BASIL RAJAPAKSA DISCUSSES ELECTIONS IN EAST, APRC,

C O N F I D E N T I A L COLOMBO 000231 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR SCA/INA E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/05/2017 TAGS: PGOV PHUM CE SUBJECT: BASIL RAJAPAKSA DISCUSSES ELECTIONS IN EAST, APRC, AND THE CONSTITUTIONAL COUNCIL Classified By: Ambassador Robert O. Blake, Jr. for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Summary: At a March 5 lunch with Co-Chair Ambassadors, Basil Rajapaksa, the President's brother, senior political advisor, and coordinator for the stabilization and development of the East, said that the President had insisted to all the parties and the paramilitary TMVP that the March 10th local COUNCIL elections in the east must be free and fair and without violence, but that there was a risk the LTTE might try to disrupt the last day of campaigning on March 8. Rajapaksa previewed the President's intention to ask the Elections Commissioner to set a date by which nominations for the provincial COUNCIL elections in the east must be received, with a view to holding them in May or June if the Commissioner determines security and other conditions are met. Basil told the Co-Chairs the President is sincere about proceeding with the All Parties Representative Committee process on devolution, but that the government can only fight one political battle at a time. The President's priority was first to implement the 13th Amendment, show tangible progress on devolution, and then to proceed with the APRC. Rajapaksa was evasive in citing procedural reasons to explain the President's failure to implement the 17th amendment and appoint the Constitutional Council. End Summary. Elections in the East -------------- ¶2. (C) Rajapaksa said that the President had insisted to all the parties and the TMVP that the March 10th local COUNCIL elections in the east must be free and fair and without violence. He noted that large additional numbers of police had been deployed both to provide security at the election voting sites, as well as for any individual candidates that requested security. He said he had personally visited Batticaloa the previous day to inspect preparations and to talk to party representatives. Asked about the potential for violence, he said the biggest concern was whether the LTTE would attempt any attacks. He recalled that the LTTE had demonstrated a pattern of attacking former President Chandrika Kumaratunga and former presidential candidate Gamini Dissanayake two days prior to the elections after which all campaigning would halt. The GSL's greatest concern therefore is for potential attacks on Saturday March 8th, after which campaigning would cease. Japanese Charge remarked that a Japanese officer in Batticaloa confirmed that the situation was calm. Basil said there were at least 20 international observers in Batticaloa, all of whom had been given special access passes to observe the elections. He also noted that all the parties fielding candidates would be able to witness the vote counting to ensure transparency. ¶3. (C) Turning to the planned provincial COUNCIL elections, Rajapaksa said that the President plans to send a letter to the national Elections Commissioner on March 7 suggesting that the Commissioner set a date by which nominations for the provincial COUNCIL elections in the east must be received. By law, the Commissioner has seven days to set the date. Ambassador asked why the President was sending the letter so soon and whether it wouldn't be better to await the outcome of the March 10 local COUNCIL elections before proceeding with the nomination process. Could not the potential for violence either during or after the local COUNCIL elections cloud the confidence of the parties who the government is hoping will participate in the elections? Basil responded that with the liberation and stabilization of the east, it is important now to provide the population there with elected representation, particularly now that the President is seeking to implement the 13th Amendment which seeks to devolve power to the provincial councils (PC). On the security issue, he said that the Election Commissioner will be the one to decide on the actual date for the elections, once he is satisfied that security and other conditions are satisfactory. ¶4. (C) Rajapaksa expressed confidence that all the major parties would participate in the planned PC elections because the stakes are high. He had received information from UNP politicians in the east that they want to participate in the PC elections and would pressure opposition leader Wickremesinghe to allow them to do so. The French and Norwegian Ambassadors added that the Tamil National Alliance leader Sampanthan had told them that he also is advocating that the TNA participate. APRC -------------- ¶5. (C) Citing reports that Dr. Wickramaratne, a member of APRC Chairman Vitharana's LSSP party, had resigned as a senior consultant to the Ministry of Constitutional Affairs because of what he felt was a lack of government sincerity on devolving power, the Norwegian Ambassador asked whether the government was indeed sincere. Basil responded that the government is sincere, but that it can only fight one political battle at a time. The President's priority was first to implement the 13th Amendment, show tangible progress on devolution, and then to proceed with the APRC. He said the President had met the previous day with provincial chief ministers to discuss how to remove any obstacles to the implementation of the 13th Amendment. The President agreed that once lump sums of money had been allocated to the provinces, provincial officials did not have to seek approval from Colombo- based authorities about how to spend it. The Ambassador noted that AID had received a proposal from a well known Sri Lankan NGO to fund a conference at which provincial officials could discuss in greater detail the obstacles they faced in implementing the 13th Amendment and their proposed solutions. Rajapakasa welcomed the idea and promised to assist if he could be helpful. Constitutional COUNCIL -------------- ¶6. (C) Ambassador, noting the priority the President had placed on implementing the 13th amendment of the Constitution, asked why the President was hesitating to implement the 17th amendment and thereby empower the Constitutional Council. Basil responded that opposition criticism of the President on this matter has been unfair. The TNA and JVP had spent more than a year arguing about who should represent the minority parties on the Council. The President should now be given a reasonable time to consider his candidate. He also said the President was awaiting the recommendations of a Parliamentary Select Committee that had been appointed to analyze how to make the COUNCIL more effective. Comment -------------- ¶7. (C) Even though the GSL has made progress in persuading paramilitaries in the east not to flaunt their weapons publicly prior to the local COUNCIL elections and reining in acts of violence, the identities of the paramilitary cadres are widely known, so the Muslim and Tamil parties fear that paramilitary cadres may intimidate even the police and elections commission officials and possibly tamper with the election process. The parties who are contesting and the small contingent of international observers will make every effort to deter such interference. We have forewarned the GSL that a widely discredited outcome in the local COUNCIL elections will complicate the GSL's goal of organizing the more significant Provincial COUNCIL elections they hope to hold by May or June of this year. The President's delay in appointing the Constitutional COUNCIL has fed mounting criticism in Colombo, and is one of the reasons the Embassy and other USG officials in Washington and Geneva have supported the establishment of an office by the High Commissioner for HUMAN Rights, and should continue to do so. Basil's reference to the Parliamentary Select Committee looking into how to make the COUNCIL more effective is another delaying tactic since this Committee also has not met recently due to differences between the parties. BLAKE