The Tigers overran Oddusuddan camp on 2 November and thereafter moved rapidly south and west in a five-day offensive to take the other towns, including Nedunkerni, Mankulam and Puliyankulam. Heavy fighting is said to be taking place in Omanthai, just seven miles north of Vavuniya. Observers say casualties on both sides may be in the region of 1,500. The Army has rushed 2,000 additional troops into Omanthai area in a desperate attempt to stem the LTTE advance.
The loss of almost the entire territory captured in Operation Jayasikurui (Certain Victory) and Operation Rivi Bala (Sun Power) over a period of 19 months, in a matter of days, has shocked Colombo. President Chandrika Kumaratunge, as commander-in-chief of the armed forces reacted with predictable anger, sacking several northern Army officers, including Vanni Commander Maj. Gen. Neil Dias.
As Army Commander Lt. Gen. Sirilal Weerasooriya appointed a military court to enquire into the debacle, the government reinforced censorship on military news introduced under Emergency regulations in June 1998. The Tiger assault came in the wake of the announcement to hold presidential elections.
Sri Lanka Elections Commissioner Dayananda Dissanayake ended a month of speculation when he announced in late October that the presidential election would be held on 21 December. Nominations for the election will be accepted on 16 November. The Commissioner’s notification followed President Chandrika Kumaratunge’s official proclamation on 20 October, to hold presidential election an year before her term of office ends. As soon as President Chandrika made public that as candidate for the ruling People’s Alliance (PA), she would seek a second term, the main opposition United National Party (UNP) leader Ranil Wickremasinghe also declared his candidacy.
President Chandrika said that she brought forward the election to seek a mandate to break the stalemate in finding a solution to the island’s ethnic conflict. She accused the UNP of unwilling to provide support in Parliament for a two-thirds majority needed to adopt a new constitution incorporating government devolution proposals.
Addressing foreign investors on 5 October, Mr Wickremasinghe reiterated his demand for negotiations with the LTTE. He said that the UNP is in favour of a foreign facilitator for peace talks and called for an interim council to administer the Tamil north-east region. President Chandrika challenged the opposition leader in a hard-hitting mid-October letter, asking him to make clear the precise set of proposals that should be discussed with the Tigers.
The President also wanted to know UNP’s views on the government devolution proposals and demanded Mr Wickremasinghe to disclose details of alleged discussions UNP’s Jayalath Jayawardena held with LTTE leaders in the Vanni over the past two years. The letter effectively places the entire blame on the UNP for the failure to resolve the ethnic problem. Observers say that the PA government has the prime responsibility in the matter and no real progress has been made since the draft constitution was published in 1996, but prosecution of the war has been given greater impetus. While emphasizing that constitutional and legal guarantees were essential to ensure minority rights, President Chandrika says that a political solution must include equal opportunities, specially in education and employment.
The government succumbed to pressure from various groups, including students, and withheld the Equal Opportunities Bill, which was scheduled to be presented in Parliament on 7 October. The Bill seeks to make discrimination on several grounds, including ethnicity, gender, religion and language unlawful. It also provides for the establishment of an Equal Opportunity Commission and an Equal Opportunity Tribunal with powers of affirmative action where discrimination is alleged.
In 1997, Mr Wickremasinghe rejected extensive devolution as contained in the government devolution proposals claiming that the 13th Amendment to the Constitution had settled the unit of devolution issue. The PA says that if the UNP is unwilling to go beyond the 13th Amendment, then the call for talks with the LTTE is a sham and is intended only to entice Tamil voters.
Elections are also the time for scapegoats. Sources say that President Chandrika has severely criticized Justice minister GL Peiris for the lack of progress in the quest for constitutional reform. She is said to blame him for including a clause entrenching the highest status to Buddhism in the draft constitution, which she believes has given minorities further cause for concern. Mr Peiris is also under criticism for introducing the Equal Opportunities Bill and placing the government in a difficult position at election time.