Modi urged us to engage the Govt: TNA

31 August 2014 07:49 pm Views - 2309

While saying that the 13th Amendment to the Constitution provided the unit of devolution, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Parliamentarian M.A. Sumanthiran in an interview with the Dailymirror said that the TNA rejected the 13A as it was fundamentally flawed citing External Affairs Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris. However, he said that the TNA wanted to convey to the majority community that what the TNA wanted was devolution of power in a united, undivided country.  He further added that new Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged his party to engage with the government of Sri Lanka. Also, he said the TNA made a mistake by not addressing the majority community to allay the notion that his party was acting as a proxy of the LTTE.

QHow do you analyze your recent visit to New Delhi and interactions with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi?

The visit was after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met President Mahinda Rajapaksa on the sidelines of his swearing in ceremony. At that moment, the Prime Minister indicated India’s stance. Actually, the promises given to the previous Congress Government of India are virtually the  promises given to India. India expects those promises to be kept. Namely the full implementation of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution and building on it; to achieve
meaningful devolution.
On these twin aspects, India expects Sri Lanka to deliver. Our visit was consequent to that meeting. Our party has won the confidence of people at successive elections- not only at Parliamentary Eelections but also at local government elections and two Provincial Council elections.  These   election outcomes confirm the primary place the TNA has.  In the east, 11 out of 12 elected Tamil members are from the TNA. In the north, 30 out of 38 elected members are from the TNA. Then, the north and east issue should be settled certainly in consultation with the TNA. So, India’s position is that the Sri Lankan government should talk to the TNA  and the TNA to the government to find a solution. This is also not a new position. This is also what then Prime Minister Manhoman Singh told us in 2010.
We were urged to engage with the government. We were told that India would firmly assure their support in this respect to resolve this problem based on assurances given to India.

Q Does it mean that Prime Minister Modi ask the TNA to constructively engage with the government of Sri Lanka?

Not exactly like that. What he said was that the TNA was the primary interlocutor of this problem. Therefore, the government and the TNA must resolve this issue. We told him that we were willing to do that. We, in fact, participated in bipartisan talks with the government, and even submitted a set of proposals.  It was the government that walked out of talks in 2012. We had not been at default.

Q Do you see a change of the policies and attitudes of India towards Sri Lanka now under two different Prime Ministers?

The policy is the same. But, of course, the approach seems to be different. The new Prime Minister seems to be a man of action. He seems to be a man who looks to results without delay. Even the manner, we had talks, was different.  The meeting was interactive.  He asked many questions. It was a discussion rather than a monologue. It was an interesting change.  It will elicit from India a great concern regarding the resolution of this problem.

"The promises given to the previous Congress Government of India are virtually the  promises given to India. India expects those promises to be kept. Namely the full implementation of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution and building on it; to achieve meaningful devolution"

QIn fact, what kind of questions did he ask from the delegation ?

He asked us about the other Tamil parties that are not part of the TNA.  We told, in fact, one or two Tamil parties are with the government. It is difficult for us to speculate why they are with the government.  As far as the people are concerned, they have clearly given us a mandate.
He also asked about a broader Tamil unity including upcountry Tamils and Muslims as well. He asked us about engagement with the rest of the country - the opposition and the government.  He asked these questions to understand where we stood in our dealings with them.

Q Did he ask anything about your engagements with the majority community?

Yes, he asked about the opposition and other parties in the government. It is not actually about the engagement with the majority community as such. It was about engagement at political level.

"Unfortunately,   the structure of the 13th Amendment is so flawed that there is no devolution that takes place. Types of Power of Governance are three -executive powers , judicial powers and legislative powers. There is no judicial power devolved at all under the 13th Amendment"

QThere were media reports that the TNA asked for the appointment of a special Indian envoy to facilitate talks between the government and the TNA.

What is actually India’s response?
Not that we asked. We referred to certain precedents where Japan had a special envoy for so many years. Recently, South Africa appointed one. So, we wondered whether it was time for Prime Minister Modi to appoint a special envoy. The Prime Minister did not say that he would do it.  He told us about the negatives of such a course of action.

Q Now, will you seek fresh engagements with the government after your visit to India?

Well, there is no any necessity for any formal communication with the government.  There is no necessity for us to make a request. We had bipartisan talks. It was the government that walked out. We have always been willing for talks. We have not defaulted. It is up to the government to come out and say it was
willing to talk.

QBut, you won’t be having any communication at least at leadership level of the two sides to resume talks?

Nothing is being contemplated at the moment. But, I cannot rule out anything in future. But, at the moment, there is nothing being planned.

QWhat about your stand on your participation in the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC)?

That matter did not come up during talks with Prime Minister Modi.

Q Then, did you discuss it with External Affairs Minister Susma Swaraj?

Of course, during talks with the External Affairs Minister, we made our position clear. She was fully conscious of that. She told us that she
knew it.

"We want the government changed.   Or else, we want the government to change its actions.  Whatever it is, we want those harming activities to be brought to an end.  We want people to live with equality, dignity, self-respect. That does not seem possible under the present regime. Keeping all these things in mind, we will take a decision"

QWhat is the TNA’s stand on the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, as a basis for the resolution of this national question?

The 13th Amendment was enacted after the Indo-Lanka Accord was signed.  The Indo-Lanka Accord laid down some fundamental and important principles.
One is that unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Sri Lanka must be   preserved. That is first. Second, there are different peoples.  It means Sri Lanka is a multi-ethnic, multi- religious and multi-lingual country.
Third, Tamil speaking people have historically inhabited the north and the east. On that basis, there is a provision for the merger of two or more Provinces.
The enablement of the 13th Amendment itself is to merge the north and the east.  When the 13th Amendment was enacted, it fell far short of ideals in the Indo-Lanka Accord.
That is why, then major Tamil party Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) rejected it. India was notified of that rejection. Subsequently, then President the late J.R. Jayewardene, during a visit to New Delhi, had undertaken to rectify those provisions in the 13th Amendment and to make power sharing meaningful. Our position, then and now, is the 13th Amendment is unworkable. It is not only our position. It is in fact the position of External Affairs Minister Prof.G.L. Peiris.  His argument was that the 13th Amendment was fundamentally flawed. During the time of former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, he argued for a Federal Constitution. Our position is the same as of Prof. Peiris in 1990s.
At the inauguration of All Party Conference on July 6, 2006, President Mahinda Rajapaksa, in his own words, said that central decision making system should be done away with.
People in their localities should handle their own destiny.  Look at the agreements in this country from Banda-Chelva Pact and the studied methods of power devolution around the world including India!  People must be able to preserve their identity, security and socio-economic advances. These were the ideals enunciated. We are very much supportive of these ideals.
Unfortunately,   the structure of the 13th Amendment is so flawed that there is no devolution that takes place. Types of Power of Governance are three -executive powers , judicial powers and legislative powers. There is no judicial power devolved at all under the 13th Amendment.   
All executive powers devolved are with governor, an appointee of President.  
Thirdly, there are legislative powers. There are certain subjects on which the Provincial Councils can exercise legislative powers. That too requires the approval of the governor. There is the third list called concurrent list.  The first item on the reserved list is national policy on all subjects, which makes even the legislative powers not devolved properly.
All in all, the 13th Amendment provides the unit of devolution.  That is the Province.
We welcome it. It has a provision for the merger of two or more provinces. We welcome that.
Therefore, the unit and the structure are good. But, powers said to be devolved are not devolved. That is why, Sri Lankan government promised to India to fully implement the 13th Amendment and to go for meaningful devolution. It is a useful phrase, more so because it is the phrase used by the government.   The government chose that phrase.  In that, it accepts two things.  One is that the 13th Amendment is not fully implemented now.  Secondly, they admit that there is no meaningful devolution. We are happy with this commitment.

Q Do you see that it is necessary to devolve police and land powers to the provinces?

Yes certainly. Without such powers, there is no power devolution. Even in a quasi-federal set up as in India, police and land powers are devolved.

QBut, the government has already communicated to India that the Police Power would not be devolved. External Affairs Minister Prof.G.L. Peiris mentioned it in Parliament. What is your response?

That is after having promised to India that they would fully implement the 13th Amendment as the first. He is breaching his own position. In the Joint Statement he issued together with his counterpart in New Delhi in 2011, he, on behalf of the government of Sri Lanka, pledged to fully implement the 13th Amendment. If it is fully implemented, there will be Police Power.

QNow, you seek an international inquiry against the government on the allegations of human rights violations.  In that sense, you antagonise the government. How feasible is a constructive engagement with the government in that context?

I do not understand why the government should be antagonistic.  There are allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity, against both sides to the conflict. One is the government of Sri Lanka. Can an independent inquiry be conducted by one side? Then, it will not be an independent inquiry. The accused cannot conduct the inquiry. In this context, it must necessarily be an international inquiry.

QWhat is your message to the majority community now?

We have a specific message for the majority community.   That is not to believe in the false propaganda that we are the agents of the LTTE promoting a Separate State within Sri Lanka. We are not for violence and separating the country. That is an appeal to the media as well.
Don’t portray us as LTTE. We are very committed to resolving this problem within a united, undivided Sri Lanka. That is the position taken by previous governments.   Within the framework of a united country, we seek the maximum possible devolution of power to live as brothers and sisters.

Q Will you undertake any specific activity to win over the majority community?

We will explain in this regard. That is our shortcoming. We have not taken adequate steps to explain our position to the majority community.  We realised it some time ago. We will communicate with the rest of the country. The entire country must support us. We do not ask for anything unreasonable.  

QDon’t you think that the activities of some pro-LTTE Diaspora groups affect the reconciliation process here?

Yes that is true. But, one must understand how it is happening.  While we denounce any such activity, some of those people are skeptical on the government delivering a solution. Their position is that any government will not deliver a solution, and therefore there is no use of trusting any of them. If a reasonable political solution comes about, we can prove them wrong. Then, we can address those extremist elements.   A large section of the Diaspora community is with us. In any society, you get extremist elements existing on the fringes.  By strengthening the moderates, you can keep those extremists at bay. Then, extremists will disappear.

QWhat is your plan for the next Presidential Election?

They have started talking about the Presidential Election.  We are closely observing the situation.  No election has been announced.  Until then, we do not take any particular position.  We realise that the present government is not serving the people in the entire country and Tamils in particular.
There are a lot of harming activities going on. So, we want that changed.  We want the government changed.   Or else, we want the government to change its actions.  Whatever it is, we want those harming activities to be brought to an end.  We want people to live with equality, dignity, self-respect. That does not seem possible under the present regime. Keeping all these things in mind, we will take a decision.

Q Have you started a dialogue with the other political parties in this regard?

Yes, we are talking to the Opposition. We have talked to the United National Party (UNP) and various other political formations.

Q Did you discuss the fishermen’s issue with India this time?

Yes, we discussed it

Q Does the TNA suggest any proposals to address the issue?

A couple of years ago, we asked India to provide our fishermen with deep sea fishing equipment so that they would not crowd around this area. At that time, Indian government accepted it. But, deep sea fishing is different from this sort of fishing. We think people to people contacts can resolve this problem.