What does Sri Lanka’s NPP-majority government mean for Tamils?
15 November 2024
A voter walks to a polling station in Mullaitivu on Thursday.
As Sri Lanka’s National People’s Power (NPP) swept parliament with a majority that will allow it to amend the constitution, we take a look back at the coalition’s previous pledges and examine what an NPP government holds for Eelam Tamils.
The NPP now holds 159 seats in the 225-member parliament. Many of those elected are coming into parliament for the very first time, with a host of new MPs from across the Tamil North-East.
Release of all political prisoners
Days before the island went to the polls, Sri Lanka’s president Anura Kumara Dissanayake made a tour of the North-East, speaking in both Vavuniya and Jaffna, two significant districts in which he hoped to consolidate power. During his speech in Vavuniya, he announced his intention to end the prolonged detention of Tamil political prisoners, stating, “According to the advice of the Attorney General, we will move forward with the release of these prisoners.”
Release of occupied land in North-East
Tamils in Mannar protest demanding the release of their land last month.
In Vavuniya, Dissanayake assured Tamils that he would return all lands that had been seized by consecutive governments and governmental agencies.
During his address, in Sinhala but translated to Tamil, Dissanayake pledge to release Tamil land occupied by the state – but also attempted to minimise the decades of oppression faced by the Tamil people. “When we give lands in the North, the South shouts, and when we give lands in the South, the North shouts,” he said in Vavuniya, claiming that Tamils were opposed to the land being granted to Sinhala people in the South. He said nothing else to back up his claim.
To this day, the military continues to occupy vast swathes of land across the Tamil North-East, despite more than 15 years since the Mullivaikkal genocide. In recent years, Sri Lanka’s archaeology and forest departments have forcibly taken over more land in Tamil Eelam, claiming they are Sinhala Buddhist heritage sites. Regardless Dissanayake stated, “We have committed to return all lands belonging to the people in the North, regardless of the reasons for its previous acquisition”.
The NPP in their manifesto attributes “social inequalities in the distribution of land” to privatisation, citing that this has caused “various political problems”. It pledges that the NPP will develop a system of quasi-judicial institutions for “fast and fair” resolution of land-related issues. Currently, there are various ongoing land disputes and the military occupation of the North-East. The manifesto is available here in Sinhalese and Tamil.
Repealing the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act
Dissanayake promised in his presidential manifesto to abolish oppressive laws, including the PTA, which has long been condemned for its violation of free speech and association rights. The Act, enacted in 1979 and later made permanent, grants authorities the power to detain individuals without charge and has often led to the prolonged detention of suspects, disproportionately affecting Tamils in the Northeast. Rights organizations argue that this legislation, which bypasses international due process standards, has enabled arbitrary arrests and unfair trials, and, in some cases, paved the way for torture due to the admissibility of police-obtained confessions as evidence.
A screenshot from Dissanayake’s August 2024 manifesto, still available online.
Weeks after coming into office however, Presidential Secretariat Director J.M. Wijebandara clarified the government’s stance. “The issue was about the misuse of the PTA against civil activists and journalists, which we will not allow. It will only be applied based on credible intelligence information, and it will not be used for political revenge. When the Act is not misused, no issues will arise,” he stated, suggesting that existing safeguards could prevent abuse of the law.
Meanwhile, Cabinet Spokesperson Vijitha Herath spoke only of “amendments” but said his party needed parliamentary approval, a majority that they now comfortably hold.
The PTA, which has been widely criticized by Tamils and international rights organizations as a tool of repression.
Will Anura be the last executive president?
Dissanayake and the NPP’s Manifesto pledges the abolition of the executive presidential system, which is something that Sri Lankan president has been speaking about for quite some time. Earlier in September, NPP’s Sunil Hadunnetti said Anura would be Sri Lanka’s last executive president.
“A President who will abolish the Executive Presidency has now been appointed. We appeal to the public to give us their support to achieve this.” Handunnetti told a media briefing that the Executive Presidency’s abolition would not only mark the end of a controversial system of governance but also lead to more democratic reforms. He stressed that the NPP is committed to this cause and that with the help of the public, they aim to reshape Sri Lanka’s political landscape. He stated: “This is just the beginning. With the acceptance and the help of the citizens, we will build this nation”.
Reactivate provincial councils
In his election manifesto, as well as in his election campaign, Dissanayake pledged to conduct provincial council elections within a year “to provide an opportunity for the people to join the governance.” At a rally in Ratnapura, he announced that provincial council elections are scheduled for next year, with local government elections also planned.
“A political mechanism including the Presidency, a strong Cabinet, Parliament, Provincial Councils, Urban Councils, Municipal Councils and Pradeshiya Sabhas are required for governance. We plan to conduct the Provincial Council elections within next year. We also expect to conduct the elections to the Urban Councils, Municipal Councils and Pradeshiya Sabhas as well,” he said.
NPP on the 13th Amendment
Dissanayake during a meeting with members of the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK) affirmed his party would support the implementation of the 13th Amendment to the Sri Lankan constitution.
The pledge revelation starkly contrasts Dissanayake’s previous meeting in Jaffna recently where he specifically said that he was not there to barter the 13th Amendment in exchange for Tamil votes. The 13th Amendment was brought in after the Indo-Sri Lankan agreement of 1987, which calls for a merged North-East and the devolution of police and land powers to the province. However, it has been consistently rejected by the Tamil people as not being an adequate solution, whilst the Sri Lankan state for decades has obfuscated its implementation.
The amendment has been staunchly opposed by the JVP since its inception. The JVP staged two insurrections against the state in the early 1970s and the late 1980s. The latter of these was chiefly in response to the Indo-Lanka accord and the 13th Amendment which sought to devolve powers to Tamils in the North-East.
“As a political party we strongly opposed the Indo-Lanka Accord decades ago, and dedicated our initiatives to safeguarding Sri Lanka’s sovereignty, at the cost of many lives,” said Vijitha Herath of the JVP earlier this year.
“This stance has not changed and will not change,” he told reporters in Colombo. “Throughout the country’s history, we have consistently made decisions to safeguard our territorial integrity, and we stand by that commitment today and in the future. We give our assurance to the people of this country that these principles will not waver.”
In 2015, then-JVP Propaganda Secretary Herath told The Island, “the JVP is against federalism”.
He also spoke out against the merging of the Northern and Eastern provinces, as outlined by the Indo-Lanka accord. “It is the JVP that went before the courts and got an order to demerge the two provinces that had been arbitrarily merged after the Indo-Lanka Accord,” he added, referring to when the JVP filed three separate petitions with the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka calling for the North-Eastern Province to be demerged. The Province was formally demerged into the Northern and Eastern provinces on 1 January 2007. Jubilant JVP supporters lit firecrackers outside the building at the time.
In 2010, Dissanayake himself said the JVP will oppose if a new political constitution devolving powers to the Northern and Eastern provinces was to be created.
His current 2024 manifesto stresses that they will ensure “territorial integrity and sovereignty of the country without compromise”.
Accountability for the genocide
Aruna Jayasekara.
The events have been the subject of several UN reports and resolutions, including one that was passed at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva last month. The resolutions, and Tamil victims, have demanded an internationalised accountability process to hold perpetrators of war crimes accountable and finally deliver justice for the mass atrocities.
Dissanayake and the JVP have been firmly against such a move, with the JVP leader stating earlier this year he “will not seek to punish anyone accused of rights violations and war crimes”.
“Even the victims do not expect anyone to be punished,” he claimed, despite Tamils repeatedly calling for an international accountability mechanism and for Sri Lanka to be taken to the International Criminal Court (ICC).
At the same time, his party has openly embraced military officials implicated in war crimes such as retired general Aruna Jayasekara, reportedly entrusting him with their defence policy. Jayasekara was the commander of the 3rd contingent to Haiti during a Sri Lankan peacekeeping operation that faced allegations of running a child sex trafficking ring during a UN peacekeeping operation from 2004 to 2007.
In one of its first major foreign policy acts since coming into power, the Sri Lankan government also firmly rejected the UN resolution. Last month, Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister, Vijitha Herath, reaffirmed his government’s rejection and instead pledged to continue with “domestic” mechanisms that have been rejected by victims for over 15 years.
First and foremost place for Buddhism
According to Sri Lanka’s constitution, “the Republic of Sri Lanka shall give to Buddhism the foremost place and accordingly it shall be the duty of the State to protect and foster the Buddha Sasana”. Though the JVP proclaims itself as Marxist, for decades the party has been staunchly Sinhala nationalist – a politics that Dissanayake has defended. Even as the party has a majority that could amend the constitution to remove this clause, it has pledged the opposite.
In the run-up to the election, Dissanayake repeatedly paid tribute to the Sinhala Buddhist clergy and in an address to over 1,500 Buddhist monks in Maharagama, he assured them that the Sri Lankan constitution would continue to grant the “first and foremost” place to Buddhism and that it has “divine protection”.
It is a sentiment that is widely shared in his party, with senior members such as K D Lalkantha openly associating with racist figures such as the Buddhist monk Gnanasara of the Bodu Bala Sena (BBS or Buddhist Power Force).
In February, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, warned that in Sri Lanka:
“There has been a further drift towards militarisation and an emphasis of Sinhala nationalism and Buddhism in State institutions has become more visible, increasing the marginalisation and uncertainty of minority communities, and undermining reconciliation.”
A bridge to India?
The JVP has traditionally been thought to have stood on an ‘Anti-India’ platform, having staged the 1987 insurrection, as the prospect of Tamil autonomy in the North-East and the presence of the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) stirred up a wave of Sinhalese nationalism.
The party had previously denounced Indian-origin estate workers, Malayaga Tamils, as a “fifth-column instrument of Indian expansionism”. For decades it would rally against perceived Indian expansionism on the island, protesting against deals such as the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), a deal that would open up possibilities for greater trade and investment between the two countries.
Protestors holding placards during a demonstration against CEPA in 2010 (File Photo)
Dissanayake shared those sentiments, telling parliament in 2008 for example that ‘a secret plot has been hatched to hand over Katchatheevu to India’and that it ‘cannot be allowed to succeed at any cost’. Though the issue of Katchatheevu has been raised by New Delhi in recent months, India also invited Dissanayake for an official tour of the country earlier this year. The visit was seen as a significant outreach by Delhi and marked a possible change of heart from the JVP’s fiercely anti-India rhetoric that came to define its politics.
Dissanayake and a JVP delegation met with politicians, government officials, and members of the business community.
Earlier today, India’s High Commissioner was amongst the first to meet and congratulate Dissanayake on his party’s victory.
It illustrates a possible change of heart from the Sri Lankan president, who announce that India will also be the destination of his first official foreign visit as head of state.
However, the fate of several Indian projects on the island, including a proposed wind power plant in Mannar, remains up in the air. Prior to his victory in the September 21 presidential election, Dissanayake had vowed to revoke the project, which the NPP alliance saw as a potential threat to Sri Lanka’s energy sector “sovereignty”.
But his administration appears increasingly hesitant to sever ties with New Delhi, kicking back making a decision on the project until the new year.
India has been looking to grow its presence on the island and implement several other projects, including a land bridge connecting Tamil Nadu and Tamil Eelam.
https://www.tamilguardian.com/content/what-does-sri-lankas-npp-majority-government-mean-tamils
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.