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| Sunday, 12 March 2006 |
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Mr. Tissa Attanayake, where art thou? by Prasad Gunewardene President Mahinda Rajapakse has kept the dialogue with the LTTE quite transparent. Following the Geneva talks, the President, unlike other leaders in the past, summoned another session of the All Party Conference to debate and discuss issues that surfaced in Geneva. He quite rightly included the delegation that went to Geneva to enable all parties to raise questions if they had any doubt. No other leader in the past who dealt with the national crisis had ever established such a forum to make public matters through political parties on national issues. The All Party Conference was successful. The representatives at the Table were given the opportunity to voice concern. So they did. They clarified and verified in the presence of the President. Some issues were even rectified. At the end all parties extended their support in one voice to continue the process towards finding a lasting solution. After the conclusion, the main opposition UNP issues a statement. The excerpts of that statements read- "We wish success for the talks as we did last time"- "We dedicate ourselves so much to peace because we want to see that peace dawns in the country soon"- "We should stop trying to put the blame on each other when things go wrong". These were important sentiments expressed by the UNP. It was also a responsible statement issued by the UNP in concurrence with the leadership of Ranil Wickremesinghe. Hence it was accepted that the All Party Conference was a success. Hardly twenty four hours later, UNP Assistant General Secretary, Tissa Attanayake described the All Party Conference as a total failure. This was in total contrast to the position taken by his leader and the party. Attanayake, though he enjoys a senior post in the party, is never included in teams that deal with important issues like the national crisis. Party insiders say that less knowledge and education on party activity at 'top' level could be a cause for Attanayake's 'talking out of turn' that undermine the UNP's position on national issues. Attanayake at a routine media briefing claimed the All Party Conference was a waste of time with mere chit chats over cups of tea. But the position held on the success of the conference by the UNP representatives at the conference was different. That was why the UNP issued a statement that said it would wish success for peace talks as they did before. If the conference was a waste of time over cups of tea, the UNP delegation would have certainly walked out of the meeting. A UNP stalwart from Colombo blamed party leader Ranil Wickremesinghe for permitting inexperienced politicians like Tissa Attanayake to address the media on important matters like the ethnic conflict. "He was not even in the delegation and therefore what does he know about the outcome", asked a veteran UNPer from Colombo. Political analysts question whether Ranil Wickremesinghe summoned any all party conference prior to, and after signing the controversial Ceasefire Agreement. They claim that President Rajapakse has acted more democratically while pursuing a dialogue with the LTTE by inviting all sections to be partners in the path to peace. The President has from the commencement kept all parties informed of his plans towards peace intiatives. The forum was kept open for debate with opposition views too being considered at the table. Whenever UNP's Milinda Moragoda or Prof. G. L. Peiris made a practical contribution, the President nodded in favour. The proceedings were made public over television. Let's not forget that during past meetings of the All Party Conference on Peace, whenever an opposition member expressed a valid point, President J. R. Jayewardene was seen raising his eyebrows. That kept everybody in suspense. The incumbent President has been more sincere and practical in his approach towards peace. |
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