US Initiative in Sri Lanka: In Search of Unambiguity

04 Sep, 2001    ·   568

Sarath Ramkumar updates the US’ initiatives in bringing peace in the war-torn and politically polarized Sri Lanka
Sarath Ramkumar
Sri Lanka has been gripped by political uncertainty since mid-June, following the withdrawal of support to the ruling People’s Alliance (PA) government by the Sri Lankan Muslim Congress. President Chandrika has been resorting to various stratagems to remain in power by calling for a referendum to implement what she called “constitutional revolution”, proroguing the Parliament and attempting to win over the crucial support of the ten MPs of the Marxist Janata Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP). The main opposition, the United National Party (UNP), on the other hand, capitalizing on an anti-Chandrika mood in the country, wants to push home its advantage by asking for a cancellation of the referendum, reconvening of Parliament to discuss their no-confidence motion and the opposition-sponsored impeachment motion against the President.  Whereas the gap between the two principal political players seems to be widening, the LTTE attack on the Katunayake air base (24 July 2001) had reduced the ruling party’s options. In its aftermath, the Sri Lankan economy was affected as the tourist inflow has reduced. These developments have increased international concern and uneasiness about the prevailing situation in Sri Lanka .  

 

 

According to a former US Ambassador to Sri Lanka , “Politics in Sri Lanka is a blood sport. Leaders don’t like each other and have very personal styles”. She was referring to formation of a political consensus on the peace process. Personalized politics is the bane of not just Sri Lanka , but most parts of South Asia . The US ambassador to Sri Lanka , Ashley Wills’s nudge to the ruling PA, led the latter to hold three rounds of talks with the opposition UNP in August 2001 on the formation of a national government. It was another matter that these talks had failed due to political obduracy. Earlier in a statement on 23 August 2001, the US embassy said,  “Ambassador Wills was asked by one political party to deliver a message to another. After reflecting on the request, and on consulting Washington , he agreed to do so. Along with many other friends of Sri Lanka , the US has been concerned about Sri Lanka ’s political uncertainty and its possible impact on the prospects for peace and economic growth in the country. It is our hope that stable government can return to Sri Lanka soon”. 

 

 

The statement makes it clear that Ashley Wills took the initiative at the instance of the UNP and high officials of the US State Department. Predictably, both the ruling and opposition parties, with an eye on the domestic hard-line constituency, denied that the US initiative led to their discussions. Foreign Minister Kadirgamar claimed on 27 August 2001 that the decision to invite the opposition for talks was taken before a foreign diplomatic representative delivered any message. On 24 August 2001, the UNP leader, Ranil Wickremasinghe, stated that he had explained the prevailing political situation to the US Ambassador, Indian High Commissioner and British High Commissioner and he had neither passed nor received any message from the US Ambassador. This statement was also meant to convey that he did not sideline India while asking the US to take the initiative.  

 

 

In an editorial on 25 August 2001, The Island criticized the internationalization of Sri Lanka ’s politics, adding that it is not the Americans who are to blame, but the local politicos. The US Department of State has, on several occasions in the recent past, called for negotiations to resolve the ethnic issue. In a press release on the meeting between the US Secretary of State, Colin Powell, and the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister, Kadirgamar, in Washington on 4 May 2001, the US embassy in Colombo had said that Gen. Powell expressed the hope that the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE would make a commitment to “cease hostilities and start peace talks” as soon as possible under Norwegian facilitation. Earlier, Karl Inderfurth, the US Assistant Secretary of State in the Clinton Administration, had stated that the US was willing to mediate a settlement if all the parties involved wanted it to do so, during a visit to Colombo . Ashley Wills had rejected the idea of a separate Tamil state in a speech made during his visit to Jaffna in March 2001, and called for a negotiated settlement of the ethnic conflict. At the same time, he emphasized the US willingness to assist, if so desired by the parties to the conflict. It appears that the US believes that the only way to push the Norwegian peace process forward is by asking the main political parties to come to a broad understanding on a national agenda. To an extent, the dividing line between internal political battles and ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka is increasingly getting blurred.  

 

 

 

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