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by Raj Gonsalkorale

The SLFP position on a joint President/Prime Minister leadership of the peace process may sound impractical given the confrontation between the two leaders virtually on every other issue. However, it is a necessary strategy viewed from whatever angle one looks at the peace process, i.e. from an international point of view, from a local political point of view or from an LTTE point of view.

Sidelining the Executive President, who holds several powerful constitutional positions, and who heads the PA, would be extremely detrimental to the peace process, as nothing less than a 100% support and cooperation through ownership of the outcome, rather than passive support to the process as an outsider, would render the process stable and long lasting.

Ownership of the outcome will not occur if one is viewed as an outsider, and neither will the LTTE heed the voice of the President if she and the PA are seen as such. And if the President and the PA are given the freedom to seemingly be a deterrent to the peace process, as the UNP has been quick to point out, that will come only by keeping them outside the process, and such freedom will give them the luxury of having it with no ensuing responsibility.

The SLFP position on the composition of an interim Council is both correct and defensible. While there is general acceptance of the emergence of LTTE as a potent political force in the North and East, there is no evidence or a precedence that either they have been accommodating or kind to either the Sinhalese or Muslim people living (or chased out by them) in these areas. In addition, there has been no way of ascertaining freely and fairly whether even the Tamils in these areas regard the LTTE as their sole political representatives. By the bullet, yes, by the ballot, emphatically not.

An interim Council therefore has to recognise the participation of representatives from all communities and equally importantly, the central government. However, as the Prime Minister has reminded Sri Lankans on many occasions, no decisions have been made on the proposed merged Council, its composition or its powers, and therefore speculation on these issues are only that and nothing else at the moment.

It is important though for the Sri Lankan government to discuss these issues with the LTTE from a position of strength, when the time comes to discuss them. Such strength will come from support to the peace process from the President and the PA and other political parties. Strength is required not to enforce the tyranny of the majority, as the Prime Minister has said recently, but to ensure a just outcome which recognises realities which led to violence as a means of addressing issues confronting Tamil people, as well as the rights of all citizens in an undivided country.

Cohabitation between the President and the Prime Minister are seen by many Sinhalese as the only means of ensuring the rights of Sinhalese in the North and East, and this view further alienates Tamils who are then driven to support the LTTE as the only voice that can safeguard their rights. Sinhala people must begin to view such cohabitation as a necessary instrument to ensure the rights of Tamils as equals, who obviously believed and still believe, that the majority community does not recognise them as such, and appreciate the core issues that led to the armed struggle.

A weak and divided South can only strengthen the LTTE and ensure their political dominance now that they have demonstrated their military capability. SLFP opposition on the formation of an interim Council prior to substantive talks on issues and their opposition to the lifting of the LTTE proscription seem to be a strategy aimed at mollifying the South, and could be justifiably viewed as an impediment to the peace process. While the composition of the Council and extent of devolution are issues that need to be discussed under the auspices of the Norwegians, the establishment of an interim Council should not be held up until after all thorny political issues are discussed.

If not for any other reason, it must be done to usher in a semblance of normalcy for the people of the North and East who have undergone such suffering over the last twenty years or more.

In addition, it must be done to provide a circuit breaker for all concerned, that may, after a period of normalcy and stability, view issues before them in a more calm and considerate manner. It is just not good politics to discuss issues so fundamental to the Tamils in an atmosphere of enmity and mistrust, as it exists today, despite holiday makers thronging the beaches of Pasekudah and Trincomalee or business leaders falling over each other to set up businesses in Jaffna.

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