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| Sunday, 16 November 2003 |
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UNP should take up President's offer by B. Sirisena Cooray, Chairman, The Premadasa Centre, and former Government Minister I have a very simple question to ask the leaders of the democratic political parties of this country - if you can talk to the LTTE, why can't you talk to each other ? The LTTE is still committed to the division of Sri Lanka and the setting up of a separate state in the North and the East. The LTTE for almost two decades waged war against our country, our people and our armed forces. The LTTE killed or attempted to kill so many top leaders of both the UNP and the SLFP. Yet both the UNP and the SLFP are almost always willing to talk to the LTTE. At the present moment negotiations with the LTTE is Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's main preoccupation. And as soon as the President took over three portfolios she publicly expressed her willingness to talk to the Tigers. How come the President and the PM are so unwilling to talk to each other ? How is it that they do not display towards each other an iota of the accommodativeness they display towards the LTTE ? Of course there are differences of opinion between these two leaders and their parties. That is as it should be in a democracy. But surely those differences need not be insurmountable obstacles to a rational, intelligent dialogue between these two parties ? I advocated the need for a national government as far back as in 1995. Of course a national government if it is to be successful has to be based on a comprehensive national programme to solve the ethnic problem, to develop the country, to uplift the people. No political party will disagree with these goals; they are all for unity, peace and reconciliation; for poverty alleviation and employment generation; for the restoration of discipline and the rule of law. These are goals they all have in common. If our leaders are serious about these declarations, if these are more than mere slogans and election promises, then the best way to achieve them would be to work together. That is just common sense. Learning from history We should learn from our own history. We won independence, and won independence as a single country because our leaders worked together. If we were as divided then as we are now, we would not have succeeded in winning independence and certainly not won independence as a single country. In this hour of national and moral crisis it is that example we should look at, go back to and emulate. The ordinary people understand the need for unity. Time and again in opinion surveys the majority of the people had been in favour of a national government. The leaders however are proving to be deaf. They'd rather do anything, face anything than think about and work seriously towards a broad unity. Because they are so preoccupied with their own quests for power and prestige today's leaders seem to miss a rather alarming trend in our society. More and more politicians are being regarded as corrupt failures, as a plague on the country and society. The danger is that this growing revulsion for democratic politicians will become translated into a growing disillusionment with the democratic system itself. These are the ominous signs of a catastrophe to come. I have to admit that the fault lies with the politicians of all parties. Look at the way they are conducting themselves today. Such self centered and short sighted conduct can only give rise to the feeling that they do not care about what happens to the people; that their only concern is their own well-being. It is always dangerous when a country is leaderless, when it is in permanent crisis. It is at times like these that a segment of the populace begins to look for someone to blame for their problems. And history shows us that such searches always end up with targeting this or that minority group in the country. The result will be further division, further weakness and further bloodshed. Don't forget the LTTE The LTTE must be enjoying our disunity; they must be happy about the growing political conflict in the South. The way we are behaving currently helps the LTTE in its propaganda - the LTTE can now claim with some credibility that power is the only thing Sri Lankan politicians are interested in. They will use this to justify their interim administration proposals and through that their advocacy of a separate state. The very nature of these proposals, the danger they represent to the unity of this country should have made our political leaders put aside their differences and come together. A national government is the only path for anyone who is genuinely committed to the unity of our country. It is only by presenting a united front to the LTTE and the world that these divisive proposals can be countered. This is not the time for unseemly political quarrels. Perhaps the President was not sincere when she made the offer of a national government. Perhaps she was only trying to score political points. If so there is only one way of finding out - by accepting her offer, by commencing negotiations unconditionally. After all if we can talk to the LTTE unconditionally we can surely do so with each other. If the President is serious then the discussions can lead to the formation of a national government. If she is not serious then, if her offer is merely a political gimmick, the best way to expose her would be to accept her offer and commence negotiations unconditionally. The UNP should remember the advice of its former leader, President Premadasa - Consultation, Compromise, Consensus. Talk now, and talk seriously about a democratic national government. That is the smart thing to do. That is also the only correct thing to do. |
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