No progress on peace alert

Referendum on devolution proposals

ANTICIPATION mounted in December after London-based NGO International= Alert=92s Secretary-General Kumar Rupesinghe, on a visit to Sri Lanka,= offered to facilitate new peace talks between the Sri Lankan government and= the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

In the last two years= International Alert has developed a series of seminars on peace and has= helped to set up a course on Conflict Resolution at the Colombo University.= Prominent Sri Lankan MPs have visited Crete, Northern Ireland and South= Africa sponsored by International Alert to observe and discuss peace= processes.

Speculation in Colombo mounted in mid-December after= reports of a new initiative promoted by a "Contact Group" of key donor= countries to exert maximum leverage on both parties to guarantee peace. As= LTTE newspaper Eelanatham welcomed Britain=92s offers of= mediation, the Swiss envoy in Colombo held discussions with several= political parties. Newspaper reports say a Canadian government= representative was also in the capital in early December for= talks.

Mr Rupesinghe said in a press interview that it was crucially= important that Tamils=92 right to self-determination, as articulated by the= Tigers, is recognised by the government. On the other hand, he emphasised= that LTTE must continue steps taken through Tamil diaspora conferences in= Norway and Australia to articulate its vision of an alternative peaceful= future. In these conferences LTTE spokesmen advocated greater power-sharing= for Tamils in central government as in the case of the US-brokered Dayton= peace accord in Bosnia.

Some observers believe that given the= volatile situation and the distrust between communities, only quiet= diplomacy as suggested by Foreign minister Lakshman Kadirgamar in= mid-December will succeed. Mr Rupesinghe was criticised by hardliners when= he addressed a meeting in Colombo on 30 December.

It is unclear= whether any staff of International Alert visited Mullaitivu to make direct= contact with the Tiger leadership. As Mr Rupesinghe left Sri Lanka in early= January, newspaper reports said that LTTE was prepared to discuss peace at= ministerial level. The Tigers have always maintained that peace talks in= 1995 broke down because of government=92s failure to nominate high-level= negotiators. Others claim a nine-point peace agenda drafted by senior= Colombo Tamil politicians was supposedly rejected by the Tigers in November= because it lacked government endorsement.

The role of India would= remain crucial, many observers say. President Chandrika Kumaratunge=92s= unscheduled visit to India in late December further heightened speculation.= The old guard of the moderates such as Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF)= President M Sivasithamparam are adamant that India remains best suited to= guarantee implementation of any peace agreement.

The ban on the LTTE= in India is still in force and Tiger leader Velupillai Prabhakaran is the= main accused in the Rajiv Gandhi murder case. Some analysts believe that= India=92s involvement is not possible as long as Mr Prabhakaran remains the= leader of the LTTE.

As Sri Lankan NGOs prepared for a major peace= demonstration in Colombo on 20 December the government announced local= elections in Army-held Jaffna. After Tamil MPs, suspicious of government= motives protested, President Chandrika agreed to a postponement. But the= government remains committed to staging elections to demonstrate its= control over the peninsula.

Sources who met Tiger hierarchy in the= last three months believe that there is a window for peace because LTTE has= expressed willingness to negotiate and in recent months has not launched= attacks on Sinhalese civilians, to demonstrate its sincerity to foreign= nations, particularly the US. Although heavy security was maintained in= Colombo and other southern areas, fearing attacks during or after LTTE=92s= annual Great Heroes Week in November, the Tigers confined operations to the= north-east.

Reports say the proceedings of the Parliamentary= Committee on Constitutional Reform (PSC) are being speeded up for= completion by end of March 1997. Justice minister GL Peiris hopes to table= a new constitution in April which will require a two-thirds majority in= Parliament and thereafter approval at a national referendum.

If= support from opposition United National Party is not forthcoming, the= government may submit its devolution proposals to a referendum without= parliamentary approval. In 1970 the Sri Lanka Freedom Party government led= by current Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike overcame similar= difficulties by appointing a Constituent Assembly to draft a new= constitution.

In the case of a referendum, with UNP opposing, the= support of the minority parties is vital for the government. New= constitutional provisions must also be approved by a Constitutional Court= drawn from among the Supreme Court judges. The appointment of a young= female Supreme Court judge Shirani Bandaranayake, not a relative of the= President, has outraged Colombo=92s establishment who say her place on the= bench is to push through the peace package.

Ninety two Sri Lankans were among the 280 asylum-seekers from South Asia= feared drowned in the mediterranean on Christmas day. The disaster is said= to have happened when refugees in a ship from the Egyptian port Alexandria= were transferred to another vessel between Sicily and Malta. Hundred and= seven survivors who reached Greece were arrested by authorities. Sri Lankan= Tamil newspaper Virakesari has published 46 names of Sri Lankans= who may have died.
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