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Wednesday, 12 December 2001  
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Reactivating the peace process

The new government has received a mandate for peace. The LTTE has also expressed its desire to settle for a viable alternative to a separate state. The international community also desires a settlement that ensures the territorial integrity of the country. In short, time is opportune to reactivate the peace process that was in limbo for several months.

Several factors have to be taken into account in this regard. The first is the need to ensure the goodwill of the international community. Any agreement that would result in talks between the belligerent parties needs to be underwritten by them to guarantee its success.

It is true the problem is ours and is an internal matter. Yet, the problem has taken an international dimension due to our own follies. The anti-Tamil pogrom of July 1983 caused a huge exodus of Tamils who migrated to the West and India. While the West gave shelter to the more affluent sections, India had to shelter over 100,000, mostly poor.

From then on, there is not only an international factor but also an Indian factor. The decision of the new Prime Minister to visit New Delhi early shows that he has grasped the significance of this factor. India, our closest neighbour has also a stake in maintaining the territorial integrity of Sri Lanka. A peaceful solution of the National Question would also enable thousands of Sri Lankan Tamils presently domiciled in India to return home.

As we all know, Norway had been engaged as a facilitator in the peace process until it went into hibernation on account of the political uncertainties here. This facilitation could be reactivated early.

Negotiations should not be for the sake of negotiations. They should be approached in earnest and due seriousness. Conflict resolution should be treated as a science. It should not be handles in an amateurish manner. It should be handled professionally by competent personalities and at the political level.

The negotiators should be provided with all expert assistance. There is a wide body of international experience on conflict resolution, including those that seemed to be completely intractable.

Nor should the negotiations be unnecessarily hurried. It is na‹ve to believe that a problem that has grown into a full scale war for nearly two decades could be solved in a couple of weeks.

What is most essential is the goodwill and genuine commitment of both parties to a solution. Given the commitment, both sides could agree to an agenda of priorities.

Naturally, the first priority would be to halt the war and set up an interim administration for the North and East, which could address the urgent economic and social needs of the community.

Matters that require the broadest possible consensus like constitutional changes and devolution could be discussed at length. There should be a spirit of give and take.

Of course, all this would be preceded by talks about talks during which period the international facilitation could be used to the best advantage.


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