Programme for a pragmatic political solution

Political solution: It is very unfortunate that over the past 60 years, the Sinhala and Tamil political leaderships have failed to arrive at a mechanism through which the different communities of the country could share power. As a result, Sri Lanka, which was a role model for other developing countries in terms of education, health and other qualities of life indicators, has now come to the brink of destruction.

The 25 years of war in the country has repeatedly brought death, destruction and unimaginable suffering and hardship to the Tamil speaking people of the North and East. The devastation wrought by years of war has dismembered the community driving hundreds of thousands of people to seek refuge in other parts of the world. Repeated bouts of escalating violence have forced them to flee their homes resulting in massive internal displacement of people.

The violence to which our Muslim brothers and sisters have been subjected too, shames us all. Beginning with the mosque massacres in the east in the late eighties, the forcible driving of over 50,000 Muslim families from Jaffna and other northern areas in 1990 and the repeated violence that they had to face in recent years at the hands of Tigers will remain as indelible stains in the blood soaked history of Tamil politics.

Now as far as the ordinary people are concerned, the glamour of war has lost its appeal and the earlier fervour for violence has abated. Today an exhausted and debilitated people fervently yearn for an end to this war.

Majority of the Tamil speaking people are opposed to the continuation of violence and war. The basic demand of the Tamil speaking people is a reasonable and just solution to the burning ethnic issue. The people long and wait for a meaningful political settlement. All the people in Sri Lanka sincerely long for a peaceful life, irrespective of their religious or ethnic or linguistic differences.

The time is ripe to find a stable political solution through political negotiations. The global trends too indicate that working out solutions through non-violent political means can be more fruitful than mindless violence. Bitter experiences of the failed past is forcing the nation to accept the view that there are alternatives to intransigent and bloodletting politics in solving the problem of the Tamil speaking people.

The rejection of the opportunity provided by the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord which created the Provincial Council for the Northeast with substantial autonomous executive and legislative powers has been a historic blunder. All the Tamil political parties, including the SLMC, and the overwhelming majority of the Tamil speaking people endorsed and accepted the solution proposed by that Accord.

It is now quite apparent that by rejecting the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord and by obstructing its implementation, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) not only betrayed the fundamental aspiration of the Tamil people, but also subjected them to the destructive horrors of another 20 years of war and violence.

Committed as it is to a separate state to be achieved through military means, the LTTE has also thwarted and sabotaged all attempts to arrive at a political solution in the past.

In the past, too much trust was placed on the goodwill of the LTTE, who have a history of scuttling any initiative towards a peaceful resolution of the ethnic problem. The Governments which came to power, always tried to appease the LTTE at first, and the Tigers in turn used these opportunities to build themselves up to prolong the war.

Subsequent to the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord, the non-LTTE Tamil political parties, including the EPDP, returned to the democratic mainstream and gave up arms with the view to finding a negotiated settlement. By and large, these parties function fundamentally on the principle that devolution of power for the North and East, should be the basis for lasting peace.

Yet, we are convinced that the ethnic issue has to be approached in a pragmatic way, relying essentially on negotiations and avoiding military confrontations. It does not want to drag the people through recurring blood baths.

The time has arrived for the Government to take a bold initiative and table a practical proposal that will fulfill the aspirations of all Sri Lankan communities. Democracy, pluralism and human rights should be given prominence in any new initiative taken by the Government.

Hence, we present a three stage solution that, while meeting the legitimate aspirations of the Tamil speaking people, will also have the support of all the communities:

Stage one

The first stage is to implement the 13th Amendment, which was the outcome of the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord, to the Constitution in full. The Amendment is aimed at handing over the North-East Provincial Council to the democratically elected representatives of the North and East. Handing over the power to the elected representatives of the North and East would be the first step towards fulfilling the political rights of the Tamil speaking people.

This move will not have any Opposition since the Provincial Council system has already been accepted by almost all political parties and is being implemented in the South.

The Provincial Council system run by the elected representatives of the people will provide channels to fulfil the daily needs and partially the political aspirations of the Tamil speaking people. It would also provide the best mechanism for rebuilding the lives of our people who have lost everything in the cycles of war.

Second stage

The second stage is to reinforce the 13th Amendment by conferring additional powers on the North and East Provincial Council to make them centres of greater authority.

This gradual devolution of power to the regions would allay the fears and build the confidence of both the Tamil and the Sinhala people. It will instil confidence amongst the Tamil speaking people that their political issues could be resolved in stages. This will also convince the Sinhala people that devolution of power would not lead to separation but would bring about peace, harmony, trust and confidence among all ethnic communities.

The third stage would be, with the consensus reached among all the political parties including the LTTE, to arrive at a lasting final political solution embodied in constitutional structure that would ensure maximum devolution of power to the regions and for the sharing of power at the centre.

Third stage

The subjects that will be shared with the devolution of powers have to be negotiated through consultation and finalised based on a pluralistic concept of living and sharing a multi-cultural society with equality and justice to all communities and to function in a free society respecting rule of law, pluralism and the rights of all individuals to exercise their democratic will without fear.

What is outlined in the above programme for a political solution is believed to be acceptable to all non-LTTE Tamil political parties including the EPDP. It is also believed that this programme, when implemented, will restore the rights and the dignity of the Tamil speaking people.

Once the programme as accepted in principle, it is envisaged that the time line should be set for each stage. We could achieve a contented and prosperous future, only if we approach our problems with a pragmatic and a clear vision. It is this pragmatic vision and our reliance on the continuing support of our people that will give us the strength to go forward.

(EPDP release)