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The federal option and after

With the announcement that the Government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE had reached agreement on the need for a federal solution to the National Question, the most daunting of challenges in the peace process could be said to have been met. The joint broaching of a federal system of government within a united Sri Lanka, besides marking a historic turning-point in the negotiations, indicates that the most dangerous of bends on the road to peace has been successfully negotiated by the parties.

To express it in the negotiating parties' own words, the two sides have agreed to "explore a solution founded on the principle of internal self-determination in areas of historical habitation of the Tamil-speaking peoples, based on a federal structure within a united Sri Lanka".

Thus it could be said that the third round of negotiations has ended on the best possible note. Although much more remains to be achieved in the peace process, with this agreement on an important fundamental, the framework for a political solution could be considered as having been outlined. This is what has been frequently referred to by articulate sections as the federal option - a notion, although seen as controversial by some, was part of public discourse, on and off, since the early years of the conflict decades ago.

An urgent task for the future would be to flesh out this concept which has been presented in its barest outlines and make it applicable to the Lankan situation. Besides, if a federal system of government is to be installed in Sri Lanka, the country's constitution would need to be changed. For, what we would be having is a new system of government, a central feature of which would be extensive power sharing among regions, within a United State of Sri Lanka.

At this juncture, sections of local opinion are likely to recollect the aborted Bandaranaike-Chelvanayakam pact of 1958 and the year 2000 draft constitution of the then PA government, with considerable apprehension and anxiety. On both occasions important political initiatives with power-sharing as their central feature, were brazenly aborted by opportunistic elements. The question is likely to be asked, what guarantee of success do we have, on this occasion ?

This poser brings us to a point we have been repeatedly making over the past few days. There is no doubt that a national consensus is required for the implementation of the envisaged political solution. A federal solution would be popularly accepted to the degree to which the idea is found to be viable and just by the generality of the population. So, as we have right along said, the public needs to be constantly conscientized on these issues. There is no alternative to the Government going to the people and raising their awareness, for this purpose.

At the time of writing, the Government of the United States of America has warmly welcomed this major breakthrough in Government LTTE talks. More countries are bound to follow suit.

While the international climate would continue to be conducive to the conduct of the peace effort, the Government needs to ensure that local opinion is solidly behind it.

Right now, anti-peace elements couldn't be said to be popular. In fact they never were. But they couldn't be allowed to seize the initiative from the State. The State and its agencies and representatives need to go to every backwater and village in the country to enlighten the people on its political solution. In the process, it needs to speak to the people and convey its peace message in the simplest of Sinhala, Tamil and English.

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Copyright 2001 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
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