Every successive government of Sri Lanka has been procrastinating the political solution to the Sri Lankan ethnic problem under the pretext of reaching a consensus among the people of the South. President Rajapakse also follows the footsteps of his predecessors.

It is a tradition of the South seeking the cooperation of the opposition while being in power and adopting a tactic of confrontation when they are in the opposition.

Ranil Wicremasinghe, the leader of the UNP, brought about a Ceasefire during his tenure of office as Prime Minister. But, the opposition parties criticized him. President Chandrika Kumaratunge, former President, held another election and changed the government. Yet the Ceasefire continued. Rajapakse, SLFP candidate, contested the polls with the support of Sinhala hard-liners. He carried out a propaganda that Ranil had betrayed the majority community.

President Rajapakse now talks about southern consensus. Lessons from the history of Sri Lanka teaches us that it is not possible. It is a well-known fact that the JVP and JHU representing the South will always stand in the way of a southern consensus.

President Raja[akse talks about a southern consensus to solve the national conflict while waging an undeclared war in the North-East. It is nothing but duplicity.

If President Rajapakse is sincere in finding the solution to the conflict, his government must put forward a fair and just solution.

An English translation of the editorial in Thinakkural, a Tamil daily based in Colombo.

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed