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| Sunday, 29 December 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 2003 Every year brings surprises. They may be pleasant ones or unpleasant ones. For Sri Lankans, these past many years have tended to produce more unpleasant surprises than pleasant as we struggled our way through the weary months of war, economic stagnation, ethnic tension and the daily survival grind. Sometimes cricket has been a source of solace after we won, gloriously, the World Cup in Lahore, Pakistan. This year, however, cricket has not delivered that same good feeling. South Africa was one long humiliation. But 2002 brought far more important, nay crucial, and very pleasant surprises: the longest, most hope-filled peace since the ethnic conflict deteriorated into insurgency and war over twenty years ago. The LTTE's initiative in unilaterally declaring a ceasefire on December 24, 2001, led the way. But public confidence in a genuine cessation of hostilities really grew only with the signing of the Ceasefire Agreement on February 23rd, 2002. That that ceasefire is still holding true 12 months later is, itself, something of a surprise to Sri Lankans who have grown used to cycles of ceasefires and the abrogation of ceasefires over the years. But things have gone much further, down happier paths this year, than in previous years. 2002 has been punctuated by even greater surprises than a stable ceasefire. Very significant steps have been taken in the latest effort to resolve the biggest societal crisis Sri Lankan civilisation has faced in centuries, perhaps since the European colonial invasions and cultural, social and economic devastation that accompanied them. In 2002 no less than three rounds of peace talks have been held. The bigger surprise is that all three rounds produced concrete, significant results that not only pushed the peace process forward but also helped clarify many issues along the way. In the short space of a year, Sri Lanka has not only experienced a lengthy, stable ceasefire, but also a level of agreement between the Government and the LTTE that seems to transcend any previous understanding between the Sri Lankan State and the Tamil movement for self-determination. On the one hand, at least three National-level sub-committees composed jointly of the Government and the LTTE have begun functioning to deal with intermediate issues of economic and social recovery and security. On the other hand, both sides have very swiftly arrived at a common understanding of the trajectory and contours of the larger negotiating process that must map out the political future of this country in order to ensure a comprehensive settlement of the ethnic conflict. Not only has the LTTE agreed to an 'internal self-determination', but the Sri Lankan Government has acknowledged the need for a federal structure of polity as the necessary alternative to partition. The new year, 2003, will also have its share of surprises both pleasant and unpleasant. The experience of the past year should give Sri Lankans greater confidence in future of the current peace process than they have been able to have in previous peace initiatives. 2003 will certainly be as decisive a year as this year has been with regard to the peace effort. One area in which Sri Lankans would indeed like to have a pleasant surprise is in the area of inter-party collaboration in the peace initiative. In this aspect, 2002 did not have any surprises. It was the same old parliamentary electoral rivalry whatever the issue, and especially the most vital one of peace-making. Even if the majority of Sri Lankans are now in agreement on the need for ethnic equity, power-sharing, and a political solution involving constitutional reform, the two main political parties that have always held the reigns of governance since Independence and, indeed, jointly hold State power today, have been unable to agree on jointly implementing and jointly sharing in the success of peace-making. This could be one hope for 2003. The other one might be the World Cup. We all live in hope! |
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