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Is Sri Lanka anywhere near resolving tsunami aid issue?

THE success of the mid-May international aid group meeting in Kandy will largely depend on the decision of one person - President Chandrika Kumaratunga.

Kumaratunga is in the most unenviable position with her chief coalition partner the Marxist JVP firmly refusing to give its nod to the so-called joint mechanism for sharing international aid meant for tsunami-hit North and East districts.

A meeting with JVP leaders to explain the details of the mechanism — expected to be operative for just a year- proved a futile exercise. The JVP is threatening to pull out of government.

The JVP is not only opposing the mechanism, but is not suggesting an alternative either. The basis for the JVP opposition to any mechanism is that it would confer on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam the status of sole representatives of the Tamils.

The JVP is clearly living in a world of its own. If the Tamils have accepted the LTTE what is it to the JVP or for that matter anyone?

The Tamil National Alliance is a collection of five Tamil political parties — and its role as the proxy of the LTTE in Parliament (22 seats), implies that the LTTE represents a major slice of the Tamil population in the North and East.

The government has accepted such a status and so has the former administration. So what? Kumaratunga last week assured the country that even if her government fell, she would go ahead with the mechanism. This was said in all probability, assured of the backing of the chief opposition United National Party.

The double tragedy for Kumaratunga is that opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe and leader of the UNP — which maintained it supported the Joint Mechanism- last Friday rejected an invitation by Kumaratunga to discuss the proposed structure.

A dejected Kumaratunga on Sunday turned back to her alliance members requesting them to cooperate with her and not sabotage the government's development work.

She is not in a position to backtrack as she has not only committed herself to the country, its religious leaders, but also intimated the international community that she was willing to go ahead with the structure as planned.

The four co-chairs of the Sri Lanka Peace process - Norway, Japan, United States, and European Union have made it clear that this mechanism should be in place for international aid to flow in and to ensure equitable distribution to all ethnic groups affected by this disaster.

The co-chairs also feel that any agreement between the government and the LTTE on the joint mechanism is the ideal way to take the otherwise stalled peace process forward. Kumaratunga too has made it clear that this is the ideal basis for resuming peace talks stalled by the LTTE since April 2003.

The President cannot be vacillating any longer and must take a decisive stand in the interest of those affected by the tsunami tragedy. India has remained mute on the joint mechanism and will continue to do so maintaining that it was an internal affair that the Sri Lankan government had to sort out.

Unlike the far-reaching Interim Self Governing Authority proposals of the LTTE to which the Indian government vehemently objected, Kumaratunga is in a better position to take a firm stand on the mechanism, without running the risk of irking India.

Keith Noyahr is KT's Colombo correspondent