Archives

A dialogue pregnant with possibilities

The good news is that there is forward movement in the dialogue process which has been launched between the President and the Prime Minister.

When they met for the second time on Tuesday in a crisis-defusing effort, it was decided that a committee be established to evolve working arrangements which would enable the President and the Premier to work consensually towards the resolving of national issues. Besides, the parties are expected to meet in two weeks' time to forge ahead with the dialogue process.

These developments augur well for the future because peaceful cohabitation between the once feuding arms of the State is the wisest course to pursue, given the disturbing consequences other options could yield.

For instance, pushing events to the point where another general election would be foist on the people, is a direction fraught with grave dangers, which need hardly be enumerated on account of their obviousness. Nor could prolonged bitter power struggles be in the national interest. Herein too lie hazards which could dangerously undermine the well-being of the country.

In other words, what would be ideal is consensual governance between the President and the Cabinet and the current dialogue process between the President and the Prime Minister is pregnant with this possibility. We hope the parties to the conflict would arrive at a working arrangement which would not only be mutually-satisfying but enable the resolution of national issues which need to be taken-up and tackled on an urgent basis.

Prime among these issues is, of course, the peace effort. The recent LTTE proposals for an interim administration call for a prompt rejoinder, from the Lankan State. An inability to meet this condition in the near future could have the effect of putting the peace process in abeyance and this could be to the detriment of Sri Lanka. Therefore, we urge that the parties to the conflict work expeditiously towards initiating a consensual response to the LTTE proposals and thereby enable the peace process to evolve towards a qualitatively new phase.

Analyzed closely, it could be found that the President and the Prime Minister are among the best suited in the land to forge ahead with the peace process. They both possess nearly impeccable credentials as peace-initiators and peace-makers.

Barring a situation where extraneous, short-term political considerations would clog their vision, they could work consensually towards evolving a just solution to the ethnic conflict. We urge that the parties to the conflict work on these commonalities rather than be deterred by extraneous considerations.

Over the past few years, pious pontifications on the need for the major political parties of the country to unite and work consensually towards resolving national issues have been made from many a high pedestal.

In fact, the top decision-makers of the country have waxed lyrical about this need on a fairly regular basis.

Now is the time to prove that all this is no mere ear-soothing rhetoric. In fact, as we said in a recent comment, we are faced with problems which could be turned into opportunities - avenues which could be used for the greater good of the country.

It is not only the North-East war which has bled us white. Destructive, murky politics have exacted a heavy toll too and today we stand a highly divided polity, ready to go at each others throats at the slightest provocation. Let's pause awhile and think on these things.

www.ppilk.com

www.crescat.com

News | Business | Features | Editorial | Security
Politics | World | Letters | Sports | Obituaries

Produced by Lake House
Copyright © 2003 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
Comments and suggestions to :Web Manager