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People's organisations- this is your hour

It is now all too evident that the people of this country or the "silent majority", no less than our law-enforcers, need to be constantly on their guard. If it is their wish that this hard-earned 18-month respite from war should be transformed into a permanent peace, they should make their wishes felt and come out strongly in a show of total support for the current peace process.

This is in view of the fact that there doesn't seem to be a steady narrowing of differences between the President and the Cabinet on some contentious security-related issues, which, we believe, could be discussed and resolved rationally. The long letter fired off by President Kumaratunga to Premier Wickremesinghe on the perceived security threat in Trincomalee spoke eloquently of these lingering differences.

While nothing could be taken for granted on the security front, we do not believe that issues of this nature could be resolved through a combative, aggressive stance which seems to be favoured at present by the President. To begin with, we do not believe it would be in the national interest to give these issues an excessive public airing, given their extremely sensitive nature. They should be ideally thrashed out amid conditions that ensure the strictest confidentiality. The continued wrangling over these issues in public gives the impression that partisan political interests are being made to intrude into matters which should be dealt with at an absolutely intra-State level.

While we may be understating the case by saying that cohabitation between President and Cabinet is on a bumpy course, it is clearly the wish of the people that they cooperate in the name of national peace and harmony. When they voted both these parties into office, the people never bargained for a situation where different branches of the Executive arm of government would be more often than not at loggerheads. On the contrary, what they yearn for is consensual governance in the cause of peace.

Moreover, we believe that Defence Minister Thilak Marapana replied the President sensibly when he reportedly said that we should understand the LTTE's need to "re-arm".

While this does not amount to considering the State security forces and the LTTE as being on par with each other, it would be patently foolish not to recognize the existence of the LTTE as a defacto military formation. If this were not so, we wouldn't have had a war, nor would there be any need to make peace. It has to be faced squarely that the military capability of the LTTE constitutes its bargaining power.

However, the LTTE needs to recognize that it must cooperate in implementing the ceasefire agreement if the search for peace is to be speeded up. By showing reluctance to do this they are prolonging the agony of the North-East people.

Meanwhile, the people need to indicate in no uncertain terms that the peace process must continue to its logical conclusion. Apparently, not all sections of the State realise that this is the express wish of the people. If this were not so, these sections would be cooperating to bring peace. The time's ripe for all people's organisations and grass roots bodies to galvanise public opinion to further the cause of a just peace. This is their hour.

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