Security Watch

by Tejal Chandan

As Sri Lanka struggles to find a way forward in the peace process there is hope for a political solution through a new initiative by the Sri Lankan President. The formation of the All Party Representative Committee (APRC) in July 2006 was a significant step towards creating a political consensus on the Tamil question. The mandate of the APRC was to produce proposals for constitutional reforms in Sri Lanka with an aim to engage various political parties and arrive at a consensus through deliberations.

The APRC has representatives from the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), United National Party (UNP), Janatha Vimukti Peramuna (JVP), Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), Sri Lanka Muslim Congress, National Unity Alliance, Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC), Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (MEP), Lanka Sama Samaja Party, Communist Party of Sri Lanka, All Ceylon Muslim League, Eelam Peoples Democratic Party, National Muslim Congress, Up Country People's Front, and Western Peoples Front. In a bid to gain all-party support for a political settlement, the ruling SLFP and the UNP signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in October 2006. The MoU spells out ways and means by which the two parties will cooperate on six high priority national issues - conflict in the north and east, electoral reforms, good governance, economic development, nation building and social development. The UNP which initially kept away from the APRC began participating as a result of the MoU.

A 17-member multi-ethnic panel of experts was formed to provide advice and submit recommendations regarding power sharing and constitutional reform to the APRC. In December, after much deliberation the expert panel produced four different reports. 11 of the 17 members representing three major ethnic groups submitted a majority report promoting the need for maximum devolution and power sharing at the centre with a bicameral legislature. Four Sinhala members against this idea submitted another report calling for strengthening of the unitary state while two other members submitted separate dissenting reports.

The majority report recommended the name of "Republic of Sri Lanka" for the State. The report suggested the development of in-built mechanisms to discourage secessionist tendencies and to preserve the unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the state. With regard to power sharing, the report recommended two directly or indirectly elected Vice Presidents belonging to two different communities distinct to that of the President and the establishment of a second chamber elected by provincial legislatures. In addition the report carried suggestions on distribution of power, judiciary, fiscal devolution, defence, national security and law and order and centre-provincial relations among other issues. The APRC Chairperson, Prof. Tissa Vitharana, presented his own report based on the deliberations at various meetings. His report is considered to be a diluted version of the majority report and an attempt to reconcile the majority and minority reports. Although the majority report along with the APRC Chairperson's report are said to form the key documents for consideration in drafting the APRC's final proposal it remains to be seen as to how much of each report will be reflected in the final outcome which is said to be due in April 2007.

The fate of these reports is said to be unclear as the Sri Lankan President has also distanced himself from them. Analysts have suggested that it is highly likely that the proposals that finally emerge will be decisively conditioned by what has happened and is intended to happen on the battlefield following military successes. In a recent lecture, Prof. Santasilan Kadirgamar (Formerly Jaffna College, University of Colombo and University of Jaffna and Meiji Gaikuin University, Tokyo) noted that the main issue of disagreement will be the unit of devolution and welcomed the APRC Chairperson's suggestion that the issue should be left for negotiations with the LTTE. It also remains to be seen as to how the LTTE will respond to the final decision and how the APRC will approach the tigers. The pro-tiger political party Tamil National Alliance (TNA) is not participating in the APRC. Further, the mass cross-over of the UNP cadre into the ruling SLFP ranks has deepened a rift between the UNP and SLFP and jeopardized the MoU between the parties.

While the inability of the expert panel to produce a single report mirrors the ethno-political divide in Sri Lanka that has been so prominently playing the role of a 'spoiler' in the peace process, the majority report was a demonstration of the ability of Sri Lankans to arrive at creative solutions to the ethnic problem. There is some scepticism concerning the sturdiness of the APRC process given the collapse of the MoU between the Government and the UNP and in the face of an escalating undeclared war. But the APRC process provides an important opportunity for the Sri Lankan Government to lay the groundwork for a political and peaceful solution as it forms a concrete proposal for negotiations with the LTTE.

Link to Full Text of the Expert Panel (Majority) Preliminary Report

References

Ahilan Kadirgamar, 'Sri Lanka on the Precipice: Political Solution or Sweeping Debacle?' Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. XLII, No.8, Feb 24- March 2, 2007,
URL: http://www.epw.org.in/articles/2007/02/11108.pdf

D.B.S Jeyaraj, 'Divided Lanka Expert Panel Members Submit Four Different Reports',
URL: http://transcurrents.com/tamiliana/archives/245, December 6, 2006

D.B.S Jeyaraj, 'Majority Expert Report Should Not Be Abandoned'
URL: http://transcurrents.com/tamiliana/archives/date/2006/12/

Full Text of the Expert Panel (Majority) Preliminary Report,
URL: http://transcurrents.com/tamiliana/archives/244

Santasilan Kadirgamar, 'Sri Lanka: Power Sharing Proposals', Observer Research Foundation-Chennai Chapter Interaction, 17 March 2007

Sri Lankan Government's Secretariat for Coordinating the Peace Process (SCOPP), www.peaceinsrilanka.com

War, Peace and Governance in Sri Lanka: Overview and Trends 2006, Centre for Policy Alternatives, Sri Lanka, January 2007,
URL: http://www.cpalanka.org/research_papers/War_Peace_Governance.pdf