COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s chief Muslim party, the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC), which represents the country’s 7 per cent Muslim population and is contesting the provincial council polls in the volatile east, say they are pushing for a Muslim chief minister in the war torn region. The party is also demanding a “non-contiguous Muslim majority power sharing unit” in the eastern province.

The call by the SLMC comes in the wake of the Thamileelam Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP), a group of former Tamil Tiger rebels who are also contesting the provincial council polls, insisting on a Tamil being elected the chief minister. The SLMC argues that they want a Muslim for the post taking into consideration the statistical representation of Muslims in the east and also because a Muslim chief minister will the best political choice to instil democracy and peace in the area.

“The SLMC began campaigning for this election with the sole intention of bringing back democracy which is at present not found in the east,” SLMC leader Rauff Hakeem told Dawn amidst controversy that the UPFA government has not been able to prevent the TMVP from carrying weapons openly in eastern areas. The ex-rebels who are now close to the government had a sweeping victory at the local government polls conducted in the east two months ago but many believe that people voted for them out of fear.

Meanwhile, the SLMC members who quit the UPFA government and sacrificed their parliamentary seats in order to contest the eastern polls to be held on May 10 under the ticket of main opposition, the United National Party, is against any future de-merger of the north-east. The merger of the two provinces took place in 1987 when the Sri Lankan Parliament linked them by amending the constitution and thereby introducing the 13th amendment but the merger was annulled by the Supreme Court in 2006 on the grounds that it was illegal.

Strong lobbying by the pro-LTTE Tamil National Alliance for the re-introduction of the 13th amendment continues.

In a merged North and East, the Muslims constitute only a small part of the population whereas in the current context of a separate East, they are the single largest community (39 per cent) as against the Tamils who are 36 per cent and the Sinhalese 25 per cent.

Analysts, therefore, state that in the present situation of a de-merged north east the chances of appointing a Muslim chief minister should be high if the SLMC-UNP coalition wins the polls.

However, there is indication that the government is pressurised to appoint a member from the TMVP because of the role the paramilitary group played in assisting the government military to fully oust the LTTE from the eastern region mid last year.

But with the general scuffle for the post likely to intensify in the next few days, government officials deny they are reluctant to endorse the appointment of a Muslim.

“We will have to see the outcome of the polls and then decide,” a senior minister said.Meanwhile, refuting allegations of toeing a communal line, the SLMC’s general secretary Hassan Ali says the party is not planning to follow in the footsteps of the LTTE.

“We are not going to fight for a ‘Muslim Eelam but we will fight democratically for the rights of a community which has a very significant presence in the eastern Batticaloa and Ampara districts,” Ali said. The SLMC alleges that President Mahinda Rajapakse has not given any consideration to the longstanding demand for a contiguous Muslim majority power sharing unit in the eastern province.’

The SLMC maintains that it is not against the government granting the rights of the Tamil minorities but says it wants equal attention for the Muslims as well.

The SLMC’s re-iteration for a separate Muslim power sharing unit comes days after the government appointed a three-member Northern Province Interim Advisory body to oversee resettlement and development in the north. The members of the high-powered advisory body appointed by the cabinet mid last week were bestowed with wide powers to develop the North. Sri Lanka’s Northern territory is at present occupied mostly by Tamils but thousands of Muslims who had lived in northern areas such as the Jaffna peninsula, northwestern Mannar and northern Vavuniya were chased out at gun point in an ethnic cleansing carried out by the LTTE eighteen years ago.

Muslims say justice has still not been meted out to war displaced Muslim families.