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The upcoming talks

The next few weeks are of crucial importance for this nation to prepare itself for the upcoming talks between the government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. The talks are scheduled to begin on September 16th in a Naval base in Thailand and only the opening ceremonies will be open to the media with the rest of the parleys to be held behind closed doors. These discussions are bound to be preliminary with both sides mainly stating their positions on given matters without concrete solutions being worked out.

Already the public debate over the substance of the talks and the preparatory moves has begun. The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna, which has been taking a hard-line on the peace issue, has objected to the creation of an Interim Administration, which they say will be headed by the LTTE. Other extreme elements have voiced similar concerns. Over the planned de-proscription of the LTTE there has been an important statement from President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga that she is opposed to the de-banning at this stage. She has said she was not present at the meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers when the decision to de-ban was taken, and if she had been present, she would have raised objections to the move.

If the President's view is to be taken as that of the People's Alliance's position on the issue then the second and third biggest political parties in Parliament have raised serious objections to the de-proscription and the interim administration.

However it is a moot point as to whether the people of Sri Lanka agree with these parties. In these six months of peace we have seen a rise in the expectations of the people that there will be a lasting solution. In fact these hopes may exceed what the government and the LTTE may be able to deliver initially. These emotions have therefore built considerable pressure on the government and the LTTE to produce some result.

In putting forward the peace agenda Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and his government had appeared to take grave political risks. Despite a campaign that he was entering into an agreement that amounted to a sell-out during the lead-up to the poll, the United National Front received a majority at the last Parliamentary General Election, which was reasserted by subsequent victories at the local government hustings.

What we wish to do here, however, is to emphasize yet again that the build up to the talks must ensure that all opinions are taken into consideration while the government, which is mandated by the people to seek peace, is given a clear run to enter into negotiations.

It is also vital to note that both sides have exercised considerable caution in their preliminary moves. The government's decision to temporarily lift the ban on the Tigers is one. In case the LTTE proves intransigent the ban can be re-imposed. The LTTE too has refrained from making definite statements, which preclude it from returning to an armed struggle to wrest a separate state.

Given this state of affairs it is important that we strike a note of caution and call on the public to temper their expectations with a touch of reality. Yes, the talks are welcome and most people in this country want them to be successful. But to expect them to bring instant results is unrealistic given the variety of political opinion present in the country.

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