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| Tuesday, 5 October 2004 |
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| President says does not believe in peace at any cost: IA and final solution should be based on Oslo Declaration Address at inaugural ceremony of NACPR: President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga yesterday sought a commitment from the LTTE that the Interim Administration as well as the final solution should be based on the Oslo Declaration signed by the Government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE which declared that a Federal solution should be sought within the framework of a united Sri Lanka. President Kumaratunga said her Government continues to hold the view that the resolution of the current problem lies mainly in negotiations between the Government and the LTTE. Addressing the inaugural ceremony of the National Advisory Council for Peace and Reconciliation (NACPR) in Colombo, the President said while her Government believed that peace has to be negotiated it did not believe in "Peace at any Cost". The sovereignty, the territorial integrity and the security of the State must be safeguarded. The President reiterated her notion that "Peace is more than the absence of war" adding that it entails active engagement to identify and rectify the root causes of conflict. "We believe in a just peace, which means not just the rights of one community or one group within that community, but the just rights of all Tamil people, as much as all other citizens. We believe in a democratic and pluralist polity that rests on the bedrock of the Rule of Law and the guarantee of Human Rights in every corner of the country. We believe in a Just Peace with Democracy," the President said. Referring to UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe's contention that the consultations could take place after Government begins talks with the LTTE, the President stated that the process begun yesterday was a separate exercise which is designed for all participants to engage in a free dialogue expressing specific views held by each group represented so that the Government be directly and clearly informed of their views. This would serve as an essential and most important input into planning of the negotiation process and the policies and strategies adopted by the Government. "We therefore need your views not only once talks begin but even before talks can get started," the President told the participants. She urged the UNP leader as well as its members to reconsider their decision and "to participate in this great national endeavour of arriving at a national consensus on the country's one single most important problem". The President said she believed that what had commenced was a bold initiative that could lead to the much desired collective consensus of the Nation, hoped by all its peoples. "This should have occurred a long time ago, but even now let us attempt to put national interests before our own and dialogue honestly based on what is realistically possible and arrive at the essential elements to attain a lasting and durable Peace." She said: "It may be a tall order. The stars are far away. Yet, I continue to hope and believe in this, our Nation's ability and strength to reach for those stars if we work honestly together." |
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