Sri Lanka: a motion against the government Tamil agreement for post-tsunami aid

The motion was presented today by the right-wing party JVP, which quit the government coalition a few days ago.

Colombo (AsiaNews/agencies) The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), Sri Lanka's communist party and a former ally of the ruling United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA), today signed a motion against the agreement for post-tsunami operations (P-TOMS) signed by the government and Tamil rebels. The agreement governs the sharing of post-tsunami aid from overseas. The case was submitted at 3pm (local time) at the district tribunal of Colombo. The Tamil Tiger rebels signed the accord for the administration of three billion US dollars worth of aid on Friday, 24 June.

The Tamil Tigers had accused President Chandrika Kumaratanga's administration of not sending aid to victims of the seaquake in the north of the country, which they control. The government defended itself, saying it had not yet channeled any of the funds. The agreement between the government and Tamils is seen by many as the start of a road to peace, drawing out a truce which stalled a civil war of more than 20 years. The truce was signed in Oslo on 22 February 2002 by then-Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and by rebel representatives. The process of rapprochement between the government and rebels is accompanied by protests from the JVP, which is strongly against the rebels. A few days ago the party withdrew its 39 members of the government. Buddhist monks are another pressure group who has sought to mobilize citizens against the government, which according to them is responsible for condescending to pacts with Muslim Tamil. In the president's favour is the fact that the agreement does not need to be ratified in parliament, however her position remains difficult.

The pact provides for a system of long-term subsidies. International aid will be earmarked directly for the joint program, so as to bypass one obstacle: the Tamil Tigers are held by many donor countries to be a terrorist organization.