When the Indian army sailed away from Sri Lanka in 1990, it left behind a local defense force. This force, called the Tamil National Army, had been recruited, armed and trained by the Indians. Its job was to hold the areas in north-eastern Sri Lanka that had been cleared of Tiger guerrillas by the Indians, and generally to protect all peaceable Tamils. The Sri Lankan govt, under President Ranasinghe Premadasa, had, it seems, other ideas.
Although the Indians had been invited to Sri Lanka to fight the Tigers, they had, in the govt’s view, outstayed their welcome, Premadasa now wanted to negotiate with the Tigers, not to fight them. To get the Tigers to the negotiating table, he ordered the Sri Lankan army to assist the Tigers against the Tamil National Army, and to provide the Tigers with arms. Little has been heard of the Tamil National Army since. It is assumed that many of its members have been killed, and others are in hiding…
This was, in essence, the story that Premadasa is said to have told his ruling United National Party on September 18. After the story was published in Sri Lanka, the Tigers said that it was “distorted”, but they did not deny its general outline. Now many Sri Lankans are wondering what on earth the Sri Lankan army was doing, fighting alongside its sworn enemies who want a separate Tamil state in the country. Premadasas explanation that the army and the Tigers were fighting as allies “to protect the people in the east” is a curious bit of thinking. The Tigers did open negotiations with the govt, but these came to nothing. The Tigers, it seems, used the negotiating period to refresh themselves for battles to come.
Apart from criticism over his murky deal with the Tigers, Premadasa is in trouble with Parliament. A group of member wants to impeach him. The group, part of what it says is a “broad front” for more democracy in Sri Lanka, includes members of the governing party as well as those of the Opposition. It is unlikely to muster the two thirds majority necessary for impeachment, but it hopes at least for a simple majority against the president. This would amount to a vote of no confidence, and would make it difficult for Premadasa to carry on for all the remaining four years of his six-year term. Leaders of the group say they want to dismantle the present presidential system and give more power to Parliament.
When the impeachment motion was presented to the speaker in August, Premadasa suspended Parliament for a month, to give himself time to win support. Parliament was reopened on September 24. As president, Premadasa claimed the night to address the members. He was constantly interrupted and jeered. At the height of the turmoil, the state-run radio stopped broadcasting the proceedings, fearing, no doubt correctly, that the president’s prestige was being damaged. In the part of Premadasas speech that could be heard, he said Mossad, an Israeli intelligence agency, was plotting against him, Israelis helped to train the Si Lankan army to fight guerrillas. But, to appease Sri Lankan Muslims, Premadasa closed an Israeli office in Colombo last year. Now, he said in Parliament, “Mossad has been activated against me”.
His critics believe that any plotting was nearer home. The impeachment motion alleges violation of the constitution, treason and corruption, and claims that, because of mental infirmity, Premadasa is incapable of being president. It is an all-purpose list. But among ordinary Sri Lankans the most telling criticism of the president could be that he helped the Tigers. (ECONOMIST)
Article extracted from this publication >> October 18, 1991
