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| Sunday, 1 August 2004 |
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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 11 2429239 / 2331181 Fax : 94 11 2429230 Peace talks and the ISGA At the present moment the possibility of re-starting the stalled dialogue between the Government and the LTTE in the near future seems bleak. Actually interested parties are breeding pessimism. The media has become a vehicle for spreading gloomy messages. Nothing positive is being highlighted. Negative developments are blown up. The media cannot be blamed because the conduct of those directly involved in matters concerning the peace process has also been not without fault. Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister Vidar Helgessen who visited Sri Lanka last week at the request of the President in an attempt to revive the stalled dialogue painted a gloomy picture at a press conference before leaving for Norway. Describing the present scenario as a frozen war he said that it is melting at the edges. Taken along with the developments of the past few weeks where isolated instances of ceasefire violations occurred, his comments lead one to a conclusion that war is imminent. As Media Minister Mangala Samaraweera commented this was just blowing up the crisis. Such comments coming from the facilitator sound least diplomatic and question the integrity of his role. We could also recall how the Norwegians abandoned the facilitator role and went back to Oslo prior to the General Elections, also in an excessive reaction to the developments here. It must be remembered that the Ceasefire had held 16 months even after LTTE's withdrawal from the negotiations and both sides have pledged to abide by it in spite of the negative developments of the last few weeks. In such a situation, the efforts of the facilitator should have been to build up on the existing status quo without creating panic among the population. This does not exclude the parties to the agreement from blame. The suicide blast in Colombo and a spate of killings in the East and now in Colombo point towards LTTE involvement in them. International humanitarian agencies and human rights groups have censured the LTTE for serious human rights violations in the territory held by them. On the other hand, some involvement of rogue elements in the security forces in the fratricidal war between the LTTE and the renegade Karuna group cannot also be ruled out. While LTTE intransigence is demoralizing even the pease loving forces in the South, the developments in the South do not give much hope to the LTTE that the Sinhala politicians are interested in finding a solution to the National Question and are happily bickering over petty issues. The UNF, though expressing lukewarm support for the peace process has come out strongly against the UPFA government calling its effort to revive the peace talks a sham. What makes the situation worst confounded is the ambiguity within the government ranks as to the course of action that should be followed to revive the peace talks. It is divided over the agenda of the talks. While the President has committed herself to starting the talks on the basis of discussing the ISGA, the JVP, a constituent party of the government is dead against discussing the ISGA. In fact, together with some elements in the SLFP the JVP is carrying on a campaign against any discussion on the ISGA using the Patriotic National Movement as a vehicle. As stated on earlier occasions, the government is morally and politically bound to discuss the ISGA proposals as it had been submitted to it by the other partner in the previous round of talks. The LTTE should understand that the ISGA cannot be achieved as a single act given its political and constitutional implications. Rather it should be looked upon as an interim goal linked to a permanent federal structure for the country. Negotiations are useless if both sides stick to their positions intransigently. Negotiations involve compromise - give and take and the ability to accommodate the concerns of the other party. Discussing the ISGA does not amount to granting Eelam. Salvaging the Doha Round Trade Minister from 147 countries were battling in Geneva against time to reach consensus on a trade pact that could salvage the Doha Round of talks. These talks initiated at Doha almost three years ago broke down at Cancun, Mexico last September. The Doha Round aims at negotiating a fair playing field for trade between countries, both developed and developing. Though there was a deadline fixed for Friday midnight no agreement was reached even by Saturday evening and the talks continued. Progress was made towards a new Draft Agreement, which is yet to be approved by the General Council of the World Trade Organization (WTO). This time the collective will of the developing countries spearheaded by the Group of 20 headed by Brazil and India has been presented so strongly that developed countries - the USA, European Union and Japan have been forced to concede some of their privileges. Though new modalities for reducing agricultural subsidies are being worked out developing countries fear that the developed countries may not abide by them or would create new barriers in implementing the proposed changes. However, the Geneva meeting has marked progress, though limited, which could carry the negotiating process forward preventing a total breakdown that could lead to higher protectionism in the developed world. It is up to the G-20 and other members of the developing world to pursue battle in earnest. |
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