The Sunday TimesNews/Comment

11th May 1997

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Thonda wants PC portfolios returned

By S.S. Selvanayagam

The impass over the withdrawal of portfolios from a CWC member of the Uva Provincial Council took a new turn with Ceylon Workers' Congress (CWC) leader Minister S. Thondaman calling for better relations with the UNP.

Mr. Thondaman has told the leader of the Opposition and the UNP Ranil Wickremesinghe the friendly relationship between UNP and CWC could be strengthened if the portfolios removed from CWC member M. Satchitanandan are returned to him.

Uva Province Chief Minister Percy Samaraweera last week took over the portfolios of plantation schools and Hindu culture from Mr. Sachchitanandan.

Mr. Thondaman said Mr. Wickremesinghe has the power and the position to guide the chief minister.

He was replying to Mr. Wickremesinghe's comment that the Chief Minister has the authority to change portfolios or ministers.

Mr. Thondaman in his letter has told Mr. Wickremesinghe that the arbitrary actions taken by the U.V.A. Chief Minister would lead to a "perpetual rift" between their two parties.

Although the UNP has acknowledged the letter, its hierarchy has not yet reviewed this issue.

In the wake of the new crisis and the debacle in the recent local government polls, the CWC and the former breakaway group the Upcountry Peoples' Front headed by the Deputy Minister P. Chandrasekaran have decided to function as a coherent single entity in the parliament for the interest of the upcountry populace.

The both political parties which are constituent in the PA government would intimate their decision to the Speaker K. B. Ratnayake shortly.

While CWC chief Mr. Thondaman continues to be the leader of this parliamentary group, UPF leader Chandrasekaran would function as the deputy leader of the parliamentary group.

He said that although both parties which represent the upcountry in the parliament had taken a decision to uphold the interest of the upcountry people as a single entity, both parties would maintain their independent policies outside Parliament.

This mechanism has been evolved in order to give more weightage and to simplify the mode of function for the easy solution to the problems of the upcountry people in mind, he added.


Maids ripped off by mail sorters

Sri Lanka's housemaids and other workers abroad - the main source of foreign exchange for our country - are being ripped off by unscrupulous mail sorters at most of the leading post offices in the country, one conscientious sorter told 'The Sunday Times.'

The sorter, who has several years experience but did not wish to be identified for obvious reasons said that as a deeply committed religious person he was shocked to see what was happening when foreign letters were sorted at the post office he worked in and in other Po's.

He said Air Mail letters were just ripped open, cheques or cash taken and the rest of the contents bundled together and buried somewhere or burnt. At the post office he worked in more than Rs. 15,000 had been taken from air letters in recent weeks and no action had been taken despite complaints.

One victim, a young lady teacher had been sent Rs. 8,000 by her husband from abroad for maintenance of the family. But the money was taken and her signature forged on the registration form.

He said the main reason for this large scale defrauding of innocent people was the lack of supervision by officers at mail sorting time. In earlier years regular checks by supervising officers had been a deterrent to "rogue" sorters but now the checks were few and far between.

He said the Postmaster General and other top officers in the department should take immediate action to stop this mail fraud, with the first step being a deployment of more supervisors.


1,800 families go back home

(From our Trincomalee cor)

Resettlement of 1,800 displaced families from Walikamam North began on May 1 with the first batch moving to their own villages in the 11 Grama Sevaka divisions in Walikamam North, in the Jaffna district.

At a conference chaired by Major General Karunatilake it was decided to allow resettlement of displaced only in 11 GS divisions. G.A. Jaffna Chelliah Pathmanathan and the Divisional Secretaries of Nallur and Kopay also attended the conference.

Resettled families have been allowed to do food crop cultivations in their areas except plantain cultivation for security reasons.

Meanwhile, the military probe appointed by the defence ministry to inquire into the alleged disappearances of persons after the Riviresa operations, held its second round sittings at Urelu, a place close to Palaly Base on April 24, 25, 26 and recorded the evidence of 61 persons.


UNP proposes Commissions to monitor elections and police

By Arshad M. Hadjirin

The United National Party (UNP) has appointed a four-member committee to make proposals regarding the formation of independent commissions to control the elections and police.

This body chaired by K.N. Choksy, P.C. consisting of Tyronne Fernando, Mahinda Samarasinghe, and Tilak Marapana, will have their first sitting next week and finalise their proposals in six weeks time, before it is presented to the Parliamentary Select Committee.

A Committee spokesman told The Sunday Times that these two independent commissions are essential in order to eliminate politicisation in the appointments or decisions of the police force.

"An independent elections commission will enable free and fair elections and prevent any type of rigging or manoeuvring by a party which is in power at the time of elections", the spokesman said.


Troops foil infiltration

Troops prevented an attempt by Tamil rebels to infiltrate through the forward defences in Chavakachcheri, killing at least five rebels and wounding several others, military officials said yesterday.

A large group of rebels on Friday night had cut the barbed wire fence in the forward defences and were trying to make their way into the army controlled area, but they were detected and fired upon.

A group of rebels fleeing across the Kilali lagoon with the dead and the injured were attacked again by the navy, officials said.


200 pages of evidence

Evidence running into some 200 pages was recorded by the Swiss investigation team which was in Sri Lanka recently, to meet victims of alleged child abuse by Swiss National Victor Baumann.

According to reports the evidence was recorded from eight victims whose ages ranged from 13 to 20. Meanwhile, reports from Zurich said Swiss lawyers were prepared to appear for the victims here.


Call for Ayurveda schols

The Ayurvedic Medical Preservation Board has requested the North East Governor to take steps to provide scholarships to Siddha physicians working in the north east province to undergo postgraduate studies in India.


Mixed reactions to talks with LTTE proposal

By Frederica Jansz

A letter from a group of Parliamentarians who called on the parliamentary Select Committee to open talks with the LTTE has drawn mixed reactions from the PA and UNP.

Constitutional Affairs Minister G. L. Peiris said: "The Government cannot contemplate peace talks with the LTTE with an empty slate."

UNP stalwart A.C.S. Hameed asserted individual opinions of parliamentarians who attend conflict resolution seminars are vital to contribute to the processes of the devolution package.

Twenty two MPs who attended a Manila workshop on conflict resolution organized by International Alert (IA).to draw the LTTE into peace discussions wrote to Minister Peiris, who is Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC), on the importance of talks with the LTTE. this letter has drawn mixed reactions from certain senior party stalwarts of both the UNP and P.A.

Speculation is rife that the smooth facilitation of the package through parliament is threatend by the UNP not supporting the power sharing proposals under the present framework of the package.

This has lent comment that wider active participation on the part of parliamentarians is now essential to steer the process through parliament.

While the UNP, has not yet indicated a definite stand on the devolution package, Minister Peiris said that whatever amendments the UNP want incorporated would be considered.

Promoting a solution for the ethnic conflict is now envisaged by the government as a national problem and the PA, he says, will not grab sole credit for the devolution proposals.

Dr. Peiris stressed that although the government believes that talks with the LTTE were necessary, political parties in parliament had a duty to define their basic attitude to this problem. "When the government go to the LTTE it should have a basic set of proposals that are acceptable to the political parties in parliament," he asserted, but maintained that at the same time there must be some degree of flexibility. He reiterated that this was the reason for the Parliamentary Select Committee through which "we hope to arrive at a set of clear principles".

The first condition for a durable and lasting settlement to the ethnic conflict is active participation and involvement by as wide a section of the community as possible and obviously MPs would play a crucial role, he said. The 22 MPs in their letter have indicated that the LTTE should be a part of the negotiating process.

Expressing pleasure that parliamentarians are involved and exposed to such discussions, Dr. Peiris said the government has always been of the view that the LTTE should participate in negotiations and has indicated that it is not only willing but eager to engage the LTTE in dialogue.

However, the government continues to insist on certain conditions which "we believe to be entirely reasonable and essential", he said.

Such conditions would include the surrender of arms, address the substantive political and humanitarian issues and a definite timeframe to be set.

Mr. Hameed asserts that based on information gathered at such conferences members of this group could state how they assess the devolution package and its importance in resolving the conflict that is withholding Sri Lanka's march into the 21st century.

The MP's, he said, could submit a report to their respective parties and to the PSC to be treated as a confidential document if they so desire.

Rauf Hakeem, Deputy Chairman of the PSC, said that in any future negotiations between the government and the LTTE, the Parliamentary Select Committee should not be side-lined. Effective co-ordination with the PSC and a channel for communication is imperative in the event of talks.

The PSC, he said did not represent only the government and the opposition but other minority parties as well. Consultation is important to facilitate the smooth process of a future dialogue, he said.

Dr. Sarath Amunugama said it was now essential for the members to form a new democratic third force in parliament and visit areas of conflict within Sri Lanka and help identify root causes.


Excecutive allegedly punched by cop

A senior mercantile executive was allegedly assaulted by a police constable in uniform while on his way to office after a police vehicle tried to overtake his vehicle from the wrong side and was prevented from doing so.

Ironically the executive was punched by the constable on his face in front of another police officer on traffic duty near Havelock road to whom he had gone and stopped his vehicle thinking that the law enforcement officer on duty would help him out, last week.

"I was driving towards Thummulla junction. I saw a hi-ace van driven by a policeman in uniform trying to overtake me from the wrong side. I managed to get my vehicle on to a side and avoid an accident," he said.

"The vehicle followed me and at one point it cut across my vehicle and the driver turned abusive. I drove further up and and stopped near a police officer on traffic duty thinking that he would intervene to solve the matter. But instead the policeman got off the vehicle and punched me with his clinched fist," he said.

A complaint has been lodged about the incident at the Bambalapititya Police station.

Over to you IGP.


Poll reshuffle by JVP

By Shyamal A. Collure

The resignation letters of about 90 JVP members who were elected at the Local Government polls held in March have been accepted by the Elections Commissioner, JVP Propaganda Secretary, Wimal Weerawansa said.

Out of the 101 JVP members returned, except for a handful including Ajith Kumara (Gampaha Pradeshiya Sabha), Wimal Weerawansa (Colombo MC), Sunil Ranaweera (Galewela PS), S.K. Subasinghe (Hingurakgoda PS) and Jayantha Arambegama (Ukuwela PS) whom the party preferred to retain, all the rest resigned after taking oaths to pave way for other candidates of the JVP, he said.

Mr Weerawansa said the JVP in its campaign had clearly called on the people to vote for the party and not for individuals.

"All of them resigned willingly, for it was a condition agreed upon prior to the elections. We are fielding our best bets in these slots instead," he said.

He said the party believes the popular will was not being undermined by this exercise, as no one from outside this lists was being appointed .

Meanwhile, the JVP has vehemently condemned recent government moves, which it feels would bring discredit to the party and drive the membership to arms. It charged the government was harassing even JVP's foreign supporters through NIB officers in an effort to level baseless allegations against the party that it was having close connections with the LTTE on the international plane and collecting arms.

The Propaganda Secretary told The Sunday Times that on May Day itself, officers of four police stations had rounded up workers of the printing press handling JVP leaflets and warned them.

In a separate development, Somawansa Amarasinghe, Tilvin Silva, C.D. Wijesinghe, Godahewage Kularatne, Wimal Weerawansa, Ajith Kumara and Nandana Gunatilleke were elected unanimously to the politburo at the JVP's third national convention.


Spate of road accidents in Panadura

By Marcus Joseph

A father and son died on the spot while the mother and daughter were critically injured when the three wheeler in which - they were travelling was hit head on by a private bus at Ingiriya.

Sixty-eight-year-old K. Somapala and his 42 year old son K. Ariyadasa were killed.

In another fatal accident at Sarikkalimulla, Panadura, two factory workers died and three were injured when they were knocked down by a private bus.

The accident occurred when the group of workers from a factory were going out for lunch. Those who died were 30-year-old Mohammed Sakeer and 56 year-old Upatissa Fernando.

Two more people died in another fatal accident at Eluwila on the Panadura-Horana road when a car hit a push cycle on Wednesday night.

A Buddhist priest who was at the time travelling in the car and the driver were admitted to the Panadura Base hospital with severe injuries.


Top Indian astrologer urges Chandrika-Ranil Union

An Indian astrologer, now in Sri Lanka, has predicted what he calls a temporary peace deal in Sri Lanka by around September this year and excellent prospects for the country if President Chandrika Kumaratunga and UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe put their bipartisan accord into concrete shape.

The astrologer, reluctant to talk and often vague because his guru does not like publicity, has also predicted that India's new Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral may last only till about April next year and Rajiv Gandhi's wife Sonia Gandhi will be in national politics but not in the top seat.

Rishi Mani the swarthy astrologer rotund with a round face could pass off as a brother of Minister S. Thondaman. Rishi Mani has an 88- year-old guru.

"I can't tell you where he lives and he does not like my giving interviews. I do not read a horoscope as such I do script astrology in that I take a thumb imprint and then predict, that is my method", he explains.

After much coaxing he said about Sri Lanka. You won't have a lasting peace as such in your ethnic troubles but there may be some loose agreement before or by September a kind of temporary peace.

Asked about the President's future he said, President Kumaratunga has a succesful period going, and hence most of her decisions will work out well.

UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe also has a good future in politics if especially he acts together with the President. I can confidently say that if these two major Party Leaders get together things will improve in the country hundred percent.

Ranil's good time is starting slowly. It will keep on improving since peace for the country is what he desires.

Continue to the News/Comment page 2 - * Mahathir's son in Malaysian delegation, * Lake House sued for Rs. 75 m., * Pouring rain: five die in a flash, * Lightning: don't take it lightly, * Rs. 590m attempted fraud: CID after forged documents, * Peradeniya without music, * YMBA Dhamma talks, * Bangladesh firm on sub-regional group, despite opposition, * AirLanka: who's pulling the ropes?, * Shock for housewife in her bread

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