The government, with the newly signed UNP MoU under its belt seemed to be walking in to the negotiating room stronger and more credible even though the dismal composition of the delegation that so disastrously represented the government on the last two occasions had not changed save for the absence of
Navy Chief Wasantha Karannagoda.
The MoU had for the first time, achieved for President Mahinda Rajapakse since he ascended to power 11 months ago, a southern consensus of sorts given that 99% of the votes at the last presidential election were represented by both himself and Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe.
However with the two delegations working at cross-purposes and with no set agenda the outcome was not expected to be earth shattering nor was it. The government was determined to ground the talks on core issues such as the unit of devolution and power sharing in order to bring about a final solution,
whereas the LTTE were determined to thrash out the humanitarian aspect and the human rights situation before any common agenda for talks could be agreed upon. More importantly, the LTTE was insisting on the reopening of the A 9 highway. And there lay the rub.
Be that as it may as with many such diplomatic exercises, often the action takes place in the corridors and peripheries of the main event and Geneva 2 was no different. It is the side shows played out in the byways of these events that inform its outcome and provides an insight into realpolitick.
Govt. gives Tigers special treatment
Last week on Tuesday the LTTE delegation comprising a 13 member team headed by Political Wing Leader S.P.Tamilselvan were flown by MI 17 helicopter from Kilinochchi to the Bandaranaike International Airport at Katunayake.
Earlier this month the government had stopped all helicopter travel to Kilinochchi due to intense military operations and ongoing hostilities. So much so even foreign dignitaries such as Norwegian Ambassador Hans Brattskar, Special Peace Envoy Jon Hanssen-Bauer, and Japanese Peace Envoy Yasushi Akashi were
only allowed a chopper ride up to Omanthai. From there the foreign diplomats had to endure a bumpy ride by road to Kilinochchi.
However due to the security situation the LTTE delegates refused to travel by road and therefore the government obliged with a MI 17 helicopter sent all the way to Kilinochchi to pick up the 13 member LTTE delegation. By so insisting, the LTTE was also testing the government to see if it had softened its
stance since the recent military set backs. Ambassador Brattskar, a member of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission and an official from the Peace Secretariat were also on board the chopper to ensure everything went smoothly.
The state's gesture demonstrated that despite the government's tough talk the recent military setbacks had compelled the government to become more amenable to Tiger demands. This pliability was not seen in the run up to the first round of talks when the question of transportation from Kilinochchi to the
Wanni for the LTTE delegation to meet and discuss strategy with their high command before Geneva I, created a huge uproar with the government showing a lot more obstinacy.
Nonetheless the Wanni delegation was flown in to the BIA from Kilinochchi and arrived on Tuesday morning where bullet proof Norwegian diplomatic vehicles with tinted glass and diplomatic number plates were at the ready on the tarmac to whisk them off to their hotel.
It was SLMM Head Major General Lars Johan Solvberg who was there to receive them and accompany them to their overnight accommodation at the Pearl Hotel in Negombo.
Surprise move by Co-Chairs
At about 3 p.m Tuesday afternoon the Tigers were surprised to encounter a visit from the ambassadorial representatives of the Co-Chairs comprising the Japanese Ambassador Kiyoshi Araki, Norwegian Ambassador Brattskar, German Ambassador and current EU presidency in Colombo Jurgen Weerth, and EU Ambassador
Julian Wilson. The U.S Ambassador Robert E. Blake was not present as the US has banned the LTTE and such a meeting would not have been correct protocol. It was not the case with the EU.
Vital discussions
However at the hotel the diplomats and the LTTE delegates discussed the importance of getting the peace process re started as quickly as possible. Also earnestly discussed was the gravity of the humanitarian crisis and the overall human rights situation in the country.
The diplomats told the LTTE that it was important to stick at the table and that they would do everything possible within their capacity as Co-Chairs to ensure that the humanitarian crisis is adequately addressed.
Aid as a bradawl
The issue of using the matter of aid as a tool to ensure that both sides honour the ceasefire agreement and is committed to its implementation and continue with the peace process also came up in the course of the discussion.
The effect of a pull back on aid has already been felt by the government with last week's aid freeze by Germany. Rajapakse ordered Disaster Management Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe to immediately fly to Germany to reason with the authorities concerned. However eventually Samarasinghe's trip to Germany did
not materialise as the relevant officials in Germany refused to meet Rajapakse's emissary as they were otherwise occupied.
Meanwhile, the LTTE had already informed the Norwegians their total lack of faith in Mahinda Rajapakse and his government to deliver anything on the peace process.
The LTTE had also taken the view that no settlement could ever be reached in terms of the present constitution.
No guarantee
The LTTE thinking was that any agreement or solution will see the same fate as the north east merger. If a decision under an agreement signed 18 years ago could be so easily cast aside, they argued that even if they were to give up arms and come to an agreement what was the guarantee that some 10 years
down the road perhaps, this very same agreement is not thrown out by the judiciary as null and void?
The LTTE had also informed the Norwegians that they had decided to take this issue to the negotiating table as well and to ask the government what guarantees they could provide.
Nevertheless, after this meeting at Pearl Hotel the entire LTTE delegation together with the two SLMM officials, Press and Information Officer Thorfinnur Omarsson and Helen Olafdottir boarded flight EY 202 to Geneva via Abu Dhabi on business class.
Before boarding it was again Brattskar and Solvberg who accompanied the delegation beyond the gate upto the bifocation leading to business and economy class on the newly built suspended corridors leading to the plane. There the two diplomats wished them well and left.
At Abu Dhabi though there was a 14 hour lay over, due to security reasons the LTTE delegation did not leave the airport but were kept at the airport hotel.
Tigers use Mont Blanc
On Thursday at 2.20 a.m the delegation took the Etihad flight EY 341 to Geneva. On the way to board this flight in Abu Dhabi at the entrance to the gate the delegation and other passengers went through the usual security check of hand luggage. However once they boarded Tamilselvan was to realise to his
dismay that his valuable Mont Blanc pen had gone missing. Mildly anxious he was to later send a message to Etihad management to try and locate it for him.
Once well settled in business class Pulidevan, head of the LTTE Peace Secretariat and Tamilselvan, head of the LTTE political wing turned to the movies and both watched the movie Break Up starring two real life lovers who had also recently broken up, Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn.
Obviously the Tigers were movie buffs for a variety of reasons. Pirapaharan had already said that he was a fan of Harrison Ford. While many of his tactics in guerilla warfare were drawn from American thrillers, on board however LTTE military spokesperson I. Ilianthirayan was enjoying himself having a
hearty laugh watching Everybody Loves Raymond.
Equal status
The LTTE delegation seemed to be in a jolly mood cracking jokes at the expense of the government. None other than the government of Sri Lanka had granted them equal status despite professing otherwise they said. It was President Mahinda Rajapakse they pointed out who had urged Akashi that protocol decreed
that if he met Rajapakse he should also meet Pirapaharan. Neither they said had President Rajapakse met Special Envoy Jon Hanssen-Baur stating that he could not do so because Pirapaharan hadn't met him.
By these very acts they pointed out, the government and Rajapakse were recognising Pirapaharan and elevating him to equal status as a leader of a nation with equal status though publicly professing otherwise.
The LTTE members were also taking the micky out of Sajin Vaas Gunawardena and his role of messenger. At Geneva I they reminisced Sajin was always with a phone stuck to his ear sitting at the back of the meeting room and constantly disturbing the peace by walking out to the corridors to keep President
Rajapakse abreast of things. Even Nimal Siripala de Silva went on line to talk to Rajapakse once. Said the LTTE members laughing he was passing messages but neither the President nor the delegation had a clear plan of what they were doing.
LTTE Police Chief B.Nadesan also in a mood for levity was to quip, I am a member of the delegation as the head of the LTTE police still but Chandra Fernando is here as an ex chief though I'm still the chief. May be I can offer him a job in the Wanni police.
Nadesan continued to joke and commented gaily about the two lawyers H.L.de Silva PC and Gomin Dayasiri who are part of the delegation. It is these two who were the lawyers to de merge the north and east, may be now the JVP can get them to de merge the UNP-SLFP MoU as well, he cackled.
For the LTTE, southern politics and its convoluted game plays had turned into more of a joke though who will have the last laugh remains to be seen.
Interesting mix
On board, entertainment aside the LTTE delegation itself was an interesting mix. As the government had decided not to send Naval Chief Wasantha Karannagoda, the LTTE had also decide not to send the deputy head of their military wing Col. Jeyam.
Other little known facts surfaced. Nadesan for instance is married to a Sinhalese. George who acts as a translator for Tamilselvan was formerly serving in the Sri Lanka Postal Service. As a government servant he had never served in the north and east but in all other areas. As a result George speaks
excellent Sinhalese and still draws a government pension.
Half Sinhala
Another little known fact is that the LTTE delegation proper consists of a woman who is half Sinhalese and bears a Sinhala name. Deputy Women's Head of the LTTE Political Wing, 26 year old Tamilwili born on May 1, 1979 is also known as Geetha. But her real name as shown in her passport is Revathi Piyawardena.
Revathi's father is Sinhalese but her family has lived all their lives in Kilinochchi. Her father still lives in Kilinochchi as well.
Nonetheless once the LTTE arrived in Geneva on Thursday morning the relevant authorities again received them at the tarmac and whisked them off through a discreet side entrance to their accommodation at the Hotel Royal.
Just before being taken away S.P. Tamilselvan and B. Nadesan earlier addressed some Tamils who had gathered at the Geneva Airport.
At about 4 p.m the delegation engaged in internal consultations with their legal advisors and diaspora experts in Geneva. At the discussions were legal advisor of the LTTE, V. Rudrakumaran, a New York based attorney, and Dr. Manuelpillai Paul Dominic, Professor of Law, University of Sydney, Australia.
Former Attorney General Siva Pasupathi who was expected to be in the delegation had indicated he was not in the best of health to travel the distance.
Meanwhile Brattskar after dropping the LTTE delegation at Katunayake on Tuesday boarded a separate flight to Norway where he was to have consultations with International Development Minister Erik Solheim and Jon Hanssen-Baur in Oslo. He was then to fly to Geneva where he would attempt to facilitate the
talks and prepare the agenda through shuttle diplomacy while the two delegations remained separate until a common ground was arrived at to meet face to face. Hanssen-Bauer in fact arrived Thursday night and had separate discussions with the LTTE delegation and the government team trying to lay the groundwork for the discussions.
In the backdrop of the disastrous Oslo talks where the delegations did not even confront each other, Geneva 2 would have achieved much if by this exercise the two delegations were at least to sit together at discussions.
The LTTE will be focused on the human rights issue and the outcome of Geneva I and the implementation of the decisions taken jointly at the first round of talks in February.
Taught how to do it by MR
The government would be looking to skim over all the nitty gritty of any agreement reached in Geneva I and give a lazy interpretation to any issue that crops up on the subject, given that President Rajapakse has a track record of never honouring his word or his signature. They would instead seek to go
headlong into a discussion on the core issues pertaining to a solution such as power sharing, federalism, boundaries, demerger of the north and east etcetera.
However the LTTE is unlikely to agree to a discussion of core issues without preliminary ground work. Earlier the LTTE had briefed the Norwegians that if any solution reached at the talks were to be put to a referendum they would want every displaced person resettled in their homes even if it meant
resettling them in high security zones before such a referendum took place. It is only then they argued would a referendum reflect the true will of the people and where they would be able to vote in order to determine their own future.
Therefore the LTTE argued, there is no point in going into the core issues until such time the CFA is properly implemented whereby the displaced
people can return to their homes.
Snakes on a plane
The LTTE maintained they would not look at any core issue until this basic human right was granted to the people. It is therefore difficult to see at least at the time of writing this article, the talks being anything more than another paid luxury holiday in the Swiss Alps for a plane load of Sri Lankans
from the north and south.
It is left to be seen what magic the Norwegian facilitators can work and if they can pull the proverbial rabbit from the hat.
Meanwhile the government delegation headed by Health Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva arrived in full force as usual at least in terms of size. Included were Ministers Jeyeraj Fernandopulle, Ferial Ashraff, Rohitha Bogollagama and lawyers H.L.de Silva PC and Gomin Dayasiri.
SCOPP Head Palitha Kohona, retired IGP Chandra Fernando and President's Coordinating Secretary Sajin Vaas Gunawardena.
They were housed at the Hotel Epsom and arrived on Wednesday(25) night. However controversial politico Rohitha Bogollagama and his wife Deepthi arrived only on Thursday morning via London.
The mind boggles
As usual Bogollagama and his wife left behind them a wake of confusion and controversy before they boarded the plane to Geneva. Earlier Rohitha true to form and wearing a hide thicker than a rhinoceros had wanted the state to pick up the tab for his wife who is also his private secretary. No other private
secretary of a minister had been taken to Geneva. But Rohitha thought himself special.
He therefore wanted the Peace Secretariat (SCOPP) which was footing the bills for the delegation to pay for Deepthi as well. Therefore he noted her down as an 'advisor' to the peace delegation. As perhaps one of the most publicly and palpably contentious women
Bogollagama has ever known it was difficult to see how she could advise a peace delegation on matters of reconciliation.
It was a sentiment President Rajapakse himself was to harbour. As Bogollagama was now insisting on payment for Deepthi, Presidential Secretary Lalith Weeratunga forwarded a letter stating in no uncertain terms that no one had been appointed in an advisory capacity to the delegation. In fact Rajapakse
himself was to joke and say that would put her above all the other people in the delegation.
Cross to bear
Even if Deepthi's upkeep was borne by Bogollagama's Ministry and not the Peace Secretariat it is still public funds and therefore the public will perhaps have to resign itself to the fact that Rohitha and wife is a cross they will have to bear.
The government interestingly has also taken a large number of journalists and not confined itself this time to only the state media but the private media as well. The government has only left out the Leader Group and the Sirasa Group but any government should know by now neither The Sunday Leader nor
Sirasa need to be government sponsored to get the real story.
Be that as it may the Norwegians will as part of its shuttle diplomacy also meet the government delegation on Friday (27). The Norwegians are staying at the Auteuil Hotel. The talks will take place at the conference centre in Varembe, Geneva.
Meanwhile on Thursday morning (26) the government team huddled together on a ground floor room at the Hotel Epsom discussing and planning out strategies.
Crossing over at breaky
At Breakfast on Thursday it was Health Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva, the head of delegation who was to comment as former IGP Chandra Fernando looked on that it was a great pity Anton Balasingham was not present. Nimal Siripala continued saying, Bala got angry on the last occasion because we foxed him.
Not stopping at that Nimal Siripala went on to talk about the UNP-SLFP MoU signed Monday (23). Then he said, well now the UNP must decide if they will take ministries or not. Anyway, he said, now the door is open for the government to take in crossers over as
Clause 8 of the MoU specifically ruled out the cross over provision.
In full swing now having had his fill of swiss cheeses, Nimal Siripala was to tell those at the breakfast table, President Rajapakse himself always maintains very clearly that the very basis for the birth of the SLFP is through a cross over and therefore he will take anyone who wants to come despite the
MoU.
Continued the Health Minister who like Rajapakse is a lawyer, it is the President's constitutional right to appoint anyone as a minister.
Meanwhile former IGP Chandra Fernando who sat listening to all this now veered the conversation back to Anton Balasingham. 'I told Bala last time about the history of the LTTE acts of terrorism since 1975 and he accepted it. Solheim was listening and was so
shocked that Bala was accepting the LTTE's acts of terror his face turned red and he didn't know what to do,' he said looking pleased as punch.
Then as the Head of the Delegation some one was to point out to Nimal Siripala that the talks may be more difficult than envisaged as the LTTE will only discuss humanitarian concerns and will raise the human rights issue.
Silva then said quizzically, 'no but they have agreed to come for talks unconditionally; anyway we are ready for anything.We will raise their human rights violations.'
Sajin takes on the heavy weights
But whatever the senior members of the delegation may be ready for, it is Presidential gopher Sajin Vaas Gunawardena who is really calling the shots. The sometime darling of the Fraud Bureau and the young pup with the dubious record, was sent as a spy during Geneva 1 and slunk in through the back door with
a letter written by Rajapakse to allow him into the conference room even though his name was not part of the official delegation.
Since November 2005 Sajin was not only Coordinating Secretary for President Mahinda Rajapakse but chief procurement officer. He continuously involved himself in the peace process despite having no experience in anything except giving statements to the Fraud Bureau (Please see The Sunday Leader of August
27) and became Rajapakse's special emisery, earning the ire of such senior SLFP politicians as Mangala Samaraweera and Jeyeraj Fernandopulle who dismissed him as an upstart.
It was in fact Sajin and Rajapakse's other advisor, and now Central Bank governor Nivard Cabraal who arranged for the visit of the IRA Sinn Fein's Alec McGuinness to Sri Lanka. The McGuinness visit ended in disaster and embarrassment for the country when he announced in Kilinochchi that the EU ban of the
LTTE was a huge mistake.
Be that as it may, come last Thursday afternoon the upstart from the Middle East was waggling an admonishing finger at the government delegates and telling them how they should conduct themselves.
Holding forth in the presence of H.L.de Silva PC, Minister Ferial Ashraff, Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva he properly ticked off Peace Secretariat Head Palitha Kohona saying he had no business to give interviews to anyone without prior approval. Kohona a senior diplomat was now reduced to taking this
foul treatment from a young pup like Sajin. Kohona could only mumble he did not do so. Such was the clout of Sajin, none of the delegates including its head, Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva had the guts to tell the boy to go and take a hike.
With the government delegation obviously steered by a dubious personality such as Sajin Vaas and with no real common ground between the two delegations, one is forgiven for not holding one's breath that the talks would provide a basis for a more peaceful future.
At the time of writing nothing startling is expected before the commencement of talks on Saturday (28) save the fixing of some dates for future talks if at all.
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