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No need for promises: actions are essential

It must be said that the head of SLMM in his interview to Reuters has identified the basic cause of the danger faced by the ceasefire agreement.

Norwegian facilitators and the SLMM are continuing their peace efforts with determination and without showing their exhaustion and frustration in midst of the situation turning into a spaghetti mess. It is a fact, however, that they are truly struggling to bring about the normalcy so essential to take forward the peace efforts.

Whenever the peace efforts take one step forward it is also slipping several steps backwards. The confidence level in the peace efforts is inching towards zero. The Norwegian facilitators and the SLMM in the midst of their efforts to create good will between the government and the LTTE have hit the nail on the head by identifying the cause for it all. This much is clear from the interview given by the head of SLMM.

He has also said that the chances for the resumption of war in Sri Lanka are increasing. The armed groups operating in the east are the main hurdle to create good will between the government and the LTTE.

He also added that it is very important to implement the ceasefire agreement in full and to do that the two sides must start talking.

The fact is that there can be no disagreement that the government is solely responsible for the current situation.

Ever since the ceasefire agreement was signed the President with her executive powers has not acted like someone who supports the peace efforts. In fact she has waited for the right time to implement her plans to destroy the peace efforts.

The then Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasighe without the executive powers of the President could only drag the peace process somewhat. He did not have the honesty or the power to implement the ceasefire agreement in full. As a result the ceasefire agreement was not implemented in full and all the expectations from the agreement became meaningless.

If the Norwegian facilitators and the international community had applied pressure on the government to implement the agreements in full and ensured that they were indeed implement, today’s messy situation would not have risen. Having ignored the requests of one of the parties that signed the agreement for three and a half years one has arrived at a situation where the peace has lost its vitality.

As mentioned by the head of SLMM the armed groups operating in the east is the cause behind the lack of confidence in the peace efforts and it is the government that is behind this as well. Even though the government and the security forces deny it there is no doubt that they are aiding and guiding these armed groups.

The responsibility for controlling these groups and disarming them lies with the government. The question is will the government do it. The government will not take such an action because it considers that the help of these groups is necessary to achieve their aims.

In this context there is no value in the Norwegian facilitators and the international community in bringing up the promises and alternate plans of the government to the Tamil people and continue to deceive them.

Why is there delay in taking appropriate actions even after realizing the justice and the truth of the situation?

09 August 2005

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