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| Sunday, 24 October 2004 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Positive signs amidst negative peace by Ranga Jayasuriya Perhaps, it would be too optimistic to expect an early resumption of peace talks, but it is quite clear that neither party to the conflict want to return to war.
No war- negative peace situation had dramatically transformed the Sri Lankan psyche. Despite the stalemate in negotiations and spree of political assassinations- which is, obviously, the biggest threat to the spirit of the ceasefire agreement right now - the benefits of the three-year-old ceasefire are evident in the increased interaction between the North and South, saving of billions in military expenditure, and lives - estimated to be three thousand from each side for a year. The LTTE's complaint that peace dividends have not reached Tamils in the North-East may be half true, half false. But, the Tigers are indeed receiving peace dividends. The length of Thamilselvan's European tour tells something about it. He has been visiting Europe for three weeks. Freedom of movement granted to Tiger cadres under the truce agreement, free helicopter rides the Tigers receiving - which according to Air Force Commander, Air Marshal Donald Perera have cost the SLAF 40 million - are examples of concessions the LTTE enjoys for being part of the peace process. People in the North-East are gradually rebuilding their lives despite any organised rehabilitation program. Absence of war has made a significant change in their lives, even though half a million people still remain internally displaced. Any improvement in the lives of the North-East populace is deeply linked with the continuation of the ceasefire agreement. So is any improvement of LTTE's reputation in the eyes of the international community. The Tigers, albeit all their rhetoric could not afford to lose these benefits. This week, when the LTTE political chief, Thamilselvan met the Deputy Director General of European Commission, Herve Jouanjean, the Tiger political chief told his host that the LTTE's commitment to a negotiated settlement remains 'undiluted,' and went on to stress that the Tigers were facing 'multi-pronged challenges' in respecting the Ceasefire Agreement, pointing to alleged para military activities and inability to restore normalcy. Thamilselvan's European tour, though described as a visit to explore constitutional mechanisms, is more focused in impressing international community than anything to do with constitutional affairs. During almost all the meetings with European officials, Thamilselvan repeated the same words of LTTE's commitment and stressed the need of the interim administration authority for the North-East. Thamilselvan is well aware that the ISGA proposals hit a raw nerve in the international system. The proposals were a shift from the LTTE's earlier announced commitment to a federal solution. This brought the LTTE's commitment for a negotiated settlement to question. Now Visiting Europe, the LTTE political chief is taking great pains, in selling the ISGA to the international community. Meeting with Jouanjean, Thamilselvan said the ISGA proposals should not be viewed with "suspicion and general fear of being the corner stone for separation." "... rather it is a basis to institutionalise an interim mechanism that can effectively deliver humanitarian needs, build confidence in the people's mind and help to enter into meaningful political negotiations, which is time consuming". When the ISGA proposals were submitted in November last year, the Tigers said the proposals were negotiable. Then, after an interview with a journalist of an English weekly, Thamilselvan was quoted on saying the proposals were non-negotiable. It is not certain whether Thamilselvan had been misquoted to make a headline story. Now in Europe, the same LTTE political chief is assuring the international community that the proposals are negotiable and that the Government can move amendments at the negotiation table. The Swiss Foreign Minister who visited Sri Lanka last week was quoted telling some journalists that the LTTE delegation told her officials that the proposals were negotiable and Thamilselvan told the same to the European Commission's Deputy Director General. But the Tigers are not prepared to discuss the Government's counter proposals for the LTTE proposals. This is the fundamental difference, which is dragging the deadlock in the negotiations for months, to date. So how can the deadlock be broken? Last week, at a seminar organised by a forum of non-governmental organisations promoting peace, a participant raised this issue pondered on by many a mind involved in the peace process. Recalling that the Tigers demanded the setting up of an interim administration in the North-East under the Indo-Lanka peace accord, he pointed out that the current process had come to square one, even though at the beginning of the talks, both parties postponed the issue for some time in order to avoid disagreements over the ISGA. His question was how we could come to grips with the situation and resume the talks. None of the speakers could give the participants, himself a newspaper editor, a satisfactory answer.But, they are not to blame for their failure as this is a question asked by many. The silver line, however, is that despite the differences over the implementation and powers of the ISGA, most of the major actors in the peace process, in principle, agree with the necessity for an interim administration for the North-East, at least to carry out humanitarian and rehabilitation activities. In the Government's perspective, it is essential to link the interim administration with the final political settlement. The Government, understandably, has concerns that an ISGA not linked to a final settlement would only help the Tigers to campaign for a statehood. It was Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar, then in the opposition, who described the LTTE proposals as a blue print for a separate state, soon after they were submitted to the then UNF Government. Albeit the stalemate in negotiations, the fact that only a few serious ceasefire violations have been reported and the absence of any direct confrontation between the Security Forces and the Tigers during the last three years, are themselves an achievement of the peace process. Perhaps one reason for this is the channels of communication are still open despite the deadlock in talks. There are Norwegians, Ceasefire Monitors and two formal institutions in the name of peace secretariats facilitating dialogue between the two parties. When Sea Tiger Commander Soosai fell ill - the LTTE said he was suffering from complications of an old bullet wound - he was flown from Kilinochchi to Colombo by the Air Force under the instructions of the Government's Peace Secretariat. He went abroad for medical treatment. When the two homeguards were granted bail, each amounting to two hundred thousand rupees, LTTE Trincomalee political chief Elilan paid the bail at the cost of LTTE peace secretariat. Despite the stalemate, such gestures of goodwill, both by the Government and the LTTE would help build mutual confidence and keep the two parties in the peace process. |
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