The Hindu : SLFP, JVP to sign pact today

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jan 20, 2004

International

International

SLFP, JVP to sign pact today

By V.S. Sambandan

COLOMBO, JAN 19. The Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and the radical Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), which are to sign a political agreement here tomorrow, are likely to come out with a joint statement setting out the broad parameters for a working alliance to contest the elections, according to political sources.

``It would be something similar to a vision statement,'' a senior leader of the alliance-in-formation told today. Included in the statement are issues such as the ethnic conflict and foreign policy. The known differences between the SLFP and the JVP are unlikely to be addressed at length. According to current indications, the latter has reportedly agreed to wait for ``an overall consensus'' and to go along with it, on the crucial issue of devolution of powers to the regions as a solution to the decades-long separatist crisis. One likely scenario is that the differences of views of the two parties are acknowledged and each maintains its position.

The foreign policy of the proposed alliance, according to indications, is likely to be marked by a position of a ``return to neutrality'', in addition to emphasising the importance of neighbourly relations, particularly the region's security interest.

A cap of 25 seats for the JVP in the 225-member Parliament is one likely possibility. Advocates of the alliance in the SLFP see a direct electoral advantage in the proposed tie-up with the JVP, particularly in the Sinhalese-majority southern districts.

`LTTE violating agreement'

Meanwhile, the Eelam Peoples' Democratic Party (EPDP) today criticised the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) of ``violating the ceasefire agreement with impunity'' over the past two years.

The EPDP leader, Douglas Devananda, urged Colombo-based diplomats to ``appreciate the fact that the vast majority of the Tamils of Sri Lanka do not wish to be handed over, tied and gagged, to an fascist organisation.'' The LTTE, he said, ``has been involved in 250 cases of abduction or attempted abduction, and at least 115 cases of murder'' including ``33 political assassinations''. There was ``confirmed information'' that the rebels ``conscripted 1,722 children during the two-year period,'' he said.

Charging that the Tigers now had an armed strength of 18,000 cadres, Mr. Devananda said the LTTE's ``extortion from the public of the north-east province,'' and the ``free license given to it by the Sri Lankan Government,'' had ``paved the way'' for the monthly collections ``exceeding Rs. 300 millions. The EPDP, he said, had information on ``at least 850 hostile acts'' against ``civilians in Government-held areas''.

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