Pillayan’s reformation and the Eastern PC election
By M.S.M. Ayub
The United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) led electoral front does not seem to be united in the issue as to who should be the Chief Minister, a Tamil or a Muslim in the event it wins the Eastern Provincial Council election scheduled for Saturday. This is a major issue discussed in the Tamil media in view of the composition of population in the province.
MLAM Hisbullah, the former deputy minister, who defected in the wake of the nominations for this election from the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) to the ruling UPFA, said soon after nominations were tendered that President Mahinda Rajapaksa was firm to have a Muslim as the Chief Minister. Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias Pillayan, the leader of the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Puligal (TMVP), or Pilliyan Group, however stated at an election rally in Batticaloa on May Day that President Rajapaksa wants a Tamil Chief Minister for the Eastern Province.
At another rally on Monday he said that basically Provincial Councils are meant for Tamils, but some people unnecessarily raise the question as to who should be the Chief Minister, a Tamil or a Muslim. This reminds us of a news item published weeks ago in a website often critical of the Government saying that Senior Presidential Advisor Basil Rajapaksa has promised the Chief Minister post to both Pillayan and Hisbullah.
United National Party (UNP) led coalition has successfully averted such a difference of opinion on the Chief Minister post by an electoral pact between the UNP and the SLMC which stipulates that the candidate who will obtain most number of preferential votes will be appointed Chief Minister.
Since the agreement did not specify a member of any community for the post, and the coalition has three prominent SLMC leaders, Leader Rauff Hakeem, Chairman Basheer Segudawood and General Secretary Hassan Ali, in the fray, after resigning their parliamentary seats, it is widely rumoured that one of them would be appointed CM in the event the UNP would win. Despite the fact that the Eastern Province is the only province that has the potential to produce a Muslim Chief Minister it is clear that Muslim leaders in the province are not united as to whom among them should be the Chief Minister.
Apart from the CM issue LTTE’s possible resurfacing is another issue taken up in this election campaign, but understandably only by the UPFA-TMVP alliance. Government leaders discussed this matter at election rallies with the intention of translating the credit of liberating the Eastern Province from the grip of the LTTE into votes.
In fact the very campaign theme of the Government seems to be pointing to the LTTE “Goni Bila” and UPFA leaders attempt to identify the UNP led coalition with the LTTE. President Mahinda Rajapaksa said at the May Day rally held this time in Dehiattakandiya, the farthest place in the North and East from the conflict area, that the LTTE might raise its head again in the east in the event UNP wins this election. Given the UNP’s relative soft attitude towards the LTTE and its criticism of the recent war effort of the Government, President Rajapaksa’s remarks might have some bearing on the Sinhalese villages in the East who were invariably harassed by the LTTE atrocities.This might be one of very few messages that are likely to be fruitful in influencing voters though the political hype or the “Rella” has a bigger say in addressing the voters.
Some ministers argue as another campaign issue that the party in power in the centre must take control of the provincial councils as it was the central government that allocates funds to the provincial councils for their various development projects. By the very argument those ministers admit that their administration in the centre is far from good governance and they convey a message to the world by implication that if a party other than theirs comes to power in the province their administration in the centre will discriminate against it.
This is not a new ploy by a ruling party. It was one of the main trump cards played by the ruling UNP led by Late President JR Jayewardene during the District Development Councils (DDC) elections in 1981. Then the JVP leaders who contested the DDC election retorted that if that was the case UNP must be defeated for the very reason and for the sake of a just society- Dharmishta Samajaya, JR Jayewardene’s motto- not only at the district level but also at the national level.
UNP’s main campaign theme has been the accusation against the Government and the Pillayan group for harassing other parties during the campaign. As most observers anticipated the Provincial Council election in the East is far different compared to the Batticaloa Local Government election where complaints on violence and malpractices were minimal. Already election monitors have expressed fear that violence may erupt on the election day.
However election monitoring has been seemingly politicized and divided this time and two monitoring bodies seem to represent the two main parties. There had been more than one monitoring body sometime back too, but they did not seem divided on political lines, but cooperated with each other instead as in the case with PAFFREL and CMEV.
The recent division among the monitoring bodies came to the surface following the Local Government election in Batticaloa district on March 10.Most people, particularly people representing the opposition parties argued that Pillayan group would use their weapons and anticipated a situation similar to that of North Western (Wayamba) Provincial Council election in January, 1999 when the supporters of the opposition were brutally harassed.
Contrary to their prophesies only some thirty odd election related complaints had been lodged in police stations during the LG polls in Batticaloa and it was seen as relatively a violence free election. When the main local monitoring organization issued the report on the election the main opposition, the UNP criticized it claiming that it sided with the Government and soon emerged another organization consisting mainly Government critics on its hierarchy. Thus we are sometimes going to have two conflicting reports after the election.
Almost all except a few allegations on harassment during this election campaign have been levelled against the Pillayan group. It is going to adversely reflect on their future. For the Pillayan Group this is not merely an election, but a process that would take them far beyond the election. Pillayan at a meeting held in Batticaloa on May Day amidst the election campaign, made a request, which was very vital in respect of democracy, although most champions of democracy ignored it or did not take it into consideration. He wanted all political parties to help his organization to transform itself into a democratic movement.
In spite of the question as to how much this plea was genuine it reminds the political parties that claim that they are keen to solve the ethnic problem one of their paramount duties. However most so-called anti- war activists are unfortunately not on good terms with Karuna- Pillayan group ironically for they have stopped the war with the Government forces. Also they are not as sympathetic towards the TMVP as they are towards the LTTE which is not prepared to accept anything short of Tamil Eelam.
If the Pillayan group can win at least the majority of the Tamil votes in the East this time, it will boost the confidence in their cadres in the democratic process. On the other hand the sense of indignation in their cadres, in case they could not win the majority of the Tamil votes, will sometimes turn them again towards the AK 47 and T56. Also it will further mount their confidence in weapons if they win some seats using them or capitalizing fear of other parties in their weapons. Therefore the Pillayan group’s transformation is not purely on others hands; they too must have a genuine desire to be transformed.
Pillayan’s request cannot be considered to be genuine in the light of some reports from Batticaloa which points to the terrific behavior of his group. They had assaulted a group of JVPers who had been engaged in putting up posters in Akkaraipattu area days ago and it has been complained that they had used the much talked about weapons to intimidate them.
Apart from transforming Pillayan group into a democratic movement the Eastern Provincial Council election is one step forward in Government’s effort to politically banish secessionism from the country. It further politically distances the eastern Province people from their Northern brethren and would be become a wedge in Tamil Homeland concept which includes Northern and Eastern provinces. If Eastern people are prepared to tell the northern hegemonic politicians to mind their own business by way of establishing a separate provincial administration and run their affairs independently no politicians have the right to call for merger of those two provinces any further. And a sizable credit must go in that event to the JVP and the JHU which were instrumental in legally de-merging the two provinces. [dailymirror.lk]
11 comments May 7th, 2008