The committee, however, was seen by the Tigers as a mere 'talkingshop'. Again, after days of negotiation, the LTTE came up with a formulaaccording to which relief and rehabilitation in the North East would be handledby an 11-member apex body (six Tamils, three Muslims and two Sinhalese). But theLTTE proposal was again shot down by the President who was unwilling to relaxher hold on the multi-billion dollar aid flow.
A third irritant was the declaration of a state of emergency by the President,ostensibly to deal with the post-tsunami law and order situation. But theTigers, as well as civic rights groups, see the new emergency regulations assweeping measures that erode civil liberties and tend towards a presidentialdictatorship. These emergency provisions have also enabled the President toappoint military officers as coordinators in the relief and rehabilitation work.The Tigers were incensed with the imposition of the state of emergency not onlybecause it included Tiger areas, but also because it strengthened the role ofthe military in Tamil areas. The presence of government forces in refugee campsadded to the tension.
A further irritant was a defence deal the government has entered into with Iranin the aftermath of the tsunami catastrophe. The LTTE has charged that thedefence purchases from Iran, through a 150 million dollar credit line offered toSri Lanka by the Islamic Republic, have tilted the military balance in violationof the February 2001 Ceasefire Agreement.
On January 22, the LTTE voiced its concern over the possibility of tsunamirelief aid being diverted to defence purchases. Worried about the impact of suchallegations on the flow of aid, the government denied the LTTE charges onSunday, January 23. These apprehensions, however, appear to be mutual. The governmentalso fears that channelling aid to the LTTE and its frontorganisations would only help the rebels build up their fighting force, which,according to military intelligence estimates, lost as many as 2,000 cadres inthe December 26 tsunami.
Adding to these irritants is the presence of more than a thousand US marines inSri Lanka. The Tigers certainly have some apprehension about their role, andanalysts believe that their continued presence may complicate matters vis-à-visthe ethnic conflict in the country.
It is unlikely that these irritants will be removed even after the entirecoastal belt of Sri Lanka is cleared of the tsunami debris. PresidentKumaratunga appears to be indulging in a measure of one-upmanship since she isin a much stronger position than she was before the tsunami. Indeed, for weekseven before the natural catastrophe, she had begun consolidating her power bywooing opposition Members of Parliament to the government side, offering themministerial posts and perks, while the Supreme Court incarcerated her bitterpolitical opponents on a contempt charge. The only missing link in her powerscheme was the foreign aid required to rebuild the economy, which was headingfor a crash. The tsunami came as a blessing in disguise. Sri Lanka's economy isnow upbeat, with billions in foreign aid being promised and Western nationsoffering sweeping trade concessions on sympathetic grounds.
Armed with these advantages, a churlish President publicly said that there wouldbe no elections in the country for the next five years, and her stance suggeststhat she would not mind if the peace process is pushed to the backburner. Shehad, of course, discussed, among other matters, issues relating to the peaceprocess during her meeting with the visiting Norwegian Foreign Minister, JanPeterson, on January 21, and spoke of a constitutional package which couldaddress some concerns of the LTTE.