Southern consensus on national question vital - Fr. Tissa Balasuriya

COLOMBO: In an letter to President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe, Fr. Tissa Balasuriya OMI said they have an opportunity to usher in peace in this country by agreeing to a Southern consensus resolution of the national question.

“There would be agreement that there can be no peace without an understanding with the LTTE led Velupillai Prabhakaran,” Fr. Balasuriya said.

He said the two main political parties, the SLFP and the UNP have failed to agree on a constitutional solution to the ethnic problem of sharing power within a united Sri Lanka.

“This was not a matter of principle. They agree in substance on the type of devolution of power within a united Sri Lanka. But when the party in power proposes a solution, the Opposition party opposes it even if they have proposed it when in power.

They haggle about words and constitutional finer points because they do not want the credit of a solution to go to other party.”

He said that a southern consensus is required for a renewal of the peace process.

This needs a graceful reconciliation of 50 years of rivalry among persons, of families and groups of elites. The ordinary people want peace and harmony.

“The future of our country and the happiness of our people depend very much on you and your togetherness in resolving our 25 year (50 year) national question.

We can be inspired by the values of compassion and reconciliation, of sharing power in a united country. You can undertake together a task of educating our people beginning with the schools system and the mass media. Violence is not overcome by violence.

While law and order are maintained, we need to progress from constitutional solution to community building to ensure a happier future for the coming generations,” he said.