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

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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
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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?
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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:
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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

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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