JVP lauds President for breakthrough

Uditha Kumarasinghe

COLOMBO: The JVP yesterday welcomed the breakthrough achieved by President Mahinda Rajapakse in getting the LTTE to the negotiating table.

"At present all political parties and democratic forces have reached a consensus on two key issues - to resume negotiations with the LTTE and re-establish democracy in the North-East. This is the most positive development towards achieving a permanent peace," JVP Leader Somawansa Amarasinghe told a media briefing yesterday.

He said "on no occasion in the recent past did all democratic forces support a government representing one particular view on the country's ethnic issue.

Therefore this is a new beginning to deal with this problem with a fresh approach. This is not a continuation of the failed peace process in the past," Amarasinghe said.

Amarasinghe said the Geneva talks are just only a beginning, a more meaningful ceasefire should be introduced to resume peace talks.

The JVP believes a durable peace can be established if steps are taken to safeguard peace and democracy within the unitary structure, he said.

Amarasinghe said the talks scheduled to be held in Geneva on February 22 and 23 intends to establish and implement a meaningful ceasefire. The talks should focus on eliminating shortcomings in the Ceasefire Agreement. Therefore talks should take the form of a new approach to resume peace talks.

He said the JVP requests the Government to focus its main attention towards several issues during the Geneva talks. In terms of the Mahinda Chintana, the Government should breakaway from the old path to achieve peace.

This is because the agreements reached upon at previous talks have broken both in spirit and action leading to a further continuation of the armed conflict. The Mahinda Chintana is incorporated in 13 points in the MoU signed by President Rajapakse with the JVP. Therefore representatives on the Government side should be aware of this position during the Geneva talks. The Government negotiators should defend these positions and argue only from this perspective, he said.

Amarasinghe said:" The Government delegation to Geneva does not represent one political party but one that mirrors the consensus of all democratic forces.

These aspirations were affirmed by the mandate given to the Government consisting of 28 parties and later confirmed by the unanimous decision of the All Party Conference which constituted representatives of all democratic parties in the country." He said the LTTE unilaterally withdrew from peace talks in April 2003 taking maximum advantage from the ceasefire. The LTTE has carried out numerous killings taking cover under the clauses of the CFA. The LTTE also assassinated Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgarmar and even brought arms to Colombo.

According to the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission report of November 30, of the 3,633 ceasefire violations, the LTTE has violated the ceasefire 3,421 times. This indicates 96 per cent ceasefire violations have been by the LTTE. Therefore any law abiding citizen knows that the LTTE has brazenly violated the CFA while the Government has acted in a more responsible manner, he said.

UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe at the recent Presidential Election also accepted that there are shortcomings in the CFA he signed with the LTTE. After the CFA was signed, the country has moved towards division. The Mahinda Chintana has received a clear mandate to change this situation. Both parties should resume negotiations to conduct meaningful peace, he said.