Presidential Demand For Sacking The SLMM Leader Long Time Coming As Ranil Continues To Pander To The LTTE.

It appears as though a moment in time has arrived within the Sri Lankan Administration where even a deliberate attempt to forestall Security Forces by the SLMM by seems to be in need of justification where the latest scenario being played out in the so called co-habitation between President and Prime Minister sees Prime Minister Wickremesinghe accusing President Kumaratunga of breaching the Govt -LTTE MoU and an issue of National Security cast to the winds while granting precedence to the needs of a group of unrelenting outlawed terrorists now demanding the near impossible through their counter proposals to the Interim Administration suggested by the UNF which by itself appears to have violated Constitutional Accords as pointed out recently by a prominent and distinguished member of the legal community.

As Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces and CEO of the Nation, President Kumaratunga seems well within her right to demand the sacking of the Norwegian Truce Monitor Chief as the entire team has shown great incompetence in the manner they carried out what they were appointed for, often digressing from monitoring to interfering and the incident where they disrupted and forestalled the Sri Lankan Navy in an operation involving an arms smuggling LTTE vessel and facilitated the getaway of the illegal vessel is one of many indiscretions the SLMM have been responsible for and in a manner of speaking the President has said "Enough Is Enough" where the Prime Minister's bickering over the issue falls short of pandering to the LTTE!

To add further grist to the UNF Mill, the Norwegian Government itself has recalled the Leader of the SLMM almost in direct response to the President's demands which does not augur well for the Prime Minister who has turned on the President with apparent lack of direction and the courage to stand up to the LTTE in favour of the Nation which seems to be a responsibility becoming only of the President.

As quoted from the State Run Daily News Paper in Colombo on Oct 30 "Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has charged President Chandrika Kumaratunga with breaching the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between his regime and the Tamil Tiger rebels by unilaterally requesting the Norwegian government to sack the head of the Nordic truce monitors."

Mr Wickremesinghe has conferred with his cabinet on the theme that President Kumaratunga's reference to the removal of the SLMM Head and the instructions to the Armed Forces to pay no heed to the SLMM was done without informing him as Prime Minister which he infers is a cause for 'conflict. He has also been quoted as saying that ''This undiplomatic act of the President is a 'breach' of the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the Government and the LTTE'', while forgetting that the actions of the SLMM were compeltely in violation of their assigned duties and an act of interference into the functioning of a Sovereign Nation which somehow seems to have a lesser priority than the Sovereign and Territorial Integrity of Sri Lanka in the name of Peace his response leaves the more discerning mind wondering if his Path to Peace lies in strengthening the armories of the insurgents and if so with what objective in mind short of being irrationally suicidal?

In rather questionable dialogue the Prime Minister has been quoted as saying that "the final decision on any problem within the truce would lie in the hands of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) and that both the Government and the LTTE are obliged to abide by that decision'' implying that the SLMM are the final authority on peace in Sri Lanka (which they are not!) which should be motivation enough for the President to boot out the entire SLMM as deliberate disruptors where the Prime Minister appears to need clarification on the term Invited Monitor as opposed to Authoritative Executor as the Nation ponders upon the savvy of this Prime Minister who seems to be increasing the outpouring of national anger upon himself with his lack of insight into matters that need greater priority and his inability to disseminate policy which would consolidate Sri Lanka's integrity rather than compromise it!

Perhaps the envisioning of Peace within Sri Lanka without Norwegian participation seems beyond the comprehension of the UNF Leader where he fails to see the greater implications and dangers of not dealing with the LTTE appropriate to Constitionalised Accords and the Laws of the Land at a time when they have been greatly distanced from legitimacy and are being sought after by the long arm of justice and an issue which the Wickremasinghe Administration appears to be avoiding almost in apprehension! It has to be interpreted as puerile on his part that he has been favourably inclined towards the SLMM without question although it has to be conceded that any intermediary could have played the role of Peace Monitor in a similar capacity without bias and prejudice where Norway's conflict of interests seem more vested than otherwise and their biases towards the LTTE have been transparent yet unrecognized by the Administration which continues to meander rather erratically along a path leading towards National disharmony despite the Peace which has lasted thus far!

The President in the course of executing her duties relevant to her high office and to the Nation has demanded the sacking of the Nodric Truce Monitor Leader Tellefsen with just cause after he was found responsible for leaking sensitive military information to the LTTE and passing on information which prevented Sri Lankan Naval Operations in pursuit of a suspected arms smuggling vessel of the LTTE! Had such high handed interference taken place in any other part of the world,Tellefsen and his team by rights would have been behind bars for espionage and the violation of a Nations Security Accords and should consider himself fortunate to be a free individual together with his team! whereas they seem to have got away with a mere admonition for 'Unsatisfactory' Conduct!
The President's indignation and her demand for the sacking cannot be interpreted as a violation of the Peace Process or the M o U contrary to the Prime Minister's exclamations which seem rather disconcertingly to be of a pandering nature in favour of the LTTE! with no consideration to the greater implication of serving his Nation as Prime Minister without bias and leanings towards its enemies.
Simply put, the President's demand has been a long time coming!


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		The Lankaweb Weekly Editorial
FRONT PAGE NEWS . CLASSIFIED . DHAMMAWEB . SANDUN UYANA . ANTENNA . EVENTS DIARY . LONDON DIARY . FEATURES . LETTERS.		Presidential Demand For Sacking The SLMM Leader Long Time Coming As Ranil Continues To Pander To The LTTE. It appears as though a moment in time has arrived within the Sri Lankan Administration where even a deliberate attempt to forestall Security Forces by the SLMM by seems to be in need of justification where the latest scenario being played out in the so called co-habitation between President and Prime Minister sees Prime Minister Wickremesinghe accusing President Kumaratunga of breaching the Govt -LTTE MoU and an issue of National Security cast to the winds while granting precedence to the needs of a group of unrelenting outlawed terrorists now demanding the near impossible through their counter proposals to the Interim Administration suggested by the UNF which by itself appears to have violated Constitutional Accords as pointed out recently by a prominent and distinguished member of the legal community. As Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces and CEO of the Nation, President Kumaratunga seems well within her right to demand the sacking of the Norwegian Truce Monitor Chief as the entire team has shown great incompetence in the manner they carried out what they were appointed for, often digressing from monitoring to interfering and the incident where they disrupted and forestalled the Sri Lankan Navy in an operation involving an arms smuggling LTTE vessel and facilitated the getaway of the illegal vessel is one of many indiscretions the SLMM have been responsible for and in a manner of speaking the President has said "Enough Is Enough" where the Prime Minister's bickering over the issue falls short of pandering to the LTTE! To add further grist to the UNF Mill, the Norwegian Government itself has recalled the Leader of the SLMM almost in direct response to the President's demands which does not augur well for the Prime Minister who has turned on the President with apparent lack of direction and the courage to stand up to the LTTE in favour of the Nation which seems to be a responsibility becoming only of the President. As quoted from the State Run Daily News Paper in Colombo on Oct 30 "Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has charged President Chandrika Kumaratunga with breaching the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between his regime and the Tamil Tiger rebels by unilaterally requesting the Norwegian government to sack the head of the Nordic truce monitors." Mr Wickremesinghe has conferred with his cabinet on the theme that President Kumaratunga's reference to the removal of the SLMM Head and the instructions to the Armed Forces to pay no heed to the SLMM was done without informing him as Prime Minister which he infers is a cause for 'conflict. He has also been quoted as saying that ''This undiplomatic act of the President is a 'breach' of the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the Government and the LTTE'', while forgetting that the actions of the SLMM were compeltely in violation of their assigned duties and an act of interference into the functioning of a Sovereign Nation which somehow seems to have a lesser priority than the Sovereign and Territorial Integrity of Sri Lanka in the name of Peace his response leaves the more discerning mind wondering if his Path to Peace lies in strengthening the armories of the insurgents and if so with what objective in mind short of being irrationally suicidal? In rather questionable dialogue the Prime Minister has been quoted as saying that "the final decision on any problem within the truce would lie in the hands of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) and that both the Government and the LTTE are obliged to abide by that decision'' implying that the SLMM are the final authority on peace in Sri Lanka (which they are not!) which should be motivation enough for the President to boot out the entire SLMM as deliberate disruptors where the Prime Minister appears to need clarification on the term Invited Monitor as opposed to Authoritative Executor as the Nation ponders upon the savvy of this Prime Minister who seems to be increasing the outpouring of national anger upon himself with his lack of insight into matters that need greater priority and his inability to disseminate policy which would consolidate Sri Lanka's integrity rather than compromise it! Perhaps the envisioning of Peace within Sri Lanka without Norwegian participation seems beyond the comprehension of the UNF Leader where he fails to see the greater implications and dangers of not dealing with the LTTE appropriate to Constitionalised Accords and the Laws of the Land at a time when they have been greatly distanced from legitimacy and are being sought after by the long arm of justice and an issue which the Wickremasinghe Administration appears to be avoiding almost in apprehension! It has to be interpreted as puerile on his part that he has been favourably inclined towards the SLMM without question although it has to be conceded that any intermediary could have played the role of Peace Monitor in a similar capacity without bias and prejudice where Norway's conflict of interests seem more vested than otherwise and their biases towards the LTTE have been transparent yet unrecognized by the Administration which continues to meander rather erratically along a path leading towards National disharmony despite the Peace which has lasted thus far! The President in the course of executing her duties relevant to her high office and to the Nation has demanded the sacking of the Nodric Truce Monitor Leader Tellefsen with just cause after he was found responsible for leaking sensitive military information to the LTTE and passing on information which prevented Sri Lankan Naval Operations in pursuit of a suspected arms smuggling vessel of the LTTE! Had such high handed interference taken place in any other part of the world,Tellefsen and his team by rights would have been behind bars for espionage and the violation of a Nations Security Accords and should consider himself fortunate to be a free individual together with his team! whereas they seem to have got away with a mere admonition for 'Unsatisfactory' Conduct! The President's indignation and her demand for the sacking cannot be interpreted as a violation of the Peace Process or the M o U contrary to the Prime Minister's exclamations which seem rather disconcertingly to be of a pandering nature in favour of the LTTE! with no consideration to the greater implication of serving his Nation as Prime Minister without bias and leanings towards its enemies. Simply put, the President's demand has been a long time coming!
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