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| Sunday, 15 June 2003 |
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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 Future The international community has spoken. No less than four-and-a-half billion US dollars have been pledged as aid for Sri Lanka's recovery from war. The very fact that some 51 countries, including many of the world's major powers, as well as 22 international organisations, came together in Tokyo and committed such a large sum in financial assistance last week is concrete proof of the success of the current peace process. As was pointed out in these columns last week, the holding of a donor conference for the purpose of gathering massive resources for the recovery from war, is itself a step taken further than any previous peace initiative. Even more significant is the fact that the countries supporting Sri Lanka in this historic effort for peace have all willingly committed themselves to such a large quantum of assistance. The Tokyo aid commitment is the best indicator of the real status of the peace process. The simple logic is that such a large economic investment would only take place if those investing had substantial confidence in the stability of the current peace process and faith in its future. As those detractors of the peace process and the doubters had argued in the weeks approaching the Tokyo meeting, it was possible that the failure of the LTTE to be involved in the Tokyo meeting could have undermined confidence in the success of the peace process. If, indeed, the current hiatus in the negotiations is such a severe blow to the overall peace process, then, going by the logic of the detractors, there should have been very low levels of aid committed. The very large quantum of aid pledged is an indicator of the appreciation by the international community of the progress so far and their confidence in the peace process and those involved in it to, ultimately, deliver a permanent peace. It is also possible to view the Tokyo aid commitment as the generous contribution of the international community to help push the peace process along, overcoming those hurdles that are bound to crop up in such complex political dynamics. As the LTTE itself has pointed out, the lack of economic resources has been a major drawback in the implementation of the confidence-building measures provided for in the 2002 Ceasefire Agreement. Now, the funds are there. What is lacking now is the necessary institutional framework for the rapid and effective disbursement of these massive resources and the implementation of social and economic rehabilitation work in both the devastated areas of the North-East as well as the war-affected aspects of the social and economic life of the rest of the country. While the rest of the country has the required institutional structures in place for the implementation of the recovery effort, the war-ravaged North-East urgently needs the re-building of those structures. This, then is the opportunity for both the Government and the LTTE to make history again. The two sides have done well so far to establish and sustain the Ceasefire and to undertake talks to discuss and explore the next step in this complex and tension-ridden drama of peacemaking. Now they both face the challenge to take their co-operation further by taking on heavier shared burdens: the actual re-building of postwar Sri Lankan society. This is why there is an urgent need to evolve an institutional mechanism that will enable that sharing of the administration of North-East rehabilitation. A structure of shared administration will, on the one hand, challenge the Sri Lankan State to transcend the old problematic practises and structures that are at the root of the conflict. On the other hand, it will test the LTTE's ability to administer societal recovery and challenge that insurgent movement to shed its battledress and move on towards civilian governance and democracy. Sri Lanka, as a whole, especially its national political leadership, now stands at the crossroads. The world has lent us a helping hand. How we grasp it will decide our future.
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