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| Sunday, 21 November 2004 |
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Clancy Fernando Memorial Oration : 'Politics - art of deceiving people' by Rohan Mathes
The LTTE 'Interim Self Governing Authority' (ISGA) would be a recipe for surrender and the destruction of our country not for a short time but for ever, claims Attorney-at-Law S. L. Gunasekera. Delivering a lecture on 'Implications of the proposed ISGA on the role of the Sri Lanka Navy' at the 12th death anniversary of the former Navy Commander, late Admiral Clancy Fernando's Memorial Oration at the Naval Headquarters in Colombo last Wednesday, Gunasekera said that he could not help commenting on certain glaring facts relevant to the Sri Lanka Navy, keeping clear of the mine-field of politics. "No ship of the Sri Lanka Navy could sail into any waters beyond Eluwankulama in the North West or beyond Kumana in the South East without LTTE permission, as the LTTE would be regulating the access to these waters", he said. Gunasekera opined that in the backdrop of neither government rejecting the ISGA in toto and the pressure from the international community offering the 'carrots' of financial aid in millions of US dollars to a virtually bankrupt Sri Lanka on the basis of 'no talks no money, those in authority may sacrifice the sovereignty of the country and give-in to the essence of the ISGA demands, by making some cosmetic changes of a practical significance in order to make it palatable to the people. "Politics is the art of deceiving people", he quipped. He said that the ISGA proposals divided the country into two separate states, one referred to as the ISGA and the other Sri Lanka. The ISGA would be the exclusive property of the LTTE together with some puppets of the Muslim community and the government, inclusive of eight districts, approximately 28.7 per cent of land surface and 60 per cent of sea coast, including the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). As per Article 9 of the ISGA, the LTTE would hold 'plenary' powers of governance, including executive, legislative and judiciary. That would be the 'co-demands' of the ISGA, which would lead to an abdication of powers by Parliament elected by the people of the country. It would also be an abdication of powers by the President and the judiciary. Parliament would not be able to pass any laws sans the permission of the LTTE. The proposals in financial policy is 'you give, me take', in favour of the LTTE. The LTTE has access to foreign funds and transactions, bypassing the foreign ministry or the central government. The ISGA has been drafted with extreme craftiness knowing well the gullibility and the weaknesses of the government of Sri Lanka by former Attorney-General Siva Pasupathy. "What a country loses in a battlefield could be recovered at some other time, but what is given at a negotiating table could not be taken back", Gunasekera added. |
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