SRI LANKA: CROSS PARTY TALKS MAY YIELD COOPERATION

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 001538

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/19/2016
TAGS: PGOV PTER PHUM CE
SUBJECT: SRI LANKA: CROSS PARTY TALKS MAY YIELD COOPERATION
ON PEACE PROCESS


Classified By: AMBASSADOR ROBERT O. BLAKE, JR. FOR REASONS 1.4(b) and (
d)


1. (SBU) Summary: On September 15 the governing Sri Lanka
Freedom Party (SLFP) held the first in a series of talks with
the opposition United National Party (UNP) to build consensus
on a range of issues, including the peace process as a
cornerstone for potential cooperation. After the initial
discussion, the parties appointed a sub-committee to draft
the agenda for future talks, and party leaders expressed hope
that they could achieve broad cooperation by late October,
when the budget is due to be debated in parliament. The
parties met again September 19. While this signifies both
sides' willingness to work together in favor of the national
interest, obstacles to full cooperation remain.
Nevertheless, the potential for SLFP-UNP agreement on a
framework for the peace process is a positive development
that could give President Rajapaksa more negotiating room if
the talks succeed. End summary.

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CROSS-PARTY TALKS:
MAKE-UP OF DELEGATIONS
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2. (U) Representatives from the governing Sri Lanka Freedom
Party (SLFP) and opposition United National Party (UNP) met
at the parliamentary complex September 15 to discuss possible
cooperation on the peace process and a range of other issues.
The SLFP delegation consisted of Premier Ratnasiri
Wickremenayake, Minister of Irrigation and Mahaweli River
Development Maithripala Sirisena, Minister of Justice and
Legal Reforms John Seneviratne, Minister of Education Susil
Premajayantha, and Minister of Health (and previous head of
peace negotiations delegations) Nimal Siripala de Silva.
Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera and Trade Minister
Jeyaraj Fernandopulle were also appointed to the SLFP
delegation, but were away from Colombo and did not attend the
first cross-party meeting. Comprising the UNP side were
deputy party leader Karu Jayasuriya, party chairman Malik
Samarawickreme, Milinda Moragoda, Professor G.L. Peiris, John
Amaratunga, Rukman Senanayake, and Ravi Karunanayake, all
Members of Parliament (MPs). According to the media, Peiris
proposed covering economic development, governance, health,
education, infrastructure, and vocational training in
addition to the peace process. Each party appointed two
members to a sub-committee to draft a specific agenda for
future talks, and the UNP's Karunanayake proposed that talks
conclude by mid-October. The second round of talks was held
September 19, and the agenda sub-committee reportedly
identified key issue areas for possible consensus.


3. (C) Of the SLFP group, Prime Minister Wickremenayake is
widely viewed as a hard-liner on the peace process; he has
publicly stated that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
(LTTE) should lay down arms before the government will
negotiate with them, a clear non-starter. Foreign Minister
Samaraweera, though open to a negotiated peace settlement,
supported the SLFP's 2004 electoral pact with the Marxist,
Sinhalese nationalist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP),and
analysts believe he may be less comfortable working with the
UNP. John Seniveratne may be more willing to work closely
with the UNP because he supports its privatization policy
platform. Minister Fernandopulle, however, told pol FSN the
talks are "a waste of time." Within the UNP delegation,
Milinda Moragoda and Malik Samarawickreme are said to
genuinely favor an SLFP-UNP pact while Ravi Karunanayake is
not optimistic about the outcome.

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UNP VIEWS
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4. (C) In a September 18 meeting with the Ambassador, the

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UNP's Peiris said the impetus for the talks was the
"political paralysis" caused by the SLFP's failure to command
a majority in parliament. According to Peiris, when a
routine finance bill did not pass because there was no
legislative cooperation, it was clear that the two major
parties needed to find a path forward. Peiris observed that
parliament had been inactive and expressed hope that since
the SLFP-UNP talks included MPs on the proposed committees,
parliament might become more relevant. When the Ambassador
noted the bad blood between the party leaders, Peiris said
that UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe has a better working
relationship with President Rajapksa than he did with former
president Kumaratunga, so it is more likely that the two
parties can collaborate productively. Peiris also assessed
that President Rajapaksa is a consensus-builder with strong
political capital, so if the cross-party talks yield an
agreement on the peace process, the president can rally
national support for it.


5. (C) Wickremesinghe met the Ambassador separately on
September 18 and noted that the government's invitation to
the UNP had come while he was away, raising questions as to
the SLFP's sincerity. Nevertheless, Wickremesinghe said, the
UNP was amenable to the president's stated wish to work
together in parliament. He was most hopeful about
cooperation on the peace process and good governance. In
response to the Ambassador's question about whether joining
cross-party talks was a risky political move for the UNP,
Wickremesinghe said the process will test whether the
president really is a hard-liner on peace. He said the UNP
and SLFP are seeking to reach agreement by the end of
October, when the budget is due to be debated in parliament.

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COMMENT
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6. (C) Both the SLFP and UNP deserve credit for taking steps
to work together in the national interest. However, despite
good intentions on both sides, creating a consensus will be a
challenge. The government has appointed a high-level group
comprised solely of ministers, which could make the technical
work of hammering out a draft settlement more difficult. In
addition, quibbles over the broad range of issues covered may
cloud the discussions on the peace process, where there is
potential for significant agreement in party positions. That
said, if the two sides focus on common ground, especially in
the areas of governance and peace, as Wickremesinghe
suggested, there is potential the talks could yield concrete
results. For now, the possibility of a united front by the
SLFP and UNP on returning to talks with the LTTE offers hope
of forward movement in the peace process. With UNP support,
the President would be less hostage to the JVP's hardline
views.


7. (C) Politically, local observers credit Rajapaksa with a
shrewd initiative. Either the SLFP-UNP talks succeed and the
president receives a more politically sustainable mandate to
truly negotiate. Or, if the talks fail, the president can
use the opportunity to persuade UNP supporters to cross over
to the SLFP. End comment.

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PUBLIC DIPLOMACY
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8. (U) The Ambassador used the occasion of his first press
conference on September 19 to "applaud the recent initiative
by the SLFP and UNP to come together to develop a consensus
on the way forward in the peace process and other issues of
national importance."
BLAKE