SRI LANKA: DEVOLUTION PROCESS MAY BE RUNNING OUT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 COLOMBO 000973 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/INS MCC FOR D NASSIRY AND E BURKE E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/12/2017 TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS CE SUBJECT: SRI LANKA: DEVOLUTION PROCESS MAY BE RUNNING OUT OF TIME REF: A. COLOMBO 789 ¶B. COLOMBO 747 ¶C. COLOMBO 705 ¶D. COLOMBO 661 ¶E. COLOMBO 643 ¶F. COLOMBO 629 ¶G. (AND PREVIOUS) Classified By: Charge d'Affaires James R. Moore, for reasons 1.4(b,d). ¶1. (C) Summary. The opposition United National Party (UNP) leadership has grown increasingly frustrated with the All Parties Representative Committee (APRC) process and is threatening to withdraw completely by August 15. UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe admits that he is staying out of the APRC process for political reasons, primarily because the President walked away from the memorandum of understanding with the UNP and accepted 17 UNP crossovers into the Government. Science and Technology Minister and APRC Chairman Tissa Vitharana says for now the UNP is constructively engaging in the process from the sidelines, but acknowledged that the process must succeed by August 15 or could end. Recent APRC discussions have highlighted two major sticking points--the nature of the state and the unit of devolution. In both cases the key dissenter is the President's Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP). Vitharana told us the President supports devolution but is concerned about the political cost. He acknowledged that the SLFP may decide in the end not to accept the majority consensus, and if they do, the process will be over. Vitharana said he would welcome additional US pressure on both the UNP and the SLFP to remain engaged in the process and accept the majority proposal that emerges. Embassy believes a letter or phone call from U/S Burns or A/S Boucher to Rajapaksa urging him to honor his commitment to support the majority consensus would be timely. End Summary. UNP Gives GSL an Ultimatum on Devolution -------------- ¶2. (C) The opposition UNP leadership has grown increasingly frustrated with the APRC process and is threatening to withdraw completely. UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe and UNP representative to the APRC K.N. Choksy told Ambassador on July 3 that if President Rajapaksa and the SLFP do not agree to support the APRC consensus by August 15, the UNP will pull out of the process. In a conversation with DCM on June 26, Wickremesinghe explained that August 15 was six months from the date he met with Under Secretary for Political Affairs Burns in Washington and agreed to support a credible proposal, and he argued that six months was ample time for the President to do his part. ¶3. (C) Wickremesinghe admitted to DCM that he is staying out of the APRC process for political reasons, primarily because the President walked away from the memorandum of understanding with the UNP and accepted 17 UNP crossovers into the Government. (Note: The UNP has not attended APRC sessions since February 2007 but has been working with the APRC Chairman behind the scenes. End Note) He emphasized that direct engagement in the devolution process is not in his political interest. He fears that if he is identified with the proposal that emerges, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) will use it to attack him, further damaging his support among Buddhist nationalist voters. On July 6, UNP political advisor Dinesh Weerakoddy told Poloff that Wickremesinghe "respectfully" disagreed with our position tha the UNP must engage actively and in good faith n the APRC process. The UNP calculates that thePresident is not serious about moving forward wit devolution and would eventually use UNP engagemnt on the issue to label the UNP as being too COLOMBO 00000973 002 OF 003 accommodating to the LTTE. ¶4. (C) Vitharana confirmed to DCM on July 11 that the UNP has conveyed its ultimatum verbally to the APRC. He assured the DCM that for now the UNP is constructively engaging in the process from the sidelines. However, he acknowledged that meeting the August 15 deadline was critical for the APRC, and that the process must succeed by then or could well come to an end. Significant Sticking Points Remain -------------- ¶5. (C) Recent APRC discussions have highlighted two major sticking points. One is the nature of the state, specifically whether Sri Lanka will have a federal or unitary structure. The second is whether the unit of devolution should be the province or the district. In both cases the key dissenter is the President's SLFP, which supports a unitary state and district level devolution. Discussions sessions, which have been dragging on for several hours each, will now be held twice per week instead of once per week to try to reach a consensus before the August 15 deadline. Vitharana noted that for a proposal to be legitimate, it must have the support of the two major parties, SLFP and UNP, as well as a majority of the other participating parties. During the latest APRC meeting on July 9, the SLFP again raised the issue of introducing the word "unitary" into the consensus proposal. Since most other parties were opposed to the idea, Vitharana rejected it. He also rejected the SLFP proposal to change the unit of devolution from the province to the district. Vitharana admitted there is a history of unequal treatment of districts in Sri Lanka and has suggested giving some executive functions, such as management of funds, to the districts and leaving legislative powers at the provincial level. He said he will continue to negotiate with the SLFP on these points. President and SLFP Engaged But Apprehensive -------------- ¶6. (C) Vitharana told us the President supports devolution but is concerned about the political cost. Rajapaksa has said he will accept a majority consensus and that the SLFP proposals are meant for discussion and are not rigid. He has, however, asked to see the consensus document before it is finalized so that he can comment on it. (Note: Minister of Export Development and International Trade G.L. Peiris, a UNP crossover and longtime player in efforts to achieve a consensus on devolution, argued to DCM July 12 that the President has every right to review and propose revisions to the document before he backs it. End Note) Vitharana said the President is afraid of losing his Sinhalese Buddhist support base and worries that if he crosses the JVP and Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) they will take back the votes that helped him get elected. Vitharana argued that the President's advisors isolate him from the views of the people. As a result, he does not realize that most Sinhalese Buddhists want peace, have confidence in the SLFP, and will support any stand the President makes on devolution. Vitharana also noted the President's advisors are giving him false hope of a conclusive military victory over the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The LTTE cannot be defeated, he said, until the Government is able to erode LTTE support among the Tamil people through a viable political solution. A consensus document would reassure Tamils that any party that comes to power will support the same political solution. Peiris, however, said the President commented during a July 11 cabinet meeting that the military victory in the East made it all the more important to pursue a political solution. COLOMBO 00000973 003 OF 003 ¶7. (C) Minister of Construction and Engineering Services Rajitha Senaratne, a UNP crossover and Rajapaksa family friend, told Poloff on July 5 that progress on the APRC process is too politically costly for President Rajapaksa right now. Senaratne explained that the President is torn between his desire to be remembered as the visionary who brought lasting peace to Sri Lanka and his need to appease his Sinhalese nationalist political base. Senaratne said that as a result, Rajapaksa has no choice but to draw out the devolution process until he is either strong enough to act without significant political challenge from the opposition or until the end of his tenure as President. Senaratne said that Rajapaksa currently cannot afford the political backlash that would result from supporting a devolution proposal that would be satisfactory to Tamils in the North and East. ¶8. (C) Vitharana explained that the SLFP has changed its positions on devolution since the inception of the APRC process, and that the SLFP's challenges to the majority view are supported by only a few senior leaders. He acknowledged that the SLFP may decide in the end not to accept the majority consensus, and if they do, the process will be over. APRC Chairman Welcomes US and Indian Involvement -------------- --- ¶9. (C) Vitharana said he would welcome additional US pressure on both the UNP and the SLFP to remain engaged in the process and accept whatever majority position emerges. He suggested that India could encourage the process by stating clearly that it will not support or allow the emergence of a separate Tamil state. This assurance would allay fears among Sinhalese Buddhists that devolution would pave the way for an eventual separation of the country. Wickremesinghe has echoed the sentiment that India needs to be more involved in the peace process. ¶10. (C) COMMENT: Vitharana continues to display patience and determination in his leadership of the APRC process. While he has not given up hope of succeeding, he has pragmatically acknowledged that the APRC's window of opportunity may be closing. He clearly welcomes any additional US pressure on the two major parties to constructively engage on a proposal. Rajapaksa assured A/S Boucher in their May 10 meeting in Colombo that he would support the APRC's consensus proposal (ref c). Co-Chair representatives agreed in Oslo last month that the APRC process represents the best, if not only, prospect for peace. Embassy believes a letter or phone call from U/S Burns or A/S Boucher to Rajapaksa urging him to honor this commitment would be timely and will follow-up with SCA. The military's success this week in Thoppigala (septel),marking the "liberation" of the East, is a significant victory for the Government and may provide the President the political space he needs with his hard-line base to show courageous leadership in support of a credible proposal. The Embassy will continue to urge senior leadership of the Government and opposition to put partisan politics aside and engage seriously in the search for a political solution before the opportunity to do so is lost. MOORE