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| Sunday, 17 November 2002 |
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Editorial |  |
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Editor, Sunday Observer. E-mail: [email protected] Snail mail : Sunday Observer, 35, D.R.Wijewardana Mawatha, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Telephone : 94 1 429239 / 331181 Fax : 94 1 429230 Hindrance Even as President Chandrika Kumaratunga, who is Leader of the People's Alliance, seems to be softening her stance on the UNF Government peace initiative and her attitude toward the Government in general, another part of the PA leadership has launched a fresh attack. Political observers have been remarking on the President's softened position as articulated clearly in her recent presidential anniversary speech. Any hopes that this might lead to a UNF-PA rapprochement have been dashed by Friday's blitz by none other than her very own Adviser Lakshman Kadirgamar and PA media spokesman Dr. Sarath Amunugama. Sri Lankans listening to the charges made by them would, on the one hand, be alarmed about the state of the peace process and, on the other, wonder whether the People's Alliance was suffering from a serious policy rift between the President and other party leaders. Or, citizens might wonder whether it was merely a case of typical political 'double-speak', at the expense of Sri Lankans' earnest aspirations and strivings for peace and national recovery. Discerning citizens will, however, realise that despite the warnings about Norway's role and the LTTE's manoeuvres being made by the PA spokespersons, if the PA had been in power, it is highly likely that an Alliance government would have resorted to exactly the same course of action that the UNF Government has taken in the on-going peace process. After all, both the United National Front as well as the People's Alliance have been strongly and consistently mandated by the Sri Lankan electorate these past several years in successive elections to proceed with dealings with the LTTE and evolve a political settlement that includes drastic changes to our polity. Furthermore, many public opinion surveys have clearly indicated the people's desire for both these two national political parties to modulate their historic rivalry and collaborate on the peace project. Given such a mandate, the UNF has every justification to take the country down the path now being trodden on the way to peace. And the People's Alliance has every reason not to oppose or hinder progress in any way. While the PA is obliged, by its very electoral mandate, to support the Government's peace initiative, that very mandate requires the UNF Government to draw the Alliance into the various activities pertaining to the peace process. The salient features of the current Ceasefire Agreement and subsequent arrangements with the LTTE are well within the general peace-making mandate of the Government, and therefore need not be opposed or undermined. But the PA does have a genuine grievance in the persistent failure of the Government to involve the main Opposition political party in the peace process in a systematic manner. What is of concern is not so much the actual content of the current peace process itself but the continuing lack of any arrangement to break the tradition of bitter political rivalry that, in the past, has sabotaged peace initiatives and, threatens to do so once again. Here, the Government has the obligation to create the necessary consultative mechanism between the UNF and the PA so that the national political leadership as a whole is facilitated in participating in this most vital national task. The availability of such a consultative mechanism will provide a channel for the PA, and other parties of national stature, to express their concerns and offer their advice. It will also prevent the disruptive public posturing and popular incitement that the PA engaged in at Friday's media conference. The UNF, which is guilty of similar posturing in the past while it was in Opposition, must take the initiative to break this vicious cycle. A bold step now will serve to discourage such hindrance by the PA and, hopefully, lead the way to a permanent peace. |
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