Editorial

Security

Politics

World

Letters

Sports

Obituaries

Archives

By J. Vitarana

Usually bravery is associated with war. Many are rewarded for bravery or valour in war. Yet peace eludes the weak. Just as one needs bravery to pursue war peace also demands bravery from its protagonists. Achieving peace is a dauntless task.

President Yasser Arafat used to say that his mission was to seek peace of the brave. Well, he could succeed only partially in achieving that honourable peace - peace of the brave.

The Sri Lankan conflict is just as intractable as that of Palestine. We also need peace of the brave.

President Mahinda Rajapakse in his policy statement presented to Parliament on Friday outlined his vision for achieving peace. Following his vision of building a new Sri Lanka he called for a new peace process.

This new process does not fall from heaven like manna. It has to be anchored in the objective reality that is Sri Lanka today.

Reality

What is this reality? We have a Ceasefire Agreement. The Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) and the LTTE are its signatories. Royal Norwegian Government (RNG) is the facilitator at the invitation of both, I repeat both parties. What more, the Norwegians also hold the Chair in the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) that supervises the Ceasefire.

We have de facto two territories, two administrations, two armies, two judiciaries and two powers, all recognised by the CFA. The CFA has brought a temporary halt to a two-decade old war. According to the CFA, the war is only two weeks away. Either party could withdraw from the CFA by giving two weeks notice to the RNG.

In this context pursuing peace is a daunting task. There is another complication. The majority of the Tamil people in the North and East did not participate in the Presidential election.

Whether they did so voluntarily or due to coercion is a problem. Whatever it is, the election mandate has a lacuna. This makes it more difficult to reach out to the masses in the north and east. Yet they have to be brought into the peace effort.

The democrat he is, President Rajapakse has opted for a consensual approach. He seeks not a bipartisan consensus but a multi-partisan one. Moreover, he wants an open and transparent peace process. He has extended an open invitation to the Opposition to participate in the peace process.

His strategy is to build a southern consensus before meeting the LTTE directly for negotiations. None could find fault with him for such a stand.

The beginning

Where to begin? The beginning has been identified. It is the revision of the CFA. This needs agreement of both parties to the CFA. No single party could revise it without the consent of the other. Of course, it could withdraw from the CFA. But that brings war closer. Hence a lot of diplomacy is needed. Care should be taken in formulating opinions and responses. Time for rhetoric is over.

Any agreement is a compromise - a bargain. Nothing could be gained without conceding something to the other side. Revision of the CFA too would be a compromise. What is important is to make a breakthrough. Progressive revision should be the objective instead of a take it or leave it approach. It is better to begin with ceasefire violations. Both parties are obliged to observe the ceasefire. Therefore none could justify violations on any ground.

The international community can do much to prepare the environment for ceasefire revision negotiations. The President's desire to seek their assistance is welcome. Yet we have to be realistic too. All nations base their actions on what they perceive to be their national interest. In determining their position they would consider many factors. Their relation with Sri Lanka is only one factor. They would also consider their strategic interests - economic, political and military. The governments would weigh the response from internal and external allies. In calling for facilitators we have to consider all these factors. That is the only realistic approach.

The facilitator

Norway is the facilitator still. It could be changed only with the consent of the LTTE. Past experience with Norway was unpleasant on many occasions. Yet there is a change of regime there now. A change of facilitator should not be at the risk of derailing the whole peace process. It should be a consensual decision. International allies should also concur.

In pursuing peace President Rajapakse has an advantage that his predecessors lacked. He has the support of a broader spectrum of political groups. The outcome of the peace process would naturally depend on the degree of influence the President could wield in bringing about a consensus among the heterogeneous alliance that backs him. Intransigence has to be replaced with flexibility and dogmatism with creativity for success in the peace front. In this effort developing the peace constituency at the grassroots level would facilitate consensus.

Peace process

As experience elsewhere shows the peace process has to be multi-dimensional. Negotiations at state level constitute the highest level. Such high level efforts should be supplemented by grassroots efforts and intermediate level efforts by intellectuals, academics, business community and other civil society groups. In other words there should be a multi-track approach. Each track could supplement the others.

As the President rightly pointed out helping the tsunami and war victims as well as the other internally displaced to rebuild their lives would be a confidence building activity between the estranged communities. Such activity together with other developmental activities could be made use of to reach out to the estranged populace in the North and East.

President Rajapakse has pledged to consult all stakeholders in the process of building peace.

Finally, a word of caution. It is best to keep aside dogmas, stereotyped and hackneyed opinions and phraseology. What is needed is concrete action, concrete proposals. Most peace efforts floundered due to the dogmatic clinging on to apriori premises by both parties.

President Rajapakse has pledged maximum devolution. He has also promised constitutional reforms. Obviously these reforms would embody the devolution proposed. If it is to be embraced by all communities there should be maximum consensus among them. That means a consensus broader than that of political parties.

www.ceylincoproperties.com

| News | Business | Features | Editorial | Security |
| Politics | World | Letters | Sports | Obituaries | Junior Observer |

Produced by Lake House
Copyright 2001 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
Comments and suggestions to :Web Manager