SRI LANKA'S JOINT MECHANISM: DEBATES OVER THE

C O N F I D E N T I A L COLOMBO 001088

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/20/2015
TAGS: PGOV PTER CE LTTE
SUBJECT: SRI LANKA'S JOINT MECHANISM: DEBATES OVER THE
EMPEROR'S NEW CLOTHES RAGE ON

REF: COLOMBO 01052

Classified By: AMB J. LUNSTEAD FOR REASONS 1.4(b) and (d)


1. (SBU) Summary. Political parties and citizens continue
to debate the Joint Mechanism (JM) for tsunami relief, and
although the President continues to express her determination
to go forward with the JM, she has not yet done so. Various
parties are criticizing the JM, and the longer she waits to
sign it, the longer these opponents will have to quibble with
segments of it and to turn public sentiment against it.
Members of other parties and journalists have already noted
this trend. End summary.


2. (SBU) Although the President has not yet released the
official text of the Joint Mechanism (JM) for tsunami aid
distribution, she continues to make public statements to try
to garner support for it. However, she still faces
opposition, not just from the former coalition partner
Janathi Vimukthi Peremuna (JVP),who left the coalition over
the JM, but also from other parties. Press reports indicate
that anti LTTE Tamil United Liberal Front (TULF) leader
Ananda Sangaree strongly opposes the JM because he believes
it legitimizes the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) by
giving it a role in distributing aid.


3. (C) Media reports also indicate that the Opposition's
United National Party (UNP) leader Ranil Wickremesinghe told
members of the pro-LTTE Tamil National Alliance (TNA) that
both the president and a representative of the LTTE should
sign the Joint Mechanism (JM) for tsunami relief distribution
before the document is forwarded to the House for discussion
in Parliament. In a discussion with pol FSN, TNA Member of
Parliament (MP) Gajen Ponnambalam confirmed that report. He
added that the president does not have full support within
her own party, but she should exert her executive authority
rather than relying on Parliament. On June 20 United
National Party (UNP) MP G.L. Peiris told the Ambassador that
if the President does bring the JM as an adjournment motion
before Parliament, the ensuing debate will be highly divisive
and unproductive.


4. (C) According to Ponnambalam, the TNA sees the JM as an
essential precursor to the peace process. LTTE political
leader Thamilchelvan is also cited in the media as saying
that the JM is an important confidence-building measure that
may help ease the path of the peace process. Thamilchelvan
is due to meet with the Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister
Vidar Helgesen, who began a five day visit on June 20.
Helgesen will also meet Wickremsinghe, MPs from the TNA, and
Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) MP Rauf Hakeem. The press
reports that Helgessen will assist in final decisions on the
JM. The LTTE has stated in the press that it wants the World
Bank to be entrusted with the aid rather than the Sri Lankan
Ministry of Finance.


5. (C) Comment. In attempting to convince people to support
the mechanism, the President has actually opened the debate
wider. She has tried to reassure the public that the JM is
an administrative structure and that the LTTE has recognized
government primacy by agreeing to the JM. The LTTE's
insistence that the aid be administered through the World
Bank may be an attempt to respond with an assertion of
independence. The longer the JM remains in the public eye
without actually being signed, it is subject to criticism
from all sides and the slimmer its chances for success
become. At this point the President has nothing to lose by
signing the JM; she has already lost her majority in
Parliament.




LUNSTEAD