By Our Defence Correspondent

The former Deputy Defence Minister’s name figured prominently in political circles this week, as rumours circulated that the United People’s Freedom Alliance is considering appointing him to the National List in Parliament, from where President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga could appoint him to the key post of Deputy Defence Minister once again.

It had been decided by the UPFA before the elections that Ratwatte would not be made a National List MP. However, this week’s dismal performance by the top brass of the armed forces, who were in complete disarray with regard to what they should do during the Prabhakaran versus Karuna battle, may have persuaded the President that she needs one of her close confidantes to oversee defence.

During the fighting in the East, leadership of the forces was left to the three service chiefs, and the IGP, under the direction of the Secretary of Defence, former IGP Cyril Herath. The President herself, although holding the posts of Minister of Defence and Commander in Chief, is not well-versed with the needs of military leadership, although she was constantly discussing the situation with her advisors and monitoring the situation. In addition, the President was pre-occupied with the tussle between her party and the JVP over Cabinet portfolios, an issue which is threatening the very existence of the UPFA government.

Crucial issues came up during the fighting, which should have been dealt with at a policy level outside the armed forces. But instead they were left to senior and junior officers in the field. These included what the army was supposed to do as LTTE cadres trespassed into government territory to attack Karuna’s units on Tiger territory on the other side. Fortunately, there were no clashes between the army and the Tigers, as officers and soldiers held back from any conflict despite the flagrant violations of the Ceasefire Agreement.

Another event which caused alarm was the manner in which the LTTE ferried nearly a thousand crack cadres from Mullaittivu to Akkaraipattu in the Batticaloa district, a journey of some 200 kilometres passing Trincomalee and Batticaloa towns, while the Sri Lanka Navy was unable to do anything. Although the LTTE took care not to clash directly with the armed forces, it is disturbing to have thousands of cadres crossing government territory armed with everything from artillery guns to mortars. The same goes for such a large force of the LTTE to have been sailing down the East coast, when the coastline is supposed to be within the control of the Navy’s gunboats.

Hardly surprising then that Ratwatte’s supporters took the opportunity to push their views across.

However, on Friday a petition was filed in the Court of Appeal by some of the country’s most well-known political watchdogs, to prevent Ratwatte and former Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayake from being appointed as National List MPs. The case is to be taken up on the 17th of June. The petitioners, Rohan Edirisinghe and Dr. Paikyasothy Saravanamuttu, are asking court to pronounce that appointing persons not on the nominated list is not compatible with the principles of democracy. However, whether this petition will be upheld remains to be seen.

Ratwatte’s name was not included in the UPFA’s list of 29 nominees to the National List before the election, and he was therefore not one of the 14 UPFA National List MPs in the 13th Parliament, which is to hold its inaugural session on the 22nd of April. He was among the most notable omissions from the list, having been left out after the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna opposed his nomination.

Ratwatte and two of his sons are currently on trial for his alleged involvement in the Udathalawinna massacre, in which 13 members of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress were murdered during the 2001 General Elections campaign. They were released on bail last year after many months in remand custody.

Ratwatte is known to have asked the party before the recent elections to nominate him to the National List. However, neither the JVP nor supporters of present Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse had been in favour of this, and the President herself saw no reason to do so, especially as it would have definitely reduced the UPFA’s popularity both nationally and especially in the Kandy district.

However, the open clashes with the JVP has led to much bitterness between the two parties, to the point where they are clearly rivals for power and not partners. Under these conditions, and with no need to appease the voters since the elections are over, the President may be tempted to appoint Ratwatte, who is also a member of her extended family, to the Cabinet. With almost all key posts already taken by the PA, and several more to be given to the JVP, there aren’t very many prestigious ministries for Ratwatte to take up, and the Deputy Ministership in Defence remains vacant.

Ratwatte’s chances are made even better by the split within the SLFP/PA itself, where traditionalists from the Sirimavo Bandaranaike camp are supporting Mahinda Rajapakse’s emergence as the next leader of the party, a situation that the President is not happy with. The new PM could gather support to be the party’s candidate at the 2006 Presidential Election, where President Kumaratunga cannot run as she would have finished her two terms. The President has shown that she has no intention of stepping down at that time, and is hell-bent on writing a new constitution in which the Prime Minister’s post would be zenith of power, in which case she would be able to become Prime Minister and hold on to the reigns of power.

Meanwhile, the LTTE is celebrating the manner in which it thrashed Karuna’s faction in the amazing time of four days. During the first few hours of the first day, April 9, the Sea Tigers achieved a crucial mission by landing crack units several miles behind Karuna’s frontline at Verugal. Karuna’s intelligence men had been watching the area between Muthur and Verugal, believing that any seaborne attack would be launched from there. But the Northern units sailed down the coast from far off Mullaittivu, a journey of more than 10 hours, to rout the rebels. With the Northern units taking them in the rear, Karuna’s cadres fell into disarray and it was relatively easy for the Sornam Brigade and Varathan Brigade to cross at Verugal under the cover of a rain of artillery and mortar fire which threw the rebels into a panic.

Karuna tried a desperate counterattack later that day, which failed. Once this happened, the town of Vakarai was left vulnerable, and the Northern units captured it without bloodshed the next day, April 10. Karuna’s forces withdrew through the jungle across the Polonnaruwa-Batticaloa road into the Thoppigala jungles.

But the next day, April 11, Sea Tiger Leader Soosai achieved a masterpiece of an amphibious operation, by sailing some 800 cadres down past Batticaloa town and storming the beaches of Akkaraipattu in the Ampara district, taking Karuna’s men completely unawares. There was no fighting at all, and the Northern units then crossed the main road and raced around the southern and western sides of the Batticaloa Lagoon up to the Karadiyan Aru region of the Batticaloa district, isolating Batticaloa town and all the many towns in the area. What was worse for Karuna was that this opened him up to attack on the Southeastern flank of Thoppigala as well. In the end, the demoralized Karuna units, swollen with newly recruited children who had never seen battle before, were no match for the battle hardened brigades who remained fiercely loyal to Prabhakaran. More than 200 such children, captured by the Northern units, have been handed over to UNICEF and on to their families. At least another 400 children are known to have fled directly to their homes.

With more and more of his units surrendering without a fight, Karuna gave up the battle and ran for his life. Before he left, he shot dead the Deputy Leader of the Batticaloa Intelligence Unit, Lieutenant Colonel Neelan (Sinnathamby), who had been in Karuna’s custody for six weeks. Karuna blamed the intelligence wing, led by Pottu Amman, for reporting on his activities to Prabhakaran and causing Karuna to fall from grace in the eyes of the LTTE Leader.

Karuna’s whereabouts remain unknown. The LTTE has not openly accused the army of harbouring him, and army sources say that he is not with them. However, it is believed that he escaped to Colombo and fled abroad. His family had gone abroad in February, when the rift began to appear.