LTTE attitude confounds Sri Lankan candidates

By Nirupama Subramanian

COLOMBO, NOV. 20. The sphinx-like silence of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) leadership on the upcoming parliamentary election while its cadres, especially in eastern Sri Lanka, continue to kill, extort and recruit, has left candidates contesting the elections, analysts and voters totally confused about its intentions.

Does the LTTE really want the opposition United National Party (UNP) to win this election, as the ruling People's Alliance has charged? Does the Tamil National Alliance of four parties contesting in the embattled north-east really have the LTTE's blessings as it is claimed?

Will the LTTE allow the election to be held in the north-east? Are the violent incidents in the run-up indications that it will disrupt the election? Or are these incidents isolated efforts by insufficiently informed cadres?

The questions are endless, but no one seems to have definite answers, least of all the participants in the elections. They can at best try to double-guess the LTTE at its game and hope that it turns out to be correct.

It might not always be so. Thambhirajah Jeyakumar, a former police official, was reasonably confident that as the candidate of the UNP, that is offering a cease-fire and advocating peace talks with the LTTE, he faced no threat from the militants.

On Sunday, as he was out on his campaign, two men on a motorcycle held up his vehicle, and shot and killed him on the spot. The police said they suspected the LTTE.

But, typifying the confusion over the role of the LTTE in these elections and the influence it has over voters, the UNP which should have seized the chance to rebut ruling party accusations that it had a `secret pact' with the LTTE has not done so. It has instead blamed the ruling party for the killing.

The ruling party, which might have been expected to condemn the incident as another example of `LTTE terror' has also downplayed the incident, perhaps because it does not fit in with its accusations of an LTTE-UNP link.

In Tamil political circles, the talk is that the people of the north-east will not vote for a candidate or political party if they think that the LTTE would disapprove of their choice. The assassination of a candidate would be the clearest signal of such disapproval.

The belief has even led to speculation that rival Tamil parties might indulge in violence against each other, hoping it would be assumed the LTTE was behind it, and be interpreted by voters as a signal on which candidate or party they should elect.

That may be the reason why the People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam was quick to blame a rival political party, the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation, for the killings of two of its cadres in Vavuniya, where it is pinning its hopes for a parliamentary seat.

It may also be one of the reasons why a Tamil party has kept mum on reports that the police had arrested a suicide bomber stalking one of its candidates.

It may also be the reason why Tamil candidates are spreading stories about rival candidates within the same party being `out of favour' with the LTTE.

While the guessing game continues, the LTTE continues to march to its own tune. In the last few days, the eastern districts of Batticaloa and Ampara have been shaken by several incidents.

Two candidates contesting the coming elections were kidnapped for ransom in Ampara. One of them has been released to enable him to raise the money. Another remains in their custody.

A government official was kidnapped in Batticaloa district and released a day later. A suicide bomber struck in Batticaloa town, killing three and wounding several others.

In neighbouring Anuradhapura, a Buddhist monk was killed in a suspected LTTE claymore mine attack on the vehicle in which he was travelling. Two other monks were wounded in the attack.

All this against the background of a massive recruitment drive. According to reports, the LTTE has recently recruited 3,000 cadres in the east, urging them to prepare for the `final battle'.

Hopes are flying high that the LTTE would be prepared to talk peace as soon as a new government is installed after the December 5 election. There are as many theories as candidates in this election as to which party - PA or UNP - the LTTE prefers.

But some Tamil politicians who have known and studied the LTTE for years believe that all it wants out of this election is a weak government, preferably one with an insufficient majority that will make it dependent on smaller parties, which would in turn ensure that it would be inept both in making peace and waging war.

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Section  : International
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