There
is heightened expectation of progress in the
peace process following the Norwegian facilitator's
delivery to the LTTE of the government's latest
proposals regarding an interim administration
for the north east. Since April this year when
the LTTE suspended its participation in peace
talks on the grounds of unfulfilled promises
by the government, there has been a decline
in the public confidence in the peace process.
The National Peace Council urges that face-to-face
peace talks recommence with a view to restoring
public confidence and also to ensure that the
draft proposals can be developed to the mutual
satisfaction of the two sides.
Apart from the
issue of an interim administration, peace talks
also need to address other issues relating to
the peace process. These include the pressing
concerns of the people regarding the resettlement
of internally displaced persons in the high
security zones and other areas, political assassinations
and the inability of people to economically
benefit from the peace dividend. The re-arming,
re-deployment and re-training of government
and LTTE military forces have been a cause for
concern of both parties as well as the general
public. The government and LTTE should not postpone
addressing these problems as they become harder
to resolve with time and further undermine the
high expectations that people have had in the
peace process.
The dispute
that has arisen over the LTTE's newly established
camp in Kinniya is one that should be settled
immediately as its continuation undermines confidence
in the mechanisms established under the ceasefire
agreement. Both sides accepted the Sri Lanka
Monitoring Mission as the arbiter of the agreement.
We call on the LTTE to abide by the decision
of the international monitors regarding the
dismantling of their new camp in Kinniya.
The NPC also
calls on the government to address the problem
of the continuing exclusion of the President
and opposition from the peace process. A bipartisan
political approach that involves the President
and main opposition party is indispensable for
progress to be made in the direction of such
a federal solution. We believe that the proposed
interim structures need to be genuinely federal
in character if they are to be a platform to
the final political solution. They need to contain
structures for power sharing between the centre
and north east region and accountability to
standards of human rights and good governance
which are the essence of federalism.
Considering
the failure of past efforts to resolve the ethnic
conflict the NPC is of the view that a proper
bipartisan agreement between the government
and main opposition party based on an equal
partnership is necessary. Therefore we urge
the Prime Minister and President to jointly
review the Liam Fox agreement that only requires
the government to keep the opposition informed,
and to reach a mutual agreement to improve on
it to ensure equal participation in the peace
process.
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