Secret talks between SLFP and FP leaked

(Excerpted from In Pursuit of Governance, autobiography of MDD Peiris, Secretary to the PM)

Relations between the Government and the Federal Party, which later became the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF), had been deteriorating for sometime. The Prime Minister, preoccupied with an unprecedented youth insurgency; the drafting of a new constitution; land and housing reforms; the nationalization of the estates; solving the Kachchativu issue and the question of the balance population of Indian origin in Sri Lanka; managing fractious coalition politics; dealing with a period of unprecedented food shortages and foreign exchange problems; hosting the Non-Aligned summit and numerous other matters did not find the time or opportunity to begin a sustained dialogue with the Federal Party.

The postponement of the Kankesanturai by-election at which the Federal Party leader was a candidate exacerbated relations. This was a result of an unnecessary stand-off between the two sides, where stubbornness more than wisdom prevailed. The International Tamil conference which was held in Jaffna, during the course of which some Tamil youth were electrocuted resulted in the creation of mass emotion and the blaming of the government for the incident. Alfred Duraiappah, the government supporting Mayor of Jaffna was assassinated and matters in the North were reaching difficuIt and complex proportions.

It was at this point of time, the Prime Minister one day mentioned to me that she had sorted out the problems with India, and many other matters and that she now intends to direct her full attention towards a solution of the problems with the FP. It was thought best, that informal contacts be established in the first instance, which could then lead on to an institutionalized dialogue. In establishing informal contacts.

Mrs. Roshan Peiris, a senior and reputed journalist played the critical role. She enjoyed very good relations with the Prime Minister, and also with some of the Federal Party leaders, notably Mr. Tiruchelvam Q.C. a former Minister in Mr. Dudley Senanayake’s coalition government during the middle 1960’s. After discussions with both sides, she was successful in arranging a meeting between the government and the Federal Party.

It was agreed on both sides, that the meeting should be purely exploratory and that it should take place in utmost secrecy. It was thought that a premature leak in the press would be a serious setback, which could unnecessarily excite opinion on both sides. The meeting was therefore eventually fixed for 10 p.m. in Mr. Ilangaratne’s official residence at Stanmore Crescent. The Prime Minister had nominated Mr. Ilangaratne, Minister of Trade, a senior Vice President of the SLFP and the second most senior Minister in her Cabinet to meet the FP delegation. The only other person nominated to be present on the government side was myself.

On the appointed day, I drove my own Morris Minor car and went to the Minister’s house by about 9.30 p.m. Owing to the secrecy, my official car and the driver could not be taken. In those days, the official car was not kept at home. The driver dropped you off, at whatever time, and parked the car in the Prime Minister’s office or at “Temple Trees”, until he came for you the next morning.

I found that Minister Ilangaratne had reduced his household to just himself and a trusted servant. Others had been packed away. Security in those times consisted of one bored constable often with a gun, which had far greater museum value than any prospect of effective firepower. He had been dismissed for the night, and was probably sleeping peacefully in some police station, thankful for this unexpected piece of luck.

A little past 10 p.m. the FP delegation arrived. The leader of the FP Mr. Chelvanayakam personally came. So did Mr. Tiruchelvam, Mr. Navaratnam and Pandit K.P. Ratnam. There were about two others, but I do not recall who they were. Mr. Chelvanayakam who was affected with Parkinson’s disease had to be helped upstairs. Minister Ilangaratne, when he was made aware that the FP leader had come wanted to shift the venue of the discussion downstairs. But everybody thought that it would be better to talk in greater privacy upstairs.

After the preliminary social exchanges the discussions commenced. Both sides affirmed that this was a purely preliminary and exploratory conversation. As we continued, there was general agreement that a fresh start should be made, and that it was important to identify and implement confidence-building measures. It was also agreed that the momentum arising from this discussion should not be allowed to ebb away and that another meeting should be fixed early in order to talk about specific confidence-building measures.

Minister Ilangaratne and I undertook to brief the Prime Minister on the outcome of this first discussion. Both sides were pleased that “the ice was broken” and the meeting ended on a positive note. The whole discussion lasted about one and half-hours. Mr. Ilangaratne said that he would see the Prime Minister early next day at Temple Trees and brief her. I was to follow up since I was due to meet her later in the morning. It was evident that another early meeting was necessary. The Prime Minister was pleased at the outcome of the meeting, and she decided that attendance at the next meeting too should be confined to Mr. Illangaratne and myself, on the government side.

The following morning, we woke up to screaming headlines in the Sun and Dawasa newspapers. The Sun headline in large dark letters read “Hush hush talks at midnight,” and it went on to give details. The persons participating were not identified. There was a reference to a senior Minister. Mr. Ilangaratne rang me. It was quite frustrating that such a good beginning was to be so rapidly negated. Very soon, Mr. Tiruchelvam phoned me. He wanted an urgent appointment to see me.

I gave an early appointment in the Prime Minister’s office at Republic Square. Mr. Tiruchelvam was in great distress when he came in. Even before he sat down, he said, “I am extremely sorry for what had happened and the embarrassment that this could cause the Prime Minister. This leaked from our side.” I felt very sorry for him. He was an honourable man, who was in visible pain at what had occurred. He was deeply embarrassed and disappointed. I persuaded him to sit, which was itself a feat because he was so agitated.

“I know who leaked this out,” he said after he sat. Then he looked at me and in deep frustration said, “How can you work with such people?” Then he wanted me to convey his sincere apologies to the Prime Minister. He had already apologized to the Minister. We thus lost a promising opportunity. This episode clearly showed that there were persons within the FP parliamentary group who did not favour any attempt at mutual accommodation or an eventual solution to this important national problem. They probably looked at it from a selfish political angle of some temporary advantage to them.

Undoubtedly, there would have been such people on the government side and in other political parties too. It was perhaps as a recognition of this fact that the Prime Minister, Mr Tiruchelvam and others, did not wish to make any discussions public until some concrete measures were agreed upon and a certain momentum engendered. Sadly, this was not to be. The general elections were now due in a matter of months. The Prime Minister became preoccupied with further political crises, such as the departure of the Communist Party from the government and the beginning of a wave of strikes orchestrated by her former allies in government.

Mr. Tiruchelvam was himself of the view, that a fresh start was not possible in the near term. It was the end of the attempt. Many years later I related this episode to Dr. Neelan Tiruchelvam, Mr. M. Tiruchelvam’s son whom I had got to know well. We were not to know at the time, that he himself would fat victim to the vicious and tragic process set in motion and nurtured by the extreme elements of all sides.