PEACE TALK(S)

urn the clock back… no, not another half hour, but to the presidential election that was fought on a veritable tightrope last November, and there’s a glaring lacuna in what the people were promised and what’s transpiring (or not) on the ground today. That President Mahinda Rajapakse’s government (sans two radical parties that thought they were instrumental in winning him the presidency – but ate humble pie at the recent local-government elections which they haughtily contested on their own) has made some (albeit little) progress in reviving the prospect of ongoing peace negotiations is widely accepted… but a lasting truce, let alone a lasting peace, has thus far been elusive – much to the dismay of the populace and the international community. That there’s been a virtual war scenario in parts of the north-east for most of this year is now not in question. What is, is where all this is heading…

So what’s the lacuna?

	mission: peace, not pieceS Time to turn the clock forward, not back.

Well, a lot of what is promised at election time never sees the light of day in this country – it’s become a perennial truth that our politicians promise the earth on election platforms without ever intending to give even an inch of it… our people, in fact, must take the blame for this state of affairs, because it is they who elect the powers that be in the south. It’s a different world, in just about every sense, in the north, of course.

And how many Sri Lankans were taken up by the then premier’s (and now president’s) promise to go to the Wanni to talk to the Tigers’ head (no pun intended) himself? Many, surely…

But what have we witnessed thus far?

To start with, the first round of ‘truce talks’ in Geneva achieved little, in many senses.

That they lasted the distance, perhaps, is what many are counting as one of its few successes.

That a member of the government delegation was reportedly there to also teach his offspring a lesson or two in politics and negotiations isn’t funny (well… it is!), nor is it acceptable that the gentleman apparently spent our money on five-star accommodation instead of taking up what was on offer by the Swiss authorities – in the interest of comradeship at the very least. Lessons (in how not to spend our money) for our adult politicians are desperately needed – they have been for many years now.

And that ‘our team’ (Ahem, indeed!) chose to come back and say that it scored brownie points by getting the crucial ceasefire agreement amended (it came to fruition during the opposition’s stint in power, you see…) sent ripples through the nation’s peace-yearning citizenry and had the international community up in arms.

And then there is (or was to be) Geneva Round II…

So what do we expect?

For starters, we think it’s time the president literally walked the talk by meeting the rebel chief himself.

Then, he could offer an olive branch to the opposition leader, to form a national government that will strengthen the nation’s resolve to reconcile and rebuild, rather than to throw carrots at sundry ministerial types whose greed drives them his way in the name of ‘national unity’.

The mayhem caused by a suspected LTTE suicide bomber at the very heart of the army headquarters in the commercial capital on 25 April sent a dire warning – that the sou­th could also become a battleground if and when the nor­th­ern comm­ander wishes.

And last but not least, he must turn the clock forward on two fronts: to where it was, so that our dwindling power supplies last longer; and towards the path to progress, by distancing himself in every sense from radical elements within his coalition that are a disgrace to those of us who desperately yearn for a new brand Sri Lanka – one in which all its people can live in harmony… one which aspires to becoming a model nation, rather than a banana republic run by the mafia.

Over to you, Mr. President… this is all in your hands.

 – Editor-In-Chief