By Veeragathy Thanabalasingham
Colombo, June 26: Sri Lankan Tamil politics has become more complicated due to the contradictions among the Tamil political parties regarding what position the Northern and Eastern Tamils should take in the upcoming Presidential election. It makes no sense to expect Tamil parties to be inclined to act unitedly or to come to a unified position to find a solution to the national ethnic problem.
The idea of fielding a Tamil common candidate in the Presidential election has occupied Tamil politics in recent times. The initial enthusiasm among some Tamil parties is now absent in this regard. There are conflicting views not only between parties but also within each party regarding the common candidate. The seminars were first organized by a civil society organization called ‘Makkal Manu’ (People’s Petition ) to mobilise support for the idea of fielding a Tamil common candidate. At present, a new civil society organization called ‘Tamil Makkal Boduchabai’ ( Tamil People General Assembly) is vigorously spearheading that campaign.
Since there has never been a coherent civil society among the Tamil people, attempts to build on to prevail upon Tamil politicians to act effectively are welcome. But their goal must be relevant to the domestic and international political conditions in the post-war period and to present-day realities of the Tamil people in the North and East. There is no point in trying to rally Tamil people behind mere slogans.
It is said that the idea of a Tamil common candidate was floated with the aim of turning the Presidential election into a sort of referendum in the North and East to show the Southern Sri Lanka and the world what the Tamil people’s current position is on the national ethnic problem. While the Tamil parties are faltering without taking a firm decision, the Tamil People’s General Assembly has been campaigning on some principles such as the sovereignty of the Tamil people, the traditional homeland and the unification of the people to build them as a nation.
As the campaign by the new civil society organisation is closely identified with the cause of nationalism, many Tamil politicians are frequently making supportive comments keeping in mind their future political prospects.
Speculations are rife about the possible internal and external elements behind this move. It was suspected from the outset that this was a ploy to ensure that a particular Presidential candidate in the South did not get substantial votes from the Tamil people. But the Tamil People’s General Assembly is merely talking about theories and have yet to come out with clearly defined political demands.
One wonders whether those advocating idea of fielding a common candidate have any plan for the next step if the people of the North and East regard the Presidential election as a referendum and give a ” mandate.”
The Tamil People’s General Assembly is committed to projecting the common candidate as the contemporary centerpiece of Tamil nationalist politics. But they are merely talking about theories and have yet to come out with clearly defined political demands. One wonders whether those who are advocating the idea of fielding a common candidate have any plan for the next step if the people of the North and East regard the Presidential election as a referendum and give a ” mandate.”
It is important to remind the Tamil people, especially the youth today, that after the Vaddukkoddai Resolution, the leaders of the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF ), who asked the Northern and Eastern Tamil people to give them a mandate for a separate Tamil state in the 1977 July General Election, had no plan for what to do next. They captured 18 Tamil dominated constituencies and leader of the TULF Appapillai Amirthalingam became the Opposition Leader in Parliament. What happened after it is recent history of Lankan politics. The politicians and new civil society leaders who speak in favour of the idea of common candidate should be aware of the danger of history repeating itself.
At the same time, the views expressed by them regarding the process of selecting the common candidate are very interesting. It is said that the common candidate should not be a politician and should only be a symbol of the message that the Tamil people want to convey to the South and the world. Meanwhile, it is also expected that he will not show any interest in politics after the elections. That is, the common candidate must be a ‘political ascetic.’ What is the guarantee that the proposed common candidate in the Presidential election will not show interest in politics if he gets significant votes among the Tamil people? Can such a ‘political saint’ be found in Tamil society?
On a theoretical basis, if the common candidate gets significant votes in the North and East, the possibility that he may be identified as the future leader of the Tamil people cannot be ruled out. Leaders of Tamil political parties may have suspicion about this. That is why many of them are not enthusiastic in the matter of common candidate.
The possibility of the Tamil People’s General Assembly becoming a new political party cannot be ruled out, depending on the support the common candidate gets among the Tamils.
When the Indian Minister of External Affairs S.Jaishankar, who was in Colombo last week, met the leaders of the Tamil political parties, it is learned that views were also exchanged on the issue of the Tamil common candidate. The conflict between the leaders of the Ilankai Thamizharasu Katchi (ITAK) regarding the common candidate was exposed in front of Jaishankar. The leaders of other Tamil parties have said that the common candidate issue is still at a discussion stage and no final decision has been taken and the Indian Minister did not commented on it, only asking them if they were serious about it.
At the same time, there is also a tendency to brand those who express opinions against the idea of a common candidate as being the traitors to the cause of Tamil nationalism. This is nothing but a continuation of a perverse political trend that has been dominant in Tamil politics for a long time. If Tamil nationalism is to be strong, the existence of the traditional homeland of Tamils and its people is essential. Tamil people should have hope that if they continue to live in their own territory, there will be a good future for themselves and their descendants.
But, unfortunately today such a situation does not exist in North and East. Most Tamils tend to migrate to the West. This situation poses a serious threat to the demography of the Tamil territory. It would be useful to conduct a survey to find out how many Tamils in the North and East prefer to continue living in their own land instead of going abroad. A civil society organization engaged in mobilizing support for the idea of fielding a common Tamil candidate would do a more useful job if it focused on explaining to the Tamil people the dangers of Tamils’ migration.
This being the case, during the meeting with Jaishankar, parties other than the Tamil National People’s Front insisted on the need to hold Provincial Council elections and fully implement the 13th Amendment to the Constitution. Opposition leader Sajith Premadasa, National People’s Power (NPP) leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake, and Ranil Wickremesinghe (United National Party) the main candidates for the Presidential election, had recently pledged that their future government would implement the 13th Amendment.
The important question is how the Tamil parties will approach the new situation today where all the three main prospective Presidential candidates are in favor of the implementation of the 13th Amendment. While saying that the Amendment is not a solution to the national ethnic problem, the Tamil parties are demanding the government to implement it and conduct provincial council elections as the first step in the journey towards a permanent political solution.
The Tamil parties cannot think that their work is over after making such a demand. It is necessary for them to have the political wisdom to wisely use the opportunity to convince the Southern Sri Lankan Sinhalese politicians about the value of devolution. It would be a big deal if the positions taken by the main candidates could significantly change the majority community’s negative perception of the 13th Amendment. A prudent approach would be for the Tamil parties to get the assurances from all three of them before the elections.
Some Tamil parties ask whether these front-line candidates propose to seek a federal system of government as a solution to the national ethnic problem in their election manifestos and whether they will agree to change the unitary nature of the constitution.
We hope that the leaders of the Tamil parties have not forgotten that Jaishankar had asked them during an earlier visit to Sri Lanka. He asked how they could expect a federal solution from Colombo governments who were not ready to implement even the 13th Amendment.
There are politicians who feel that because the LTTE opposed the 13th Amendment, it is their “moral obligation ” to continue to oppose it for the sake of Tamil nationalism. Some politicians and civil society leaders say that there is no point in talking about the amendment and they are not going to accept it even as an interim arrangement.
The veteran Tamil leader R.Sampanthan who had once said that they would not touch the amendment even with a stick, has been among the first to stand in the forefront demanding its full implementation now.
This columnist is no fan of the 13th Amendment. But just one question for those who are deadly against the amendment: Whether we like it or not, the only legal arrangement for devolution of power in the Sri Lankan Constitution today is the 13th Amendment. Do you have the political strength to force a future government to introduce a better devolution? Sri Lankan Tamils should no longer be a group of people who keep repeating a failed experiments and expect a different result every time.
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