Sri Lankan president Rajapakse, holding the portfolio of finance, has presented a budget containing proposals to allocate more funds for the current year than those of the last year.

It must be noted that the government has increased the allocation for defense expenditure by 45% while talking about peace proposals, peace efforts and Ceasefire Agreement.

It is crystal clear that no government, no leader sincerely committed to peace and disinclined to war will allocate such a colossal expenditure on defense in this little Island.

The President who claims that the economy of the country has risen by 7.8 percent has not taken into account the speculation by economic analysts that the inflation in the country will shoot up by 17.1 % by the end of the year. It is also expected that the budget for the next year too will not be a people welfare oriented one.

Minister Nimal Sripala de Silva, the Leader of the government delegation for talks, has denied that the increase in the defense expenditure is for war and maintains that it is to fight against terrorism and it’s quite clear when he refered to fight against terrorism he really meant the LTTE with whom he led a government delegation for talks and with whom he will be negotiating in the future.

The Ceasefire Agreement which has lasted for four and a half years has a bleak future. The view expressed by Paul Murphy, a special envoy of British Premier Blair, confirms it. He stated quite categorically that the Ceasefire Agreement is merely on the paper and not in operation. In such a context, how can the government statement that it is inclined to solve the problem through negotiations be taken seriously?

Murphy’s view that peace talks can move forward only if there is mutual trust between both parties only implies that there is no real intention on the part of the government to do so. He finally stated that it was his experience from Ireland that with faith and commitment, peace is possible. Although he conveyed his message to both the government and the LTTE, it is equally applicable to the government as well.

The increase on the expenditure on the defense in the current budget presented by the president in his capacity as Minister of Finance only reflects the government’s option for war.

An English translation of the Editorial in Uthayan, a Tamil daily, based in Jaffna

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