BY IGGY KIM
On September 5, Sri Lanka's government lifted its four-year ban on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). This followed a clash over the issue between the United National Front (UNF) government and President Chandrika Kumaratunge, who is a member of the opposition People's Alliance, which had threatened to scupper the peace negotiations.
The lifting of the ban is a crucial step for the commencement of peace talks in Thailand on September 16.
On September 1, Kumaratunge asserted her opposition to an unconditional lifting of the ban. Further, she agreed to an interim administration for the north-east Tamil areas only after agreement with the Tigers was reached on core issues.
On September 2, a leader of Kumaratunge's Sri Lankan Freedom Party and a People's Alliance MP, A.H.M. Fowzie, publicly opposed Kumaratunge's stance and expressed support for the lifting of the ban before talks begin. Fowzie also looks likely to support a UNF amendment to the constitution to curb the president's powers. The president currently has the power to dissolve parliament.
In response, Kumaratunge mobilised the Sinhala-chauvinist Buddhist clergy. On September 2, the newly formed National Conference of Buddhist Monks staged a rally at the Bandaranaike International Conference Hall, named after Kumaratunge's father. They denounced the peace-broking country, Norway, and urged Kumaratunge to save the nation from breakup and to take over the defence portfolio from the UNF. Hundreds of monks then marched to meet with Kumaratunge at her home.
However, both the government's timely lifting of the ban and the dissent in the People's Alliance reflect the preference within Sri Lanka's ruling class for a negotiated settlement and the growing isolation of those who opt for a military solution to the conflict.
From Green Left Weekly, September 11, 2002.
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