SRI LANKA'S EASTERN PROVINCIAL COUNCIL CONVENES;

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 COLOMBO 000552 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/INS E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/05/2018 TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR EAID PTER PHUM MOPS ECON EINV CE SUBJECT: SRI LANKA'S EASTERN PROVINCIAL COUNCIL CONVENES; MUSLIM-TAMIL TENSIONS HIGH REF: A. COLOMBO 536 ¶B. COLOMBO 510 ¶C. COLOMBO 499 ¶D. COLOMBO 483 Classified By: Charge d'Affaires James R. Moore for reasons: 1.4(b,d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Sri Lanka's new Eastern Provincial Council was sworn in June 4 despite an opposition boycott. Since the announcement of Chief Minister Pillaiyan's appointment, tensions have remained high between the Muslim and Tamil communities in the East with targeted political assassinations and communal violence accounting for at least 12 confirmed deaths around Batticaloa. Newly named advisors to Pillaiyan bring substantial international development and Sri Lankan political experience, yet the CM will face challenges in regularizing his armed cadres, resolving the issue of child soldiers, and alleviating Muslim-Tamil tensions while seeking to bring tangible improvements to the lives of the Eastern population. End Summary Eastern Provincial Council Seated Despite Opposition Boycott -------------- ¶2. (C) After a one week delay, Sri Lanka's new Eastern Provincial Council (EPC) held its inaugural meeting on June ¶4. Eastern Province Chief Minister Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan ("Pillaiyan"),in his inaugural speech, strongly urged his colleagues to shed all differences and unite to transform the multi-ethnic East into a prime example of a pluralist democracy based on ethnic harmony. EPC members from the UNP-SLMC opposition alliance boycotted the session and instead proceeded to the Court of Appeals to seek an annulment of the election results citing gross malpractice committed on election day (May 10). UNP-SLMC EPC members were sworn in before party leaders Ranil Wickremesinghe (UNP) and Rauf Hakeem (SLMC) at Wickremesinghe's office in Colombo. ¶3. (C) The opposition has insisted since the vote that the election was not free and fair. During a May 22 meeting with visiting DAS Barks-Ruggles Tamil National Alliance leader Sampanthan, whose party boycotted the vote, questioned the validity of the results, asserting that 100,000 Tamils did not vote and that 8-10% of the ballots cast were spoiled, double the normal rate. In a separate meeting with DAS on May 23, UNP member Ravi Karunanayake previewed the UNP court challenge and brought vote figures that purportedly showed more ballots had been cast in certain polling stations than registered voters. Muslim-Tamil Tensions Lead to 12 Deaths -------------- ¶4. (C) On May 22, TMVP member Shanthan was assassinated in Kattankudy, the home electorate of Pillaiyan's chief rival for the post of CM, M.L.A.M. Hizbullah. Shortly thereafter, TMVP cadres shot at least three Muslims in the same vicinity in apparent retaliation (ref C). On May 26, 3,000 Muslims in Eravur closed their shops and demonstrated in the street, burning tires and shouting slogans. According to press reports, demonstrators attacked at least one vehicle. To quell the demonstration, Special Task Force troops opened fire, killing one woman and injuring several others. A curfew was imposed until the morning of May 28. As a result of the demonstration, 980 Tamils left the area, moving to schools outside the city where World Vision, UNHCR, ICRC and a Sri Lankan NGO provided shelter, food and water. The families have now returned home. ¶5. (C) On May 29, Pillaiyan, Hizbullah and District COLOMBO 00000552 002 OF 003 Minister for Disaster Relief Services Ameer Ali visited Eravur and urged the local population to remain calm. Pillaiyan personally called on the family of the woman killed by the STF troops and offered his condolences. On the afternoon of June 2 in the mainly Tamil town of Kaludavali, unidentified gunmen shot and killed the vice chairman of a TMVP-controlled local council and another TMVP cadre. Press reported that the victims were killed while making a loudspeaker announcement calling on the people to remain calm in the midst of recent Tamil-Muslim violence. TMVP members say that a T-56 weapon was used and allege that Muslims were responsible for the killings. The killings were likely in retaliation for the killing of a Muslim man in Kallady on June 1 and the physical assault and stabbing of a friend who was with him. ¶6. (C) On the evening of June 2, during the Muslim man's funeral in Eravur, the Muslim community staged a stoppage of business activity in Kattankudy and Eravur. On June 3, post received reports that the business shutdown continued, with violent incidents in and around Kattankudy. Two Tamil civilians were admitted to the hospital with stab injuries, reportedly at the hands of Muslims. Post heard reports that a Hizbullah effigy was burnt publicly, hand bills were being passed out that urged Hizbullah to resign, and angry crowds gathered outside his office. TMVP and Muslim community leaders met to try to bring calm to the town but the situation remains very unstable. On June 5, post received reports that two Muslims were killed in a town near Kattankudy, and Tamils and Muslims were attacking each other in the streets of Kattankudy. A total of 12 killings in Batticaloa District have been reported since the announcement of Pillaiyan's appointment as CM. ¶7. (C) Security for the local population in the East, despite the government's defeat of the LTTE, has been tenuous throughout 2008. According to figures from a Sri Lankan NGO, Foundation for Co-Existence, killings in the three districts of the East have ranged from 18 to 34 per month, with the majority of those deaths civilian. Abductions and disappearances have ranged from 15 to 35 per month and other violent incidents had ranged from 17 to 26 per month before a sharp spike in April (56) and May (102). Technocrat Advisors and Regularizing TMVP Cadres -------------- --- ¶8. (C) Early reports indicate that key advisors to new CM Pillaiyan (who joined the LTTE as a child and lacks any formal education) will bring significant development and Sri Lankan political experience. Technocrats on Pillaiyan's governing team include Raghu Nanthagopan and S. Mamangarajah. Nanthagopan has lived in Australia and will serve as a political advisor/private secretary to the CM. Mamangarajah, the designated Secretary to the Chief Minister, has worked for UNDP in Nepal for 4 years, as well as Bangladesh and Malaysia and headed an international donor funded emergency rehabilitation reconstruction program for Batticaloa, Ampara and Trincomalee a few years ago. The Chief Secretary will be Dr. K. Vigneswaran, a former political advisor to EPDP chief Douglas Devananda. (Vigneswaran has worked hard behind the scenes to try to develop a viable devolution proposal and reportedly wrote Pillaiayan's maiden speech to the EPC.) One of the CM's first tasks will be to regularize the TMVP's cadres by bringing them into the formal government security forces. Secretary of Defense Rajapaksa confirmed to Ambassador (ref B) that this process has started. It is unclear at this point whether these actions will be accompanied by further releases of child soldiers (ref A), which post continues to advocate. ¶9. (C) COMMENT: The current Muslim-Tamil violence is COLOMBO 00000552 003 OF 003 probably linked to Hizbullah's dashed hopes of receiving the CM post. The extent to which the demonstrations and attacks are directed from the top down or the result of long held grievances by the Muslim community is still unclear. Rumors abound about Hizbullah's role in the events of the last two weeks. An Embassy contact in Batticaloa told Poloff that Hizbullah is directly linked to the assassination of Shanthan, which started the recent violence, through a close deputy who was part of the hit squad. Another Embassy contact reported that Hizbullah is being financed by patrons in the Gulf and is on the verge of defecting to the opposition. Whatever Hizbullah's true motivations, the current violence in Batticaloa, if not brought under control quickly, could only undermine the government's efforts to bring stability to the East. In order to achieve lasting stability, Pillaiyan and the GSL will have to show the population of the East that they can bring tangible improvement to their lives. There are some hopeful signs. Businesses are starting to return to the East. Utilizing benefits and concessions under the President's Eastern development program, a major garment manufacturer broke ground in May on a large factory in a predominantly Muslim area in Batticaloa District which will provide much needed job opportunities, employing 2,5000 workers at capacity (455 initially). The East needs more development and less ethnically based violence if its recovery is to become sustainable. MOORE