Provincial Council election laws disallow deferring of polls. The government has chosen the quick option of using Emergency regulations thereby necessitating the extension of Emergency to all areas where elections were scheduled. The main opposition United National Party (UNP) says that the postponement breaches the 13th Amendment to the Sri Lankan Constitution and proposes legal action against the government.
The government decision is said to have followed Deputy Defence minister Anuruddha Ratwatte’s refusal to release 30,000 troops needed to police the elections and provide security to candidates. Analysts point to the flagging popularity of the government in mid-term as the main reason for putting off elections.
Mr Ratwatte claims that the war in the north-east is at a crucial stage and emphasises the need to maintain the current military pressure on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to gain victory. Justice minister GL Peiris also says that elections at this stage may affect the course of the war and the sacrifice of thousands of soldiers in the battlefront would be in vain.
Following the extension of Emergency, President Chandrika told the Press Trust of India that the government is prepared to negotiate with the LTTE involving a third party. The Presidential Secretariat says in a press release that the President did not propose third party mediation but talks may be considered if the Tigers accepted specific government conditions.
One of the conditions, the Presidential Secretariat further says, is that discussions could begin through a facilitator, rather than a mediator, while military operations continued and the government will not be willing to change the military status quo until such talks reached finality on a political solution.
The NGO-based National Peace Council welcomed the offer, but some Colombo observers who are doubtful about government motives, contend that the real intention behind the offer is to deflect criticism over censorship and the postponement of elections. Others say it is a response to questions raised by leaders attending the summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).
The tenth SAARC summit began on 29 July in Colombo, amidst heavy security. Over 6,000 policemen were deployed and new checkpoints established. Security was further strengthened after the new Terrorist Investigation Division (TID) claimed that a plot to assassinate President Chandrika was uncovered following the arrest of Black Tiger Ganesh Thanarani. Ms Thanarani is alleged to have written a letter, while in custody, to Colombo Tamil newspaper Virakesari reporter, Sandralingam Srigajan implicating him in the conspiracy. Mr Srigajan was arrested on 16 July and Virakesari’s Vavuniya correspondent Ponniah Manickavasagam was detained on 20 July. Two days later the newspaper’s former astrological columnist K Theivanayagam was taken into custody.
International agencies expressed concern over the arrests. Paris-based Reporters Sans Frontieres urged the government to define the charges against Mr Srigajan and release him unconditionally if he was detained because of his newspaper articles. Media minister Mangala Samaraweera has assured that the arrests were on suspicion of LTTE links and had nothing to do with their journalism. Virakesari complains that the journalists were not informed of the reasons for their arrests and are held incommunicado.
The eagerly-awaited meeting between Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Indian Premier Atal Bihari Vajpayee took place in Colombo on 29 July. India did not agree to Pakistan’s earlier suggestion that the Kashmir issue should be discussed by the conference. The growing tension between the countries since the nuclear tests in May has worried the other SAARC nations. The two leaders agreed to continue bilateral talks. However, the meeting between the foreign secretaries of the two nations could not continue because of differences over what was agreed at an earlier meeting in Islamabad in June 1997.
Following discussions with Mr Vajpayee, President Chandrika Kumaratunge announced that India would extend cooperation to Sri Lanka in finding a solution to the island’s chronic conflict. The Tamil parties who met Mr Vajpayee say that he carefully listened to their representations on the suffering of people in northern Vanni, arbitrary arrests of Tamils, the reduction in food aid to refugees in the north-east and the current uncertain situation in the Jaffna peninsula.