TNA SAYS MEETING WITH SRI LANKA PRESIDENT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 000877 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/INSB E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/10/2019 TAGS: PGOV PREL PREF PHUM PTER EAID CE SUBJECT: TNA SAYS MEETING WITH SRI LANKA PRESIDENT UNPRODUCTIVE REF: A. COLOMBO 872 ¶B. COLOMBO 861 ¶C. COLOMBO 740 COLOMBO 00000877 001.2 OF 002 Classified By: CHARGE D'AFFAIRES PATRICIA BUTENIS. REASONS: 1.4 (B, D) ¶1. (C) On September 7, seven members of parliament from the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) party met with President Rajapaksa and his brother, Senior Presidential Advisor Basil Rajapaksa. While it was reported in the press as a cordial and satisfactory meeting, TNA MP Suresh Premachandran, one of the attendees, told PolStaff that he and his colleagues found that the meeting was not at all productive, and that the president did not effectively address a single one of the issues the TNA brought before him. Premachandran said although the meeting lasted over three hours, most of that time consisted of Basil Rajapaksa doing all the talking, with the president occasionally answering a question. IDP RETURNS SLOWED BY DEMINING, NO ACCESS FOR TNA TO IDP CAMPS -------------- ¶2. (C) The TNA had hoped to address a wide range of issues (reftel B) including resettlement of the IDPs, demilitarization of the North, and improved access to the IDP camps and the North in general for TNA politicians. The president gave the now standard answer on IDP returns (reftel A),blaming the slow pace of demining, and even suggested that the TNA use its Diaspora contacts to push the EU to provide more funds for demining. The president stated the GSL was developing a procedure to allow IDPs to stay with relatives, but Premachandran told PolStaff that the logistics involved in this plan would effectively mean a 6-7 month application process before the IDPs would actually be allowed to leave the camps to stay with family. When the TNA MPs asked for permission to visit the IDP camps themselves, the president flatly refused, saying that the TNA MPs would use the visits for political advantage. The president reportedly told the TNA delegation that the Army would continue to have a large presence in the North and East, including new bases in Mullaitivu and Killinochchi. AN ATTEMPT TO CONVERT? -------------- ¶3. (C) Some observers say this meeting was an attempt by the president to win them over to his side, as has been done previously with the TMVP Tamils of Col. Karuna in the East, and the EPDP Tamils of Douglas Devananda of the North. Premachandran told PolOff several days before the meeting with the President that he and his TNA colleagues were finding common ground and developing a solid political platform for the post-LTTE and post-conflict era, which he expected would be complete by the end of September. He said there was some debate among them yet on what role the Tamil Diaspora should play in the development of that platform, with Premachandran arguing that the TNA politicians and supporters actually living here in Sri Lanka should be the ones directing the future of the party. COMMENT: -------------- ¶4. (C) This meeting was significant because it brought the president together with TNA MPs, the leading Tamil politicians not already allied with the government. However, the meeting seems to have done little to bring the TNA over to the president's side. The TNA remains fractured, but if they can continue at least to be united in their opposition COLOMBO 00000877 002.2 OF 002 to the government's policies and the president's attempts to pick off individual members, they may have a chance of regaining some cohesion. The real test will come with elections for the Northern Provincial Council. The date of those elections has not yet been fixed, but it is likely to be early in 2010, and pro-government Tamil Devananda has already announced his intention to run for the position of Chief Minister. BUTENIS