US embassy cable - 05COLOMBO1255

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 001255 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/18/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, PTER, CE, LTTE - Peace Process, Political Parties, Tsunami 
SUBJECT: SRI LANKA: SUPREME COURT ORDERS TEMPORARY STAY ON 
SECTIONS OF P-TOMS 
 
REF: COLOMBO 1216 
 
Classified By: Amb J. Lunstead for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
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SUMMARY 
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1.    (SBU) In response to petitions filed by members of the 
Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) party, a three-member 
panel of the Supreme Court (SC) granted a temporary stay 
order for four key sections of the Post-Tsunami Operational 
Management Structure (P-TOMS) on July 15 (Reftel).  Despite 
staying certain portions of the P-TOMS, the Court declared 
that the President has the right to conclude agreements with 
the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), and affirmed the 
legality of the Cease Fire Agreement (CFA) (Septel).  The 
Government of Sri Lanka (GSL) has until July 29 to file any 
objections to the interim SC judgement.  GSL concerns may 
then be taken up on September 12, when final arguments are 
scheduled to begin.  END SUMMARY. 
 
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SUPREME COURT RULES 
ON P-TOMS 
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2.    (SBU) In response to a fundamental rights case filed by 
members of the JVP, on July 15 a three-member panel of the 
Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice Sarath N. de Silva, 
temporarily blocked four key sections of the P-TOMS 
agreement.  Affected portions of the P-TOMS agreement include 
the operation of the regional fund, the functions of the 
regional committee, the creation of a project management unit 
in the regional committee, and the location of Kilinochchi as 
the regional committee's headquarters. 
 
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P-TOMS: CONSPIRACY 
THEORIES ABOUND 
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3.    (C) Many observers are surprised by the Court's 
decision to temporarily stay portions of the P-TOMS, and 
conspiracy theories abound.  (Comment: Many observers are 
especially surprised because they expected the Chief Justice 
to side categorically with President Chandrika Bandaranaike 
Kumaratunga.  End Comment.)  One theory holds that President 
Kumaratunga, having signed the P-TOMS, colluded with the 
Chief Justice to stay the order so that she would be able to 
bring the JVP back into the Government.  Another theory 
posits that the Chief Justice, seeing the President as a 
"lame-duck" and politically weak, issued the temporary stay 
in order to help members of the Court curry favor with 
presidential hopefuls, such as current Prime Minister 
Mahindra Rajapakse.  One additional possibility is that the 
Court based its decision solely on the merits of the case as 
it saw them. 
 
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THE COURT HAS SPOKEN: 
WHAT'S NEXT FOR P-TOMS? 
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4.    (C) Despite the court's decision, the Government 
publicly maintains that the P-TOMS agreement can survive. 
The GSL also highlighted the Court's affirmation of the 
President's ability to sign an accord with the LTTE and the 
Court's de-facto recognition of the CFA. According to press 
reports, Presidential Spokesman Harim Peiris suggested that 
the GSL would still try to implement the P-TOMS since the 
bulk of the agreement remains intact. 
 
5.    (C) However, in a conversation with the Ambassador, 
Jayantha Dhanapala of the Government's Peace Secretariat 
expressed his surprise at the Court's decision and said he 
found the SC decision "strange." Dhanapala told the 
Ambassador that the GSL had already taken care of one of the 
SC's objections on the regional fund, and would now be able 
to show that the funds will be handled in accord with GSL 
law.  Dhanapala also noted that the GSL would try to work 
with the LTTE to change the function and location of the 
Regional Committee. Nevertheless, press reports quote the 
opposition United National Party (UNP) spokesman G.L. Peiris 
as saying that the SC decision removes so much substance as 
to render the P-TOMS agreement incapable of coherent 
implementation.  G.L. Peiris told the Ambassador that the SC 
decision is "a shame." 
 
6.    (SBU) In response to the SC's decision, the LTTE 
Political Director S.P. Thamilchelvan summoned Tamil National 
Alliance (TNA) Members of Parliament (MPs) to Kilinochchi to 
strategize.  TNA MP Suresh Premachandran told pol FSN that 
the LTTE is disappointed over the SC's decision. 
Premachandran indicated that the LTTE has no confidence in 
the mechanism and sees no point in continuing with it.  An 
Embassy source told pol FSN that the LTTE will no longer 
depend on GSL support or P-TOMS for aid distribution and will 
now attempt to obtain direct funds for tsunami relief. 
 
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COMMENT 
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7.    (C) The GSL publicly claims that the P-TOMS can still 
be implemented, but without cooperation from the LTTE the 
P-TOMS would be useless.  Despite the Government's brave 
face, the Supreme Court decision is a severe blow to 
President Kumaratunga's already wavering power.  The Court 
has effectively gutted the P-TOMS and it is difficult for us 
to see how the GSL can save the mechanism.  We agree that the 
Court's decision is strange.  It affirmed the President's 
executive powers, then involved itself in details of the 
agreement effectively negating those powers.  We do not 
subscribe to the mere convoluted conspiracy theories, but 
find it noteworthy that a Chief Justice widely considered to 
be in the President's pocket would issue such a decision. 
END COMMENT. 
LUNSTEAD