The only way the LTTE would say farewell to arms and enter main stream politics is when they are politically challenged. "The LTTE are committed to the ways of violence and only a political challenge can stop them," Leader of the Tamil National Alliance, Parliamentarian R. Sampanthan told the business community at the Sri Lanka Economic Summit on Wednesday. "The two main political parties of the South, the UNP and SLFP, have played political games with issues of the Tamil people and the LTTE do not know who they can trust. Until a consensus can be reached between these two political parties, nothing can be achieved," he said. Sampathan sharing the experience of the Tamil political movement said that many governments had come up with a solution only to be shot down by the opposition. And when the opposition came to power and proposed a solution, the former government now in the opposition bench would return the favour in kind. "The two main parties should come to a consensus and then draft a solution which is acceptable to the Tamil community and the international community and this acceptance will challenge the LTTE and they will be compelled to look for a political solution," he said. He said that before the LTTE came in to existence, moderate Tamil politicians had worked peacefully for their demands which did not yield concrete results. Sampanthan was a member of a distinguished panel invited to address a session on "For a Peaceful and Stable Sri Lanka" comprising Prof Tissa Vitharana, Chairman APRC and Minister of Science and Technology, Somawansa Amerasinghe, Leader of the JVP, Ravi Karunanayake, UNP Member of Parliament and Ven Bellanwila Wimalarathana Thero, Core-Secretary of the Congress of Religions and Chancellor of the University of Jayawardenapura. Ven Wimalarathana Thero said that it was time the two main political parties ceased playing games and urged civil society, particularly the business community to lobby for peace. "Now it is enough. They (UNP and SLFP) can stop their games and come together. They should come together, not as a single party and sign an agreement on a political solution to the ethnic problem before ever expecting a solution from the APRC," he said. The executive presidency should be abolished while steps are taken to implement the 13 Amendment, he said. "The war will never bring complete peace. A political solution must be found and if it is postponed till after the war, there will only be more problems," the venerable Thero warned. He made note of the rampant lawlessness in the country and the disgraceful behaviour of a certain minister which the government was tolerating. He asked how people can be expected to behave with discipline. He also questioned the existence of paramilitary groups in the East and said that although the government may not accept facts, it could not be denied that arms were dictating terms to the people in the East once again. While the debate rages on whether the political solution would be a federal or unitary solution, all parties agreed that the solution would have to be in power sharing. "The argument over the term can go on and on for years. In a federal system, or whatever you may want to call it, the country will not be divided. We should find our own devolution package without copying western modules," he said. Blue Prof G L Peiris said that the government was going ahead with the military solution while a political solution was being worked out. "There is no question that one must be given prominence over the other. A political solution must go in tandem with the military solution," he said. He observed four key issues that stalled peace talks in the past. The LTTE’s inability to lay down arms, their insistence that they were the sole representatives of the Tamil people and their refusal to face elections were some of the reasons that made it impossible to proceed far with negotiations. "The essence is to sharing power within a unified state," Prof Peiris said of the government’s political solution. He said that because of the lack of political consensus, the 13th Amendment could not be fully implemented, but the government was working with what was available and the Eastern elections was a move in that direction of providing a degree of autonomy to the regions. "The elections that were held in the East were a result of a political solution which was calculated and implemented by the government," he said. Green Ravi Karunanayake said that the presence of paramilitary figures in the East undermined the validity of the Eastern polls and said that only economic prosperity for the county’s people could bring real peace. "If we lose the economic war we have lost all wars," he said. He proposed the implementation of the 13th Amendment and the abolition of the executive Presidency. The non-existence of an Elections Commission, Police Commission, Human Rights Commission and Constitutional Commission which was instead under the President’s purview, seriously undermined democracy, he said. While he acknowledged that terrorism had to be eliminated, the betrayal of the country was in allowing violence to supplant a political solution. Red But perhaps the touching moment of the panel discussions came when Somawansa Amerasinghe said that it was the first time the JVP ever had a chance of airing its views addressing the business community. "We are committed to peace and economic development, the benefits of which can be shared with all the people," the leftist told the captains of enterprise. He listed out requirements for peace the JVP thought necessary; defeating terrorism, restoring democracy, negotiating with LTTE with strict conditions, decentralising power, expedited development in the East, providing compensation to all families effected by the conflict including family members of the LTTE, who did not support the terrorist outfit, defeating communalism and addressing grievances of the Tamil people, ending racial and religious discrimination, setting up a truth commission, national integration, building national dialogue. "Sinhala, Tamil and English must be made not official languages but national languages," he said concluding that the JVP proposals were still in the draft stages and called on the business community to make suggestions and recommendations. |
