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The Lanka Sama Samaja Party is of the view that the present ceasefire agreement (MoU) needs to be comprehensively revised if the peace process is to be taken forward a press release from its General Secretary, Batty Weerakoon said.

"Both the UNF Government and the LTTE must realise that the different communities have their own concerns in regard to the peace process.

The Sinhalese as a community show grave concern over the manner in which the LTTE exploits the ceasefire situation to strengthen itself militarily and to establish its dominance in the northern and eastern provinces. This is a situation that needs to be urgently and immediately addressed," Weerakoon said.

The present MoU between the UNF government and the LTTE devotes itself wholly and only to the maintenance of the conditions of the ceasefire. It recognises the areas of control of the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) and the LTTE and helps regulate the conduct of the security forces of the State and of the LTTE armed cadre in the context of this territorial division.

The territorial waters appear to be left free of these rules of conduct and leaves the State's armed forces under the obligation of 'safeguarding the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Sri Lanka without engaging in offensive operations against the LTTE'. These rules constitute a framework of conduct that may have been considered adequate for putting into effect the ceasefire and the commencement of negotiations. In the LSSP's view notwithstanding difficulties the parties to the MoU have taken forward the peace process with considerable success.

The people's wish for the maintenance of the present peace and its consolidation has been decisive and has pressurised the parliamentary Opposition too to respect the peace process.

However, the LTTE's recent offensive actions that have been reported in the media and are violative of the spirit of the MoU can, if unchecked, dangerously impact on the situation, the statement said.

The LSSP endorses the position that the LTTE cannot be permitted to use the MoU to conduct or maintain its war by other means. It has resorted to deception in the ferrying of arms across territorial waters and has been legalistic in regard to its obligation to respect democratic and human rights in the territorial areas and spheres of activity to which it has gained access through the MoU.

Its use of its terrorist tactics to intimidate the Jaffna Municipal Council on the matter of declaring open its public library reveals principally the inadequacies of the present MoU in regard to safeguarding civil society and its legitimate rights.

The LSSP regards the situation as grave enough for the government to urgently seek a revision of the MoU in such manner as could ensure the maintenance of the confidence of all communities and democratic forces in the country in the peace process that has commenced. Such revision must reflect the determination of the UNF government to work together with the President and the PA Opposition in reaching a speedy political solution to the ethnic problem, Weerakoon said.

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