"No sooner they started the engines we knew what was coming," a senior officer based in the Vanni told The Sunday Island. He asserted that the aircraft would have taken off from a part of the Paranthan-Mullaitivu road under Tiger control.

These were the first suicide attacks attempted by the LTTE since its air wing launched operations over two years ago. With the area under its control down to approximately 100 square kilometres, the LTTE had no option but to use its aircraft on one final mission. With the 58 Division now fighting its way into Puthukudirippu East after having secured Puthkudirippu West and the entire Ampalavanpokkani area under its control by Thursday (20), the LTTE is rapidly losing ground on the eastern flank.

After having alerted Colombo, the army had prepared to engage the aircraft. But they had managed to dodge anti-aircraft fire and return to Puthukudirippu. "We alerted artillery units deployed on the eastern flank to zero-in-on the area if aircraft approached Puththukudirippu," a senior officer said but they weren’t aware that the Tigers were using their last remaining aircraft on a suicide mission.

Despite being alerted first by the army and then tracked down by 2D radar supplied by India and 3D radar from China, F7 interceptor aircraft had failed to successfully interdict the LTTE planes. Although the Chinese interceptors lost the opportunity, SLAF anti-aircraft fire brought one of the Czechoslovakian built Zlin 143 aircraft packed with 215 slabs of plastic explosives weighing 140 kgs as it approached the Katunayake air base. A heat seeking missile fired at the aircraft too had failed to lock. But heavy anti-aircraft fire directed by ground troops had hit both the aircraft and its pilot.

In Colombo, the second explosives packed aircraft approaching the SLAF headquarters had also been hit by anti-aircraft fire as it flew over the harbour. According to a report posted on TamilNet on Friday night, Black Air Tigers had targeted the multi-storied SLAF headquarters and Katunayake airbase where the Kfir, MiG and F7 squadrons are based.

The Tigers also released photograph of the two Black Air Tigers, ‘Colonel’ Roopan and "Lieutenant Colonel’ Siriththiran with Prabhakaran before embarking on their suicide mission.

TamilNet reported that both pilots had been previously decorated with what the LTTE called the Blue Tiger award for having carried out successful air raids on enemy targets.

Although the SLAF brought down one aircraft over Katunayake and contributed heavily to the Colombo operation, the failure of the jets and the shoulder fired missile should be investigated. The SLAF which has played a critical role in the overall military campaign to destroy the LTTE must conduct an in-depth inquiry into the shortcomings.

Although the Black Tiger approaching Katunayake had to abort his mission after being hit by small arms fire and crash land his fixed wing aircraft into a marsh, the second suicide aircraft, forced to abandon its intended target (SLAF HQ), hit the Inland Revenue headquarters building triggering a massive explosion. The aircraft is believed to have been hit by a 14.5 mm weapon mounted on the roof top of Rangala naval base.

Defence spokesman Minister Keheliya Rambukwella who had been with a group of security forces officers on board the Jetliner troop ferry at the Colombo harbour had sighted the aircraft first as it flew over the Colombo harbour.

Shooting down of the LTTE aircraft couldn’t have come at a better time as the government prepares for elections for the Western Provincial Council (WPC). It would give a tremendous boost to the ruling coalition, particularly in the Western Province and re-assure people that Air Tigers no longer posed a threat.

Friday’s attempt to mount an air attack on targets within the fortified capital city was the first serious challenge posed by the LTTE following a series of battlefield defeats it suffered on the eastern flank where the Tigers have been constantly on the retreat.

Living in luxury

Government propagandists accused Prabhakaran and his senior cadres of leading a luxurious life in the Vanni after the army recovered a menu card from an underground facility believed to be used by the beleaguered Prabhakaran in the Vishvamadu area. The finding by the 58 Division conducting operations north of the Paranthan-Mullaitivu (A35) road on February 6 prompted accusation that the top LTTE leadership had been living a life of luxury as forcibly recruited Tamil youth were thrown into battle.

The LTTE leadership was accused of feasting on sumptuous biriyani with chicken curry. According to the menu, the LTTE leadership had been served noodles with meat, fried rice with prawns, cuttle fish or meat and a range of other items including string hoppers, roti, thosai, pittu, chapatti, boiled peas, milk rice, herbal drinks, bread, chutney, dry fish, fried fish, sambol and cooked vegetables.

Had anyone bothered to compare the subsidized meals offered to MPs and pariamentary officials at the expense of the taxpayer with Prabhakaran’s menu, neither group would have been considered to be doing badly. Despite rising defence costs, successive administrations had provided heavily subsidized meals, free housing, vehicles and a range of other perks and privileges to some at the taxpayers’ expense.

Politicians receive full pension rights after completing just one term in Parliament and appoint their family members, relatives and associates to their personal staff. Overseas appointments and creation of posts both here and abroad to accommodate friends, associates and relatives and luxurious lifestyles of the ruling elite had been a heavy burden on the country’s struggling economy.

The abuse list is long. The Rajapaksa administration has enhanced and introduced perks and allowances granted to politicians. A case in point is Rs. 100,000 monthly rent allowance drawn by about 40 incumbent ministers.

The Auditor General has quite rightly slammed the House administration for massive waste of meals before the return of Dhammika Kitulegoda as Secretary General of Parliament. But still a lot has to be done to clean up the mess.

The armed forces’ triumph over the LTTE had facilitated the ruling coalition’s victory at the last week’s elections to the Central Provincial Council. Although Elections Commissioner Dayananda Dissanayake held the release of the final results of the Puttalam electoral district due to malpractices taken place at the Nayakkarcheni Tamil Vidyalayam and ordered a re-poll at that particular polling station on Saturday (February 21), the government’s victory was a foregone conclusion.

Even if the UNP polled the entire Nayakkarcheni vote, the government would still take the Wayamba province as it had comfortably secured four out of five polling divisions in the Puttalam electoral district. The bottom line is that the result of yesterdayre-poll wouldn’t make any difference.

The cancellation followed reports that Puttalam district SLMC member A.K. Baiz, now with the ruling coalition, had manhandled a police officer after police thwarted his supporters from rigging the poll. Although the much delayed action taken by the Elections Commissioner wouldn’t deter the ruling coalition from engaging in malpractices, the elections chief has signaled that the absence of an independent election commission wouldn’t be a problem if he wanted to exercise his full powers.

Despite malpractices at Nayakkarcheni, last week’s polling in the Central and Wayamba Provinces was the most peaceful for well over a decade. It is too much to believe that the ruling party had a change of heart and now shunned violence. As resounding battlefield victories and president’s war on terror had given government candidates the upper hand, the tendency to engage in violence directed at UNP and JVP candidates would have been very much less. Had the armed forces’ failed in their task, the country could have seen election violence on an unprecedented scale.

Relative merit

UNP National Organiser S. B. Dissanayake has publicly acknowledged the armed forces’ role in the government victory. Addressing a hastily called press conference immediately after the Elections Secretariat announced the UPFA victory, Dissanayake said that the party had failed to realize the challenge posed by the peoples’ readiness to discard political differences in support of the war effort. The UNP’s loss had been the government’s gain. The Rajapaksa administration has exploited the battlefield success and among the immediate beneficiaries were those who contested last week’s elections.

UPFA chief ministerial candidate Sarath Ekanayake (Mahanuwara district) and his step brother, Nandimithra (Matale), who had switched sides on more than one occasion, had been elected to the Central PC on the UPFA ticket. Three other brothers, S. B. Dissanayake (Mahanuwara), Saliya Bandara Dissanayake (Nuwara Eliya-UPFA) and Jayalath Bandara Dissanayake (Nuwara Eliya-UNP), too found space in the CPC. Livestock Development Minister R. M. C. B. Ratnayake’s brother, S. B. Ratnayake, who contested the Nuwara Eliya district on the UPFA ticket is also in the new council. Provincial Councils Minister Janaka Bandara Tennakoon’s son, Pramitha (Matale), and his cousin, Thilina Bandara Tennekoon (Mahanuwara) are among the UPFA winners. Urban Development Minister Rohana Kumara Dissanayake’s son, Parakkrama, and Dilum Amunugama, son of Enterprise Development Minister Dr. Sarath Amunugama’s brother, and former PA Minister Anuruddha Ratwatte’s eldest son, Lohan , secured slots in the CPC under the ruling party ticket. Former UNP Minister Alick Aluvihare’s son, Wasantha, who contested the Matale district is among the winners on the UNP side. In fact all three successful candidates representing the UNP elected from the Matale district were relatives of politicians. Sanjiva Kaviratne, son of a former UNP Cultural Affairs Minister and Rohana Bandara, son-in-law of former UNP Minister Wijeratne Banda comprise the opposition team.

Power Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage’s a relative too has found a place among the UPFA team. Sarath Kongahage, a former UNP National List MP now with the UPFA had his wife, Shanthini elected to the CPC on the UNP ticket. Former Kotmale electorate MP Ananda Dassanayake’s son Kumara, too, is in the CPC as a UPFA member.

Although the situation at the Wayamba PC is not as bad as the Central PC, Media Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa’s brother, Chandana, former minister D. P. Wickremesinghe’s son, Neranjan, Coconut Development Minister Salinda Dissanayake’s wife, Manjula, Disease Prevention Minister Jayaratne Herath’s son, Piyumal, and Asanka, son of Ranjith Navaratne, President of the Sri Lanka Mahajana Pakshaya had secured slots in the Kurunegala district all on the UPFA ticket. Soma Kumari Tennakoon who received the support of Minister S. B. Navinna had come second in the Kurunegala UPFA list with 67,998 preferential votes. UPFA chief ministerial candidate Athula Wijesinghe topped the list with 90,295 preferential votes.

J. C. Alawathuwala, son of a former UNP MP has also secured a place in the Kurunegala UNP list.

But UPFA’s constituent parties had suffered heavy defeat with the majority of candidates fielded by Wimal Weerawansa’s National Freedom Front, JHU and Communist Party failing to gain entry. The NFF which fielded ten candidates for Kurunegala, Puttalam, Mahanuwara, Matale and Nuwara Eliya districts had managed to secure just one slot. Nimal Piyatissa who contested Nuwara Eliya district was the only winner from Weerawansa’s list.

The loss suffered by the UPFA’s minor constituents is as bad as the poor showing by the UNP and the JVP. The JVP ended up with just one seat in the Wayamba PC. The fact that its most successful candidate at the Wayamba PC, A. Keerthiratne, polled 2,191 revealed the true extent of their defeat.

Former JVP frontliner S. D. Senaratne who contested the Kurunegala district on the NFF (Weerawansa’s) ticket and lawyer Aravinda Wanniarachchi, a central committee member of the party, too, lost. The loss suffered by Senaratne who had played a critical role in Weerawansa’s revolt against the JVP surprised many. Weerawansa and Nandana Gunatilleke based their campaign on the government’s battlefield success.

The crushing defeat suffered by the NFF is likely to have far reaching impact on their efforts to strengthen the party ahead of the parliamentary elections. The debacle couldn’t have come at a worse time as the party prepares to contest the critically important forthcoming elections to the WPC.

Another UPFA constituent the Upcountry People’s Front had failed to secure a place in the Central PC despite fielding three candidates while only two of the eight candidates fielded by the CWC in the same province had been successful.

With Piyasena Dissanayake, President of Minister Dinesh Gunawardene’s Mahajana Eksath Peramuna, seeking nomination from the SLFP after Gunawardene’s refusal to field him in the Western Province, the fight to secure a place on the UPFA ticket has taken a new turn. Candidates hoping to exploit the government’s rising popularity due to battlefield success are fighting hard for a place in the UPFA list. [courtesy: The Island]