored that he
will hit out at the President and defend his party's
record in power. While low-key and technocratic in
personality, the PM has a reputation as being effective
on the campaign trail. END COMMENT.

=============================
Tigers Endorse Tamil Grouping
=============================


4. (C) In comments carried February 17 on the pro-
Liberation Tiger of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) website,
"TamilNet," the group's political chief, S.P.
Thamilchelvam, endorsed the election candidate slate of
the Tamil National Alliance (TNA). (The TNA is the
dominant Tamil umbrella political grouping in Sri Lanka,
with 15 MPs representing several parties.) At the
conclusion of a meeting between the LTTE and TNA held
earlier that day, Thamilchelvam stated: "We unanimously
decided today that the Tamil people should vote only for
the Tamil National Alliance. This is the wish of our
leader (referring to Tiger leader V. Prabhakaran) and
our leadership." Also in the same statement,
Thamilchelvam seemed to retract earlier remarks that
non-Tamil dominated parties like the UNP and the Sri
Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) would be prohibited from
contesting elections in the north/east. Clarifying, he
said, "Sinhala parties can contest anywhere in the
northeast. It is their freedom to do so. I only said
that the Tamils might not prefer Sinhala parties."
Thamilchelvam made no direct comments on the battle
between V. Anandasangaree -- an independent-minded Tamil
leader -- for control of the Tamil United Liberation
Front (TULF) with pro-LTTE elements. (The TULF is the
major constituent element of the TNA.)


5. (C) COMMENT: It has long been an open secret that
the TNA is basically a pro-LTTE grouping. In the past,
there were a multitude of Tamil leaders willing to take
on the Tigers, but through coercion or assassination
there are very few independent Tamil political leaders
like Anandasangaree left. (There are several small
anti-LTTE Tamil parties still operating, but they are of
decreasing importance.) Even with that as background,
the fact that the Tigers would come out in public and
endorse the TNA is remarkable. It serves to highlight a
newfound willingness on behalf of the LTTE to involve
itself in political campaigns, in a direct, non-
clandestine manner. In the meantime, although he
backtracked to some extent, the overall direction of
Thamilchelvam's comments are that the LTTE considers the
north and east the group's very own political preserve
and parties in the south should understand that. END
COMMENT.

========================================
SLFP-JVP Alliance Names Leadership Group
========================================


6. (SBU) In a February 17 meeting, the United People's
Freedom Alliance (UPFA),which is the umbrella name for
the SLFP - Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) linkup,
appointed various officials to top leadership positions.
President Kumaratunga took her place as the leader of
the alliance, while fellow SLFP party members (and major
political rivals) Mahinda Rajapakse and Anura
Bandaranaike were named national organizers. (Rajapakse
is the Opposition Leader. Bandaranaike is a senior SLFP
MP and the President's brother.) Five vice presidents
were named from among the spectrum of parties in the
alliance, including: Dinesh Gunawardena, leader of the
left-wing Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (MEP) party; Ferial
Ashraff, leader of the Muslim National Unity Alliance
(NUA); Sarath Amunugama and Nimal Siripala de Silva of
the SLFP; and Vijitha Herath of the JVP. An additional
four SLFP and one JVP members were appointed as
assistant secretaries.


7. (C) COMMENT: It is interesting that the SLFP holds
most of the UPFA leadership positions, including the top
three, with the JVP seemingly accepting a decidedly
secondary position in the alliance. This probably means
that the JVP does not consider the alliance leadership
positions all that important and just a matter for show.
That said, the fact that Rajapakse and Bandaranaike were
both named national organizers was a virtually
inevitable solution to an endemic problem: both men see
themselves as heirs to Kumaratunga's leadership of the
SLFP and will not accept being upstaged by the other.
END COMMENT.

=================================
The Saffron Robe as Campaign Tool
=================================


8. (SBU) In our "flavor of the campaign" section: The
Sinhalese Buddhist extremist party, Sihala Urumaya (SU),
on February 17 decided to field a slate of exclusively
Buddhist monk candidates for the upcoming parliamentary
election. The party said it made this decision in order
"to vest the monks with their traditional right to
protect the inalienable rights of the Sinhala-Buddhist
people." The majority of the 285 monks on the slate
have long associations with the SU, with the balance
being younger monks. SU leaders predicted that at least
10 of the monks would win parliamentary seats. The SU
also announced that it has officially changed its name
to the "Jathika Hela Urumaya," which roughly translates
as National Heritage Party. The party's symbol will be
the conch shell (the old SU symbol was a bow and arrow).

9. (C) COMMENT: The SU -- a minor party with no
parliamentary representation -- is the most openly
aggressive and communalist of the Sinhalese Buddhist
extremist parties (much more so than the JVP which
cloaks its extremism in leftist rhetoric). In
nominating an all-monk slate, the party is making it
clear that it plans to place the issue of Sinhalese
Buddhist ethno-religious identity front-and-center in
this campaign. Using the saffron robe in this political
way may be of questionable utility, however. Since the
country's independence, only one monk has served in
Parliament and this monk -- Ven. Baddegama Samitha, who
is now in office and running for election again -- is
pro-peace process. Monks taking a hard-line, SU-like
anti-peace process perspective have had some influence
on the public policy discourse, but no electoral success
as candidates in the past. END COMMENT.


10. (U) Minimize considered.

LUNSTEAD