Opinion - News Analysis   

The JVP makes its move

B. Muralidhar Reddy

The party's plea in the Sri Lankan Supreme Court against the "temporary merger" of the north and the east has sparked concerns.

ON JULY 21, the Sri Lanka Supreme Court admitted a petition by the Sinhala nationalist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna challenging the "temporary merger" of the country's north and east as a single administrative unit. Constitutional and legal aspects of the case apart, the move has serious political implications at a juncture when the military is confronted with an undeclared war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

The development has sparked concerns among the moderate, albeit marginalised, Tamil parties and all those yearning for de-escalation of tensions. The JVP has always been opposed to the merger but never deemed it necessary to knock on the doors of the apex court since the two units became one in 1988. It has timed its action to coincide with the first tentative step by President Mahinda Rajapakse towards initiation of a political dialogue for resolving the ethnic conflict. The petition came days after Mr. Rajapakse inaugurated a multi-ethnic experts' panel meeting tasked with the responsibility of advising him on a draft framework for devolution of powers.

The JVP has roped in the President's counsel, H.L. de Silva, to argue its case. Mr. de Silva, who is also the head of the newly constituted 15-member multi-ethnic experts' panel, has strong views on the subject of sharing of powers among various communities.

The "temporary merger" of the two provinces in 1988 was a consequence of the 1987 Indo-Sri Lanka Accord. The merger was to have been preceded by de-weaponisation and followed by a referendum within a year on whether the arrangement should continue. But for a variety of reasons, the conditions could not be met. The underlying principle behind the merger was that it would go a long way in redressing the grievances of Tamils.

Even today there is consensus that the status of the two "temporarily merged" provinces is an important factor in any solution to the separatist conflict. While both provinces have a majority of Tamil-speaking people, Sri Lankan Tamils are a majority in the northern province, while in the eastern province, Sinhalese, Tamils, and Muslims are in near equal proportion.

Tamil political parties have taken the position that the north and east of Sri Lanka are the historical homeland of the Tamil-speaking people in the island.

Though the referendum to enable people of the northern and eastern provinces to decide if the merger should continue could never be held, successive governments have annually extended the merger.

Counsel for the JVP have argued before the Supreme Court that the gazette notification on the temporary merger of the two provinces issued on September 7, 1988, by President J.R. Jayawardene, is invalid as the merger was neither preceded by a surrender of weapons nor followed by a referendum as envisaged by the Parliament. They also said elections to the North East Provincial Council had not been held for 18 years.

Through the petition the JVP, a pre-poll alliance partner of the ruling combine, is also attempting to settle scores with Mr. Rajapakse. The party is sore with the President for not being "tough" with the Tamil Tigers and also for what it sees as efforts to isolate it from the mainstream. Signals from the Presidential quarters that he is toying with the idea of fresh parliamentary polls to get rid of the JVP have only widened the rift.

The annual extension of the "temporary merger" is due to expire in November.

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