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by Jayatilleke de Silva

Two months ago making a statement on the occasion of LTTE Maveerar Day the Man in the Vanni said President Mahinda Rajapakse is "a realist committed to pragmatic politics". He added that they have decided to wait and observe. In other words he promised to give a chance to President Rajapakse.

Now, he has just done that. By agreeing to the Government's proposal to hold Ceasefire (CFA) talks in Geneva, he has shown that he is also a pragmatist.

As we have reiterated several times President Rajapakse is not only a pragmatist but also a democrat. He is a man well versed in democratic dialogue and bargaining. Perhaps he owes it to his grassroots origins or to his association with the labour movement. He has no traits of elitist conduct, a plus point contrary to the opinion of many that it is a drawback.

His very approach to negotiations is transparent and genuine. He consulted others - the All Party Conference (APC), and took into confidence even the Opposition. In this way he has been able to obtain near unanimity on the question of venue for the talks.

Knowing the President's mind and his sincerity all parties at the APC gave him a blank cheque to decide on the venue. Not only has the government shown maximum flexibility, it has also given the LTTE an opportunity to be flexible by backing out from insisting on Oslo as the only suitable venue. By this single act both sides have earned a degree of trust though much remains to be done as Confidence Building Measures (CBMs).

Some political analysts have concluded that it was the international pressure brought on the LTTE, particularly the US stand that contributed to this change of heart within the LTTE. Whether it is so or whether there were other factors like the reluctance of the people in the Northeast to plunge back to war that gave rise to the LTTE decision is still a moot point. Whatever the reason, it is a commendable decision.

One cannot also rule out the moral impact of the extreme restraint shown by the Government during the last two months. We should not underestimate our own contribution.

We must congratulate President Rajapakse in achieving what two of his predecessors with more experience failed to achieve. Within two months of assuming office he managed to win Tiger consent for CFA talks. Within three months, the talks would begin.

It is something that eluded us for nearly three years. It should be recalled here that the LTTE withdrew from negotiations in April 2003 citing among others non-allegiance to what has been agreed to at talks as an excuse. Another reason given then was the charge that the Government was trying to trap the LTTE in an international security net. I hope we have lessons to learn from that experience.

With the announcement of agreement over CFA talks, the fear psychosis among the people has vanished. Most people could heave a sigh of relief. The only section to be displeased would most probably be spin doctors and political protagonists who foretold that such agreement would never come and the fourth Eelam war would breakout soon. Once again these prophets of doom have been laid to rest.

Now that the talks are on the way the Government must select its delegation and do its homework in earnest. The LTTE has already announced a high-powered delegation and we can ill afford to send a set of novices as it happened in 1994. The Government must analyse the strengths and weaknesses of previous delegations at talks and take measures to avoid previous mistakes.

The delegation should not only have a high political level, it must also comprise of individuals with knowledge and experience in conflict resolution. The delegates should be fully conversant with ground realities. Without a clear insight into the ground situation any amount of theoretical knowledge would be redundant.

In spite of its drawbacks and imperfections the CFA had withstood all trials for four years. Next February 22 we will be marking its fourth anniversary. The objective of the talks would be focused on how to achieve 100 percent compliance to the clauses of the Agreement and to rectify the weaknesses in the monitoring mechanism. This requires hard bargaining and the settlement of complex issues like the High Security Zones and the return of Internally Displaced Persons(IDPs) to their original places of settlement.

In order to ensure a fair degree of success a lot has to be done during now and the actual date set for talks. The first is the improvement in the ground situation. If bomb attacks, shootings, death and destruction continue unabated the outcome of the talks could be a stillbirth.

While the Government and the LTTE have agreed to prevent violence, it may recur due to the action of third parties or players not bound by any agreement or understanding. Already such an occurrence has taken place in Vadamunai, in the LTTE controlled areas. A Government press release said:

"The Government has received reports from Vadamunai- Thoppigala region within LTTE dominated areas that heavy fighting has taken place between illegal armed groups involving the LTTE and causing casualties.

"The government is disturbed by such incidents, specially at a time when all efforts are underway to commence talks on strengthening the effective implementation of the ceasefire in Switzerland next month.

"The government deplores such violence and calls upon those responsible to desist from actions that could endanger the conducive environment for talks." Thus a prime responsibility falls upon the law enforcing authorities in all areas, whether they are controlled by the LTTE or the Government to maintain law and order strictly and to bring to book all those engaging in violence.

It is the duty of all citizens to help maintain a conducive atmosphere for talks to begin. In this respect it is unfortunate that certain extremist elements are making an issue of the venue selected for the talks. It is commonsense that what is more important is to halt the present cycle of violence before the beginning of talks and not where they would take place.

The venue has been selected on a give and take attitude. This is exactly what is necessary for a process of negotiations. Those who intransigently insist on a particular venue are actually either saboteurs or ignorant fools.

We were also intrigued by posters that appeared on city walls calling for a military solution." There is only one solution to terrorism", they said. Appeals were even made to those who conduct a so-called "War on terror." Little do these people realise that the War on Terror has actually multiplied terror thousands of times and entire civil populations are daily facing the brunt of terror.

The President has also stated that the APC will have another round of deliberations before the talks begin in mid-February. It is most welcome. A consensus on the approach to the talks and on the issues likely to come up there would greatly facilitate progress at talks.

The media has a special role to play in this interim period before talks. It should enlighten the public on the necessity of negotiations as well as on the need for confidence building measures on either side. It should also refrain from publishing or broadcasting provocative messages that are likely to endanger communal harmony or spoil the atmosphere for talks.

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