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Saturday, 8 December 2001  
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A new phase

The United National Party has emerged the winner at the General Election.

This brings the country to a new phase. The Executive and the Legislature belong to two political formations.

Such a situation is pregnant with two possible outcomes. One that could be the best, and the other, that could be the worst.

The two possibilities are peaceful co-existence of the two rival formations and confrontation between them.

The former opens immense possibilities for the good of the country and the people. The latter, bodes ill.

The former would lead to stability and peace. The latter to de-stability and chaos. The dangerous consequences that could develop in such a situation is dreadful, even to imagine.

We hope both President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga and UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe will display statesmanship at this crucial hour and choose the path of peaceful co-existence and co-operation.

The election was marred with violence. The first priority is to prevent post-election violence. The next would be the formation of the new government.

Unless there is a spirit of give and take, there could be problems from day One.

Of special significance is the resolution of the National Question. The people have given a mandate to the UNP to bring a halt to the war and seek a peaceful solution.

The President too desires and stands for a peaceful resolution of the problem. No time should be lost to deal with this issue. It should, naturally be priority Number One in the agenda of the new government.

The consensus called for in the Lyam Fox Agreement should be sought for and reached, in the national interest.

We hope leaders of both formations would take appropriate lessons from the past.

Every time the government proposed a solution, the Opposition opposed it. That was the experience of several decades. Sad a result we are left with a fratricidal war that is devouring both human and physical resources of the country and subjecting even future generations to misery and deprivation.

It is heartening to note that voters have once again rejected the lunatic fringe of the nationalist movement in the South that is incessantly beating war drums and calls for total war on the Tamils. The Sihala Urumaya stands decisively rejected by the people in spite of its Sinhala-Buddhist rhetoric.

The miniature New Left Front which upholds the Right of the Tamils to self-determination and stands for a negotiated settlement got more support than the SU in many electorates.

The possibilities opened by the new situation should be explored and used to the best advantage of the people.

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