US embassy cable - 04COLOMBO266

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 COLOMBO 000266 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR SA, SA/INS, INR/NESA, DRL/CRA 
 
NSC FOR E. MILLARD 
 
E.O. 12958:           DECL:  02/18/14 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, PINS, PINR, PHUM, CE, LTTE - Peace Process, Elections 
SUBJECT:  Campaign Snapshot:  PM lashes out at President 
in campaign kickoff speech; LTTE endorses Tamil grouping 
 
Refs:  (A) FBIS Reston Va DTG 180303Z Feb 04 
 
-      (B) Colombo 242, and previous 
 
(U) Classified by James F. Entwistle, Deputy Chief of 
Mission.  Reasons 1.5 (b,d). 
 
1.  (C) In this message, Mission reviews the following 
items revolving around Sri Lanka's April 2 parliamentary 
election campaign: 
 
-- PM Wickremesinghe blames President Kumaratunga for 
cohabitation tensions in nationally televised address; 
 
-- Actively engaging in the campaign, Tamil Tigers 
publicly endorse the Tamil National Alliance; 
 
-- SLFP-JVP alliance names leadership group; 
 
-- "The Flavor of the Campaign":  Extremist SU party 
announces all Buddhist monk candidate slate. 
 
======================== 
PM Hits out at President 
======================== 
 
2.  (SBU) In a taped televised address given late 
February 17, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe lashed 
out at President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, 
laying the blame squarely at her feet for the long- 
standing cohabitation tensions between the two.  He also 
accused her of calling parliamentary elections for 
sheerly political reasons and in the face of indications 
that the dispute between the two leaders over the 
control of the Defense Ministry was near resolution.  In 
the approximately 20-minute address, Wickremesinghe also 
complained that the President's decision to call 
elections was "like kicking the will of the people."  He 
then went on to defend the record of his United National 
Party (UNP) government, which has been in power the past 
two years.  In doing so, he highlighted the advent of 
the peace process with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil 
Eelam (LTTE), the country's relatively upbeat economic 
performance, and the beginning of enhanced assistance 
efforts by donors. 
 
3.  (C) COMMENT:  The UNP has seemingly had a tough time 
getting its campaign off the mark since Kumaratunga 
announced early elections on February 7.  Up until his 
February 17 speech, Prime Minister Wickremesinghe had 
not appeared much inclined to leap into the fray either, 
which no doubt had slowed down the UNP's campaign 
machine.  With his February 17 speech setting a tough 
tone, however, the PM has effectively kicked off the 
UNP's campaign and, in the process, underscored that he 
will hit out at the President and defend his party's 
record in power.  While low-key and technocratic in 
personality, the PM has a reputation as being effective 
on the campaign trail.  END COMMENT. 
 
============================= 
Tigers Endorse Tamil Grouping 
============================= 
 
4.  (C) In comments carried February 17 on the pro- 
Liberation Tiger of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) website, 
"TamilNet," the group's political chief, S.P. 
Thamilchelvam, endorsed the election candidate slate of 
the Tamil National Alliance (TNA).  (The TNA is the 
dominant Tamil umbrella political grouping in Sri Lanka, 
with 15 MPs representing several parties.)  At the 
conclusion of a meeting between the LTTE and TNA held 
earlier that day, Thamilchelvam stated:  "We unanimously 
decided today that the Tamil people should vote only for 
the Tamil National Alliance.  This is the wish of our 
leader (referring to Tiger leader V. Prabhakaran) and 
our leadership."   Also in the same statement, 
Thamilchelvam seemed to retract earlier remarks that 
non-Tamil dominated parties like the UNP and the Sri 
Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) would be prohibited from 
contesting elections in the north/east.  Clarifying, he 
said, "Sinhala parties can contest anywhere in the 
northeast.  It is their freedom to do so.  I only said 
that the Tamils might not prefer Sinhala parties." 
Thamilchelvam made no direct comments on the battle 
between V. Anandasangaree -- an independent-minded Tamil 
leader -- for control of the Tamil United Liberation 
Front (TULF) with pro-LTTE elements.  (The TULF is the 
major constituent element of the TNA.) 
 
5.  (C) COMMENT:  It has long been an open secret that 
the TNA is basically a pro-LTTE grouping.  In the past, 
there were a multitude of Tamil leaders willing to take 
on the Tigers, but through coercion or assassination 
there are very few independent Tamil political leaders 
like Anandasangaree left.  (There are several small 
anti-LTTE Tamil parties still operating, but they are of 
decreasing importance.)  Even with that as background, 
the fact that the Tigers would come out in public and 
endorse the TNA is remarkable.  It serves to highlight a 
newfound willingness on behalf of the LTTE to involve 
itself in political campaigns, in a direct, non- 
clandestine manner.  In the meantime, although he 
backtracked to some extent, the overall direction of 
Thamilchelvam's comments are that the LTTE considers the 
north and east the group's very own political preserve 
and parties in the south should understand that.  END 
COMMENT. 
 
======================================== 
SLFP-JVP Alliance Names Leadership Group 
======================================== 
 
6.  (SBU) In a February 17 meeting, the United People's 
Freedom Alliance (UPFA), which is the umbrella name for 
the SLFP - Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) linkup, 
appointed various officials to top leadership positions. 
President Kumaratunga took her place as the leader of 
the alliance, while fellow SLFP party members (and major 
political rivals) Mahinda Rajapakse and Anura 
Bandaranaike were named national organizers.  (Rajapakse 
is the Opposition Leader.  Bandaranaike is a senior SLFP 
MP and the President's brother.)  Five vice presidents 
were named from among the spectrum of parties in the 
alliance, including:  Dinesh Gunawardena, leader of the 
left-wing Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (MEP) party; Ferial 
Ashraff, leader of the Muslim National Unity Alliance 
(NUA); Sarath Amunugama and Nimal Siripala de Silva of 
the SLFP; and Vijitha Herath of the JVP.  An additional 
four SLFP and one JVP members were appointed as 
assistant secretaries. 
 
7.  (C) COMMENT:  It is interesting that the SLFP holds 
most of the UPFA leadership positions, including the top 
three, with the JVP seemingly accepting a decidedly 
secondary position in the alliance.  This probably means 
that the JVP does not consider the alliance leadership 
positions all that important and just a matter for show. 
That said, the fact that Rajapakse and Bandaranaike were 
both named national organizers was a virtually 
inevitable solution to an endemic problem:  both men see 
themselves as heirs to Kumaratunga's leadership of the 
SLFP and will not accept being upstaged by the other. 
END COMMENT. 
 
================================= 
The Saffron Robe as Campaign Tool 
================================= 
 
8.  (SBU) In our "flavor of the campaign" section:  The 
Sinhalese Buddhist extremist party, Sihala Urumaya (SU), 
on February 17 decided to field a slate of exclusively 
Buddhist monk candidates for the upcoming parliamentary 
election.  The party said it made this decision in order 
"to vest the monks with their traditional right to 
protect the inalienable rights of the Sinhala-Buddhist 
people."  The majority of the 285 monks on the slate 
have long associations with the SU, with the balance 
being younger monks.  SU leaders predicted that at least 
10 of the monks would win parliamentary seats.  The SU 
also announced that it has officially changed its name 
to the "Jathika Hela Urumaya," which roughly translates 
as National Heritage Party.  The party's symbol will be 
the conch shell (the old SU symbol was a bow and arrow). 
9.  (C) COMMENT:  The SU -- a minor party with no 
parliamentary representation -- is the most openly 
aggressive and communalist of the Sinhalese Buddhist 
extremist parties (much more so than the JVP which 
cloaks its extremism in leftist rhetoric).  In 
nominating an all-monk slate, the party is making it 
clear that it plans to place the issue of Sinhalese 
Buddhist ethno-religious identity front-and-center in 
this campaign.  Using the saffron robe in this political 
way may be of questionable utility, however.  Since the 
country's independence, only one monk has served in 
Parliament and this monk -- Ven. Baddegama Samitha, who 
is now in office and running for election again -- is 
pro-peace process.  Monks taking a hard-line, SU-like 
anti-peace process perspective have had some influence 
on the public policy discourse, but no electoral success 
as candidates in the past.  END COMMENT. 
 
10.  (U) Minimize considered. 
 
LUNSTEAD