Sri Lanka constitution faces Tamil, Sinhala wrath

Sri Lanka constitution faces Tamil, Sinhala wrath
Rahul Sharma

Colombo, July 23: President ChandrikaKumaratunga's ambitious draft constitution, touted as the ultimate panacea to Sri Lanka's long ethnic war, seems doomed unless she can quickly pull together divergent public opinion.

The Tamils call the draft a denial of their politicalaspirations and the majority Sinhalese Buddhists say it's a sell out to minorities.

The constitutional reforms aims to devolve powers to theisland's regions, including one administered by Tamils, in an effort to wean the minority away from Tamil Tiger rebels battling for a separate homeland in the North and East since 1983.

In the past month Kumaratunga's government has partiallysucceeded in getting the main Opposition United National Party (UNP) to agree to many of the draft's ticklish issues.

But there are still a few crucial pieces missing beforethe political jigsaw can be implemented.

First, there are the hardline Sinhala nationalist groupsand the Buddhist monks who wield considerable influence in Sri Lanka, 70 percent of whose people follow Buddhism.

With general elections due after August, the governmentcannot afford to have disgruntled monks on its hands.

The monks say the new constitution, which aims to turn SriLanka into a federal state, does not give a Prime place to Buddhism.

And the government's efforts to convince them have yieldedno results, since the monks have yet to see the draft proposals.

SINHALA NATIONALISTS SAY CONSTITUTION BODES SEPARATION

Sinhalese nationalists firmly oppose the draft.

"We reject this package in toto. Dilution of the country'sunitary status and the proposed interim council in the North and East would eventually lead to the separation of the country," Thilak Karunaratne, general secretary of the newly-formed nationalist Sihala Urumaya party, told Reuters.

The party has the backing of the Buddhist clergy andinfluential Sinhalese who feel government efforts to give wider autonomy to Tamils would fulfill the Tamil Tiger rebels' dream to carve out their homeland.

Next in the equation are the mainline Tamil politicalgroups, which cannot overlook the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). They are as unyielding as the Sinhalese.

"This political mockery should be deemed as a politicalfraud and rejected and dismissed in no uncertain terms," several Tamil parties said in a joint statement last week.

"...It ensures that the firm grip of chauvinism on theconstitution is further tightened," it added.

At stake is a permanent merger of the northern and easternprovince, which Tamils call their homeland.

The government has suggested the two provinces stay mergedfor a few years, before a referendum decides their future.

Tamils SEE ARMED STRUGGLE CONTINUING

"...We have been opposed to any referendum and there is nocompromise on that...any separation of the North and East by a referendum will not be accepted," said Joseph Pararajasingham, senior leader of the moderate Tamil United Liberation Front.

Pararajasingham said any constitution implemented with theconsensus of only the government and the UNP will go against the wishes of the minority Tamils.

He said it was necessary to bring the LTTE into the talks,a demand rejected by the nationalist Sinhala groups, which call them terrorists.

"Ultimately if the present exercises fail and if thisexercise is made in such a way to force the majority will on the minority...then I think all (Tamil) parties must fall in line with the thinking of the LTTE," Pararajasingham told the Sunday Leader in an interview.

The LTTE's 18-year-old armed struggle, which has alreadycost more than 60,000 lives, would continue, he said.