Snatching peace from the jaws of war?
"International Analysts conversant with the LTTE have remarked that 'as in war, so in peace.' The LTTE has stuck to its broadly predictable strategy of pushing Colombo to the edge, and then going for the jugular. The tone and substance of the letters from Anton Balsingham made it clear that there is no prospect of an immediate climb-down on the part of the LTTE from its latest entrenched position, despite all the prodding and nudging of the international community. The LTTE remains as defiant as ever. What Prabhakaran and his organisation are trying to achieve is a solution based on the principle of one country, two nations, two governmental systems, two armed forces functioning independently of each other under a common umbrella for purposes of protocol.''

Now, that may sound a familiar tirade against the LTTE, written by any number of Sinhalese with whiskey in hand. But it was not. It was a document -- a very confidential intelligence report that was released last week, by the DII, the Directorate of Internal Intelligence which is basically what the National Intelligence Bureau used to be. Two things can be said. The report was blunt and it was no respecter of persons. Cut to the bone, what it said was that the Tigers are taking the government for a ride, and that the government may do well to look sharp.

The most telling part of the document (apart from specific intelligence warnings which we shall come to) is when it says: "the failure of the Ranil Wickremesinghe government to work out a road map for talks in consultation with the opposition and President Chandrika Kumaratunga, and his oft exhibited over-anxiety to placate the LTTE, have placed the government in a weak position.

The more the concessions he makes to the LTTE, the more recalcitrant it becomes, calculating often rightly that the more the psychological pressure it exercises on him, the more the concessions he would be prepared to make. Prabhakaran is aware that Wickremesinghe's political future is intertwined with the success of the negotiations and therefore he can be expected to go to any lengths to accommodate the LTTE's demands. From this arises a key question. Is Prabhakaran exploiting the mechanics of conflict resolution to extract concession after concession, so that he can be in total control of the de-facto Tamil Eelam?''

The language does not leave much to conjecture and to imagination. It is a blunt intelligence document that says things -- according to the compilers of it -- as they are. There are specific warnings, of LTTE hit squads waiting to eliminate certain men of other Tamil political parties in Wellawatte, and a group of the Charles Anthony brigade having infiltrated the Vadamarachchi sector with weapons.

There are other reports of movements and infiltrations in Kalmunai etc., and these specifics may have prompted the PA to say "the LTTE is planning an attack'' Sarath Amunugama was saying that to anybody who would listen to the PA press conference. Even though this was the case, and the President was threatening to take-over the Ministry of Defence on the grounds that there is a total state of unpreparedness in the face of this Tiger subterfuge, there was no real indication that the PA is serious about the fact that the LTTE might go to war.

The mass demonstrations that took place in Jaffna as Pongu Thamil this week were one of the intelligence warnings given in the report above, and in these demonstrations the LTTE indicated that government troops should move out of the camps and the public institutions 'in our land in Jaffna.''

If, as the intelligence reports say, the LTTE is extracting concessions from the government, it was still engaged in the process of doing so - - and a war next week in these circumstances, as the PA says, looked unlikely.

Taking aim from inside and out
But the stability of the government, in the face of all the realpolitik concerning the LTTE, may be in jeopardy due to more insidious forces. Arumugam Thondaman, before he took off for India, indicated that he will pull-out of the government if the government decided to go ahead with the Upper Kotmale Project, which the Minister of Power and Energy badly wants, in order to supplement the national grid.

The JVP was in the meanwhile breathing fire at Hyde Park, making a vow that the government will have hell to pay if there was an Interim Administration that is given to the Tigers. To that extent the only solace that the government seemed to enjoy was from the fact that there seemed to be some division within the opposition ranks as well.

Actually the opposition was seeking to defuse the division. Last week , instead of appointing a Deputy Leader for the SLFP, the President decided to go contra-constitutional and scrap the post of Deputy Leader of the SLFP, thus staving off the dispute as to who the Deputy Leader should be, Mahinda Rajapakse or brother Anura Bandaranaike. Bandaranaike himself was in support of the move, or so he stood up and said, at the Central Committee meeting before the party convention in Attangalla.
However, the Leader of the Opposition Rajapakse was appointed a Senior Vice President of the Party and Anura Bandaranaike was only made Vice President.

There were nine other Vice Presidents , while there were three other Senior Vice Presidents. Even with all that Rajapakse had to contented with a bit of a fiasco when he did not have a seat when he arrived a little late for the party convention at Sri Sangabodhi Maha Vidyalaya in Attanagalla. He sat in the third row, when Chandana Kathriarachchi, one of the organisers, shepherded him to the front row with a chair. But he had to unseat Mangala Samaraweera in the process, and anyway in the ensuring melee Mangala had to be seated somewhere else and there were three or four more unseatings before everyone was finally in their proper place.

Infighting or otherwise, the President had said in no uncertain terms, when she met the Prime Minister before he emplaned for London, that the Interior Ministry was like a bull in a China shop. After the Premier departed she made it known through various conduits that she intends taking over the Development Lotteries Board in reality when the PM comes back - -and together with that, perhaps the Interior Ministry and the Defence Ministry too. That would be three birds with one stone but she is still taking aim -- and there are a lot of stone -throwers within the party.

I refer to the article under the headline "Clean Mr. Choksy and other matters" which appeared at page 10 (editorial Page) of your issue of Sunday, June 22, 2003.
The article suggests that I had misused my ministerial powers and thereby enabled the clearance through Customs of certain luxury vehicles by an importer whom I had earlier represented in a professional capacity whilst practising as a lawyer.
This is totally incorrect.

The vehicles in question (which were reconditioned vehicles) were imported into Sri Lanka in September last year, when an issue arose with the Customs authorities in respect of an applicable regulation. This is nine months after I assumed Ministerial office and ceased to practise at the Bar. I thus had no professional connections with the import.

Upon an Appeal lodged with me under the Customs Ordinance, after full verification of the facts with both the Japanese Ports Authority and the Japanese Embassy in Colombo, the decision on the Appeal was made by me. The Article accordingly is a wholly incorrect aspersion on my integrity as the holder of public office.

Unfortunately, I was not contacted prior to publication. In the circumstances, in fairness to me and in keeping with proper journalistic traditions, which I have no doubt you uphold, please cause this communication to be published with equal prominence on the same Editorial page of your next issue on Sunday, June 29th 2003.

I also observe that the headline to the article in question specifies my name. In the context of the article, the headline itself seeks to ridicule me. I therefore request that the clarification will be under an appropriate headline.
Yours sincerely,
K. N.Choksy P.C. M.P
Minister of Finance.
Political Editor's Note:
The Column was based on a case now before court. in which Mr. Choksy is a respondent, and there was no intention to cast any aspersion on Mr. Choksy. We did say that Mr. Choksy will have his defence. The Minister was not available for comment at the time the article was written.

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