Eastern Provincial Council Election & its Results
By Col. R.Harharan (Retd)
The swearing in of Sivanesathurai Chandirakanthan (better known as Pillaiyan, his nom de guerre of militancy days) as the chief minister of the newly created eastern provincial council on May 16, 2008 marks a new turn in Sri Lanka politics. It came about after a great deal of backdoor bickering, rumours and heart burning. Even as the decision to choose Pillaiyan was being debated in the high security office of President Rajapakse, not far from there the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) unwittingly greeted the event with a suicide bomber ramming his motorcycle into a police van killing ten people and injuring 95 others.
The two contrasting events illustrate the Yang and Ying of Sri Lanka politics and militancy. Pillaiyan, heads theTamil Makkal Viduthalai Puligal (TMVP) the new found ally of the ruling United Peoples Front Alliance (UPFA). It was formed out of cadres who walked out of the LTTE along with Karuna, the estranged Batticola leader. The participation of the TMVP as an ally of the ruling alliance was controversial. The TMVP cadres have gained an unsavoury reputation as armed political bullies indulging in intimidation, extortion and kidnapping of kids. And they had a record of violence against the Muslim population. To top it all, they retained the arms of their insurgency days for “their own protection”! And no political party wanted to be seen with them.
All the three major opposition parties-the United National Party (UNP), the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) and the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) – have complained of election malpractices including rigging and intimidation by the UPFA and TMVP. The election commissioner had also acknowledged these complaints. These are to be out rightly condemned. However, such aberrations have been hardy perennials of elections in Sri Lanka (as also in its South Asian neighbours) and the May 10 election has proved to be no exception. But the more significant thing was the election was conducted without any major violent incident. This is a commendable achievement considering the explosive mix of multiple ethnic, religious and linguistic character of the province, with its near-equal population of Tamils, Muslims and Sinhalas. There had been no complaints of the TMVP members overtly displaying their weapons during or after the elections. Similarly there was no conspicuous LTTE activity to interfere with the polls. These would indicate that the administration had established its firm control over the province, which is good news for the harried population.
[Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapaksa, right, greets Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan, after swearing him in as the Chief Minister for the newly elected Eastern Province, at President's office in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Friday, May 16, 2008:pic-Gemunu Amarasinghe-AP Photo via Yahoo! News]
The President took a political gamble the first time when he formed an alliance with the TMVP for the PC polls. This was unpleasant news to his Muslim allies. However, he managed to persuade MLAM Hisbullah, influential eastern Muslim leader to part ways with the SLMC and ally with the UPFA. The SLMC headed by Rauf Hakeem fought the election as an ally of the opposition UNP. The President’s gamble appears to have paid off as the UPFA group won 20 out of the total 37 seats of the provincial council (including two bonus seats) as against the UNP’s 15 seats and one each won by the JVP and the Tamil National Democratic Alliance (TNDA).
The President has now taken a second gamble by making Pillaiyan the chief minister of the eastern PC, disregarding the vociferous claims of Hisbullah for the post as a Muslim claimant. Though there are eight Muslims as against only six Tamil (TMVP) members among the UPFA’s 20 councillors, Muslim dissent does not appear to worry the President. The President must have counted upon the internal divisions among Muslim members to work in his favour when he nominated Pillaiyan.
Pillaiyan is as yet an unknown political personality just as the TMVP is a less known political entity. So far most of the Sri Lanka watchers and analysts have tended to see him in relation to Karuna or as the Tamil troubleshooter of President’s brother and advisor Basil Rajapaksa, the Military Intelligence, or the Security Forces. The TMVP has invariably been understood only in the negative glow of its highhanded conduct with the public or for its friction with the Muslims, the STF etc. In this context, TMVP’s political proposals handed over to Thissa Witharana, the Chairman of All Party Representatives Committee (APRC) in May 2007 are useful. The TMVP document provides some understanding of its stand on issues connected with ethnic relations, provincial autonomy, devolution, nature of war against the LTTE, and support to Rajapaksa.
As a political entity and partner of the UPFA, the TMVP is in a position of power now to turn some of its beliefs and recommendations into reality. Some of these are as follows:
TMVP believes that devolving political, administrative and financial powers from the Centre to the peripheral units of governance (provincial councils) within an un-divided and united Sri Lanka holds the solution to the Tamil issue
* The powers to be devolved to the provincial governments should be clearly defined and not restricted by the Central Government except under special circumstances defined in the constitution.
* The Southern Sinhala polity has to unite to defeat the LTTE terrorism. At the same time it has to be accommodative to seek and offer political solution to the Tamils. This two- pronged approach only can permanently put an end to terrorism in Sri Lanka.
* Though Tamil has been recognized as a national language in the constitution, it has not become an administrative reality. The use of Tamil by the Tamils while dealing with the government and its institutions should become a reality.
* Tamils must be chosen to serve the government and its various services based upon merit. Their services should be recognized and rewarded on their merit. No Tamil should be excluded from any of the government services because he/she is a Tamil.
* State-aided colonization schemes in the north and east should be brought to an end, while the movement of people across the island should be free and unrestricted.
* Special provisions should be made to earmark adequate financial and administrative resources to re-build the north and east and speed up development and progress.
The TMVP’s views on issues like the merger of north and east are practical and realistic rather than reverting to polemics of the past:
* The TMVP recognizes the merger of the north and east brought through the Indo-Lanka agreement. The 13th amendment to the constitution as originally brought forth through this agreement, should be the starting point for further constitutional reform.
* However, the reality of de-merger has to be accepted under the present circumstances. The TMVP demands that a referendum should be held in the east on the merger of north and east after the completion of two years of provincial council elections in the north and east.
* Elections for the Northern Provincial Council in areas under government control should be held as soon as possible and the Council should be permitted to function without any let or hindrance.
* Conditions must be created in the north and east for people who are living as refugees in India and the IDPs to return and resume their normal lives in areas of their original habitation. Elections for the provincial Councils should be held only after such conditions are created.
* Except for the diehard Eelamists, others would probably find the above proposals as pragmatic and having reasonable chances of success in the present circumstances. But how far Pillaiyan and the TMVP will be able to get at least a few of them implemented?
If Pillaiyan is serious about the TMVP proposals, he should be ready to undergo a trial by fire awaiting him as a chief minister. Then only he can burn a number of ghosts that haunt the TMVP and as a corollary Pillaiyan’s reputation. Much of this is a mind game on what people come to believe from experience. It cannot be always achieved by political gamesmanship or propaganda.
The first is to get an image make over for the TMVP. The TMVP should gain more respectability. This comes not only by power but by public conduct of the party men. Pillaiyan will have to disprove the adage power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. This is a tall order for any party. But there is little choice for Pillaiyan. He will have to rein in his petty war lords and local chieftains who might be tempted to flex their muscles more and distribute favours now that the TMVP is in power.
Collection of money, subscription or other forms of extortion from the public for the party coffers or otherwise will have to be stopped. Public property seized, lands illegally occupied or procured under coercion, will have to be restored to original owners.
Pillaiyan has to get rid of the anti-Muslim halo that hovers around him as a TMVP leader. He will have to curb the temptation to dish out favours for Tamils. Only free and fair conduct towards all ethnic groups, particularly Muslims, can redeem his image. If he fails to do so, the President might leave him in the cold as a political liability because his own reputation is at stake in making the eastern PC a viable entity.
Pillaiyan is often described as the point man of Basil Rajapaksa. So Pillaiyan will have to acquire his own independent identity when he embarks as the chief minister. This can come through only with impeccable performance. But the moot point is will Pillaiyan be allowed to do so by the Rajapaksa triumvirate for fear of “growing too big for his own good.”
He has to create a positive political image among Tamil population who are very skeptical about his credentials and capabilities. For this he will have to shed the militant image and don the mantle of a Tamil political leader. There is reservoir of capable and forward thinking Tamils in other political parties and public entities. He should not hesitate to muster their support for the common good.
The successful conduct of the Eastern PC elections and installation of Pillaiyan at the helm as the chief minister is a victory for President Rajapaksa. However, east will require a lot of handholding and sympathetic consideration as it embarks on a new path. Though the election has given the President and his party a foothold in the east now, he has the more difficult task of establishing it in a tricky environment. He has to make the UPFA not merely as a vehicle of power but also of development. This can be done only through empowerment of the provincial council with adequate financial and administrative resources. Unless the ruling alliance is seen as a proactive participant in the development of east there will be no ownership of the people in it. And then the only winners will be bureaucracy and corruption. We have seen this happen too often in the past.
Other political parties, particularly the opposition, will have to recognize the reality of eastern province and see the political developments there in the national perspective. The UNP and SLMC will have to rethink their strategies to recoup their waning fortunes. And that means overcoming internal personality clashes, revamping the leadership styles and motivating party members.
These are the realities of the east which are far beyond cosmetic changes of power sharing. The task ahead is much bigger and more difficult and goes farther than mere power play. [saag]
(Col. R Hariharan, a retired Military Intelligence specialist on South Asia, served as the head of intelligence of the Indian Peace Keeping Force in Sri Lanka 1987-90.He is associated with the South Asia Analysis Group and the Chennai Centre for China Studies. E-mail: colhari@yahoo.com)
lingam said,
May 19, 2008 @ 7:22 am
Well done President you done .You complete your job! now up to Tamil & Muslim to take it or leave it (with Sinhalese).
Pillayan You&We Thamil won’t get this chance again Please use it!!! .
Simple stagety (do not get confused with so call educated ppl) Develop , develop, Develop………
God bless you!!!
Sarvan said,
May 19, 2008 @ 11:54 am
The result of the Esatern Provincial Council election is Pillayan became the Chief Minister and he went on bended knees to the leaders of Mahanayakes of Malwatte and Asgiriya Buddhist cult ! He has surrendered his religion ! Shame on him.
Sam said,
May 20, 2008 @ 5:46 am
According to Hinduism, all religions are equal and valid paths to the divine, so Pillaiyan’s acts are totally within the spirit of Hinduism; they are to be commended and lauded.
If you have a problem with that Sarvan, then shouldn’t you also have a problem with all the high ranking LTTE cadres who go to the Bishops up north? What a narrow minded person you are. Only religious extremists speak like you.
I hope that Pillayan changes his ways and moves forward, taking into confidence all the three communities and turns the Eastern Province into a shining example of what Sri Lanka should be.
Sam Thambipillai said,
May 20, 2008 @ 10:08 am
It is naive to try to impress that Mahinda Rajapakse has made a success in the Eastern Provincial Council election, though there is reported massive intimidation and mass rigging by the armed TMVP cadres.
It is also naive to ignore the major fact that TNA, the major actor in the East boycotted the election.
What has beeen revealed in the elections is that the Sinhala nation (SN) and their political parties are still hell bent on ramming their will unilaterally on the Tamils of the East.
The SN has proved yet again that it has no “character”. It does not value truthfulness, fairness and honesty. Character is not valued much in this region. Human rights are grossly violated in India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. India values money more than character !
Mahinda Rajapakse promised the position of Chief Minister to the Tamil speaking-religo group obtaining the maximum number of seats. But Hisbulla was denied that position unfairly. Promises are meant to kept, but promises are meant to be broken with Tamils !
It is wrong to list the policy of TMVP, to give a positive image, ignoring the fact that TMVP has surrendered spirit, soul and body to UPFA. A surrendered party cannot be expected at all to get any of its policy fulfilled by its master. A slave is a slave. SN never ever honoured agreements with Tamils. It is not in their culture. What we see in the list of TMVP is the usual deceptive rhetoric.
To be cynical about Eelam is to be cynical about reality. An island with two governments is being accepted and recommended as the only viable and workable solution now.
An eminent internantional ex-jurist from Australia presented a paper last week in Wales, requesting the International Community to seriously and quickly implement such a policy of two government for Sri Lanka.
Dylan Ramsay said,
May 20, 2008 @ 12:36 pm
Well done Pillayan (Varatha raja perumal-2)
Chennai_Analyst said,
May 20, 2008 @ 10:00 pm
IPKF should be tried in the Hague, for crimes against Tamils!
Navaratnam said,
May 21, 2008 @ 12:19 am
Seems like a section of the Tamil diaspora cannot stand the fact that East has kicked the LTTE out and now has a Tamil Chief Minister. Some do this because they are hardcore LTTE supporters but others do it out of their petty clan jealousies.
The East will soon over take the North in development and prosperity and some of the folks from the peninsula are not happy with that prospect at all. So they will do everything in their power to try and scuttle the possible advancement of the Kizhakku Thamilar.
I agree with lingam, Tamils will not get another chance like this and I hope that Pillaiyan understands that and rebuilds the broken East into the most prosperous region of Sri Lanka. The LTTE’s days of control are over and so are the days of peninsula dominance.
Devinda Fernando said,
May 21, 2008 @ 12:50 am
*** hough there is reported massive intimidation and mass rigging by the armed TMVP cadres. ***
Sam Thambipillai…
Mass Rigging? 68 incidents of Election mischief… and that is from the UNP/TNA side of the Election Monitors…. other than that Nothing….
Realtively no issues…. but it does not matter because you are Terror-Coddling LTTE Schill that roots for the failure of Mahinda and the current government because for you it is Eelam and the Rule of Prabhakaran or Nothing…
You can sit on the sidelines and watch the failure of the LTTE and the success of Real Leadership. Cry all you want, throw your tantrums, it will do no good. The people of the East will decide and they will prosper. Cry like a baby all you want, you only make the rest of us laugh!
harsha said,
May 21, 2008 @ 5:01 am
Although the TMVP rely on UPFA at the moment, their fate will be decided by the eastern Tamils in the long term. So it is not prudent to call them mere puppets of Basil. The Tamils who want to get rid of Pillayan, calling him yet another traitor are those belong to the calibre who threw away all the opportunities in the past to obtain a realistic solution to their concerns.
Although some Tamil analysts call that this is part of a Sinhalisation project, they conveniently ignore the fact that TMVP cannot sustain without popular support of Eastern Tamil civilians & it’s caders. If govt. has such an agenda they could have continued with the military rule, where the key decissions are made by Sinhala military leaders & bureaucrats who are not accountable to the Tamil civilians. TMVP will not be able to resist as they are hunted by hatred driven Vanni tigers, while being accused for HR violations by NGOs,western countries and the UN. But now they have political powers while retaining arms and there is a strong anti government opposition. So TMVP cannot be a puppet, infact they can be the puppeteer if they wish. (while government will give anything to this Tamil group who oppose LTTE their arch enemy)
So it is clear that only a hardcore racist, who has not much concern about ethnic harmony and well being of ordinary civilians irrespective of their ethnicity can call this a part of Sinhalisation process. With such a narrow minded approach, we will never find a widely accepted solution to our problem. They just want to impose nothern Tamil rule on east merely replacing the southern rule.
Those who question the education qualification of Pillayan are ironically the people who helped to make him a child soldier, and continually refrain from denouncing recruitment of children by LTTE. It seems that the Tamils in diaspora want SL kids to win them an Ealam, so their western educated children can oneday rule it.
If the Tamil Diaspora has a sincere commitment for the well being of their kith & kin in SL what they have to do is to provide TMVP with moral & material support to enrich the lives of Tamils in the east. With many powers available to the EPC, Tamils can experiment on a way out of the current turmoil which has proved to bring only devastation & humiliation to all citizen of SL, particularly Tamils. Such an effective experiment will help them to workout a practical solution.
If the EPC fails… even then only the civilians will suffer & the govt./next govt. will happily pursue the military rule for another few decades to come.
#Sarwan,
If you equal worshipping Buddhist monks to ‘Surrendering religion’, there could be no Buddhists in SL, since almost all Buddhists worship Hindu gods. And most SL politicians seek blessings of all religious leaders. This exposes the cause of our problem. Since Buddhists are inherently accomodative & hospitable, others misused those qualities and finally turned the guns against the friendly hosts.
It is this accomodative/forgiving nature of Buddhists that enabled Pillayan to visit the Temple of the Tooth, which was attacked by LTTE during the period he was in LTTE ranks. (It is said that the bomb lorry came from east) It is also known that the murder of Buddhist monks in Arantalawa(east) was done by the eastern caders of LTTE, some of them might be in TMVP now.
Manimaran said,
May 21, 2008 @ 11:21 am
I join all SL Tamils in Welcomming Pillaiyan’s appointment.
It provides a comic relief to otherwise serious endevour to liberate ourselves from Sinhala opperession.
Sam’s words of wisdom are fine if meant genuinely. Instead Sam sounds like he is opportunistically using it to promote a political agenda.
Where was his religious acceptence when hindu temples were being distroyed by SL Army thugs
Chennai_Analyst said,
May 21, 2008 @ 10:45 pm
Wow! Sri Lanka lost and failed to get a Seat today on the UN Human Rights Council, despite the help of India
Reggie said,
May 21, 2008 @ 10:58 pm
I suppose according to Sarwan all those Buddhists in Sri Lanka who worship at Hindu kovils and have pictures of Hindu Gods and Godesses in their shrines have all “sacrificed” their religion? Even the Annual Esala Perahara honouring the Tooth Relic starts of with representatives from the Hindu shrines right in front of the Dalada Maligawa.
I suppose when speaker Lokubandara (a Buddhist) has a Saraswathi pooja in his house he is “sacrificing” his Buddhist religion? I suppose when the President (Buddhist) and his wife (Catholic) pray at a Hindu temple in India they are “sacrificing their religion”? I suppose when Ranil Wickremasinghe (Buddhist) prayed at a Hindu kovil in Jaffna he “sacrificed his religion”?
With a lot of the Hindu temples down south, Sinhalese Buddhist patrons outnumber or equal their Tamil Hindu ones. Case in point – Modera Kovil, so many of their refurbishments and renovations have been funded by Sinhalese Buddhist devotees. Another case of Buddhists “betraying their religion”? All traditional Sinhalese music shows begin with paying homage to Goddess Sarasaswathi – another “betrayal” of their religion?
To be honest it’s about time Hindus in Sri Lanka showed their tolerance and acceptance of other religions and cultures for a change, instead of just preaching about it. Previously I had thought Hindus to be liberal and tolerant. Only when I read that they had to “cleanse” the Hindu temple in India because a Catholic (the president’s wife) had prayed there did I realise that there was a lot of intolerance and bigotry within that community. Reading the comments of people like Sarwan solidifies that view. Tamils Hindus love pointing fingers at Buddhists and saying “you don’t practice your religion.” But look in the mirror folks. Honestly.
Sam Thambipillai said,
May 23, 2008 @ 5:30 am
Devinda Fernando,
During Roman imperial rule, every person other than a Roman was considered a slave. When a “run away ” slave surrendered back to his master there was joy in the house, because of the benefit from the returnee slave. Pardoning the slave is to reap the benefits only.
The entire Sinhala nation (SN) is now happy that “rebel of a rebel slave”, Mr Chandirakanthan, has returned back from “running away” from his master, the SN, and that they would benefit.
Are the Sinhalese glaad that they can now give the Tamils of North East (NE), their legitimate right to rule themselves? No, not at all. There is still no change on the existing “master-slave” attitude against the Tamils.
Some even speak of “forgiveness by Buddhists”. The opposite of forgiveness is Anger, revenge, grudge taking, vengeance, murder etc;. The Buddhist cult leaders pour out lavishly and support revenge, violence, murder and war against Tamils. How can they ever be forgiving? What we see now is pardoning for “running away”.
Buddhism in Sri Lanka (SL) violates the basic principles of; non killing and praying to idols of Buddha. They do not practice the basic principle “let all beings be happy” against the Tamils; the reason for murder, torture, disappearnces and displacement against Tamils.
Therefore, I do not accept there is Buddhism in SL. What we see in SL is a Buddhist cult and not a religion. All the major political parties UPFA, UNP and JVP are proxies of this cult.
I believe that Mr Chandirakanthan went to meet the Buddhist cult leaders of Malwatte and Asgiriya to confirm that he is also a proxy to them.
Therefore, your statement that the “East will decide prosper” is a pipe dream. A slave can never prosper under a master, even if he says so, shouting and banging on the table. Keep cool and watch.