From the Editor's Desk

The attitude of the main political parties towards the plight of the victims of the tsunami seems cynical of not altogether callous. The early hesitation of President Kumaratunga in setting up the Joint Mechanism (P-TOMS) to provide relief to the victims of the tsunami strengthened the hands of the opponents of relief to Tamil victims in the Jathika Hela Urumaya, the JVP and the Patriotic National Movement, dominated by the JVP with support from some important members of the SLFP. The President consented to the P-TOMS only after it was clear that aid for tsunami relief from the consortium of donor countries was conditional upon the existence of a mechanism for the distribution of relief for tsunami victims in LTTE controlled areas.

Having earlier denounced the former prime minister for the de facto recognition of LTTE control over a section of the North-East, by signing an MoU with the LTTE, she found herself vulnerable and avoided signing the P-TOMS agreement on behalf of the government. Although the JHU stole the march on the JVP, by having a leading member going on hunger strike in protest of the P-TOMS, the protest was of no avail. The chauvinist JVP, not to be outdone, quit the government, following the signing of the agreement. The Prime Minister’s vacillation on the matter exposed the depth to which opportunism ran in the ruling party. The UNP leader proved to be no more a saint, with his ambiguous position, and calculated failure to encourage the President to implement relief work effectively and without delay.

The genuine left as well as the ‘old left’ have, however, welcomed the consent of the President to the P-TOMS and encouraged her to be bold in implementing it. The JVP and the JHU applied to the Supreme Court against the implementation of the P-TOMS, and succeeded in delaying the implementation of certain key aspects.

Seven months have passed since the tsunami and the plight of the vast majority of the victims is virtually the same as it was immediately after the disaster. The announcement by the US and UK governments that they will not channel any aid through the P-TOMS, which would permit their funding to reach the ‘terrorists’ speaks volumes about the nature of their aid. Imperialist aid will be distributed through their agencies and NGOs under the political control of the imperialist states, and in a way that the main benefit will be to the imperialist political and business interests.

While it is remarkable is that the ceasefire still holds, despite the rising the number of killings of LTTE cadres in the North-East with the blessings, if not active involvement, of the armed forces and by implication the government, and reprisals in kind by the LTTE against its political opponents. Formal denial or tacit silence on the part of the government and LTTE means little in the context of an escalating cycle of violence, which has now spread from the East to the North. The situation is fragile and cannot be allowed to go an in this fashion for long.

Unfortunately for the country, the UNP and the SLFP, each subservient to US imperialism and the regional hegemon, are preoccupied with the next presidential election, whose due date is still unknown, and all parliamentary political parties getting ready for a parliamentary election shortly after, the issues that really matter, such as the national question and the rehabilitation of the tsunami and war affected people and regions, take the back seat.

What is now abundantly clear is that the parliamentary politicians are a gathering of opportunists and careerists who do not care for the country or its suffering masses. Thus it is important for the progressive forces to encourage the people to demand action to provide urgent relief to the victims of the tsunami and the war, resolve the national question, and to reverse the policies of three decades ago that have landed the country in a mess.

The forthcoming presidential and parliamentary elections should be used to impress upon the people that they can no more rely on the present parliamentary political system with its executive presidency to solve the problems of the country and the pressing need to deal effectively with the national question based on the principle of self determination so that a long term program of mass struggle could be launched for the liberation of the country from imperialism, regional hegemony and their local agents, who have for nearly three decades driven the country towards ruin.

New Democracy 18