.

Practicing and preaching

Nobody could or should quarrel with President Chandrika Kumaratunga's New Year call "to shed petty political differences and step into the New Year as members of one family to realise the goals of peace, harmony and development. "But it is pertinent to ask the question whether the president's own approach to the opposition comes anywhere near the ideals she so eloquently espouses.

What this country desperately needs is a consensus between the government and opposition on a national approach to war and peace. It is all too apparent that the war in recent years was fought on a political rather than military agenda with various operations timed to suit events on the political calendar. This is something the country, paying through its nose in blood and treasure to prosecute what the president once called "the war for peace," just cannot afford. If there has to be a military solution to the problem of LTTE terror, and the government seems to be increasingly of that view, then the war must be fought on military considerations alone. To do that in a democracy such as ours with periodic elections, it is essential that there is consensus between the government and the opposition.

But that, sadly, is nowhere near reality. The relationship between the government and the opposition is as abrasive as it could possibly be and the signs are that the situation is going to become worse rather than better with the Wayamba provincial council election to be fought at the end of this month. The much vaunted Liam Fox agreement covering a consensual approach to a negotiated settlement with the LTTE is hardly talked about at all any more. Mr. Prabhakaran ( or Pirapaharan as he was most recently called in Tiger communications) knows better than anybody else that any deal to which both the UNP and SLFP do not subscribe is utterly useless. And there are no signs whatever that anything positive on this issue is anywhere in sight.

There is no purpose in belabouring the contemporary history of the UNP and the SLFP jettisoning each other's efforts of effecting a fair settlement to what has come to be known as the "Tamil problem." Supporters of the UNP like to think that the genesis of the problem was the Sinhala Only policy of the late Mr. S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike which carried him to office on the crest of a wave of Sinhala nationalism. They remember other irritants to the Tamils too like sending buses with Sri number plates bearing a Sinhala character to Jaffna. But they forget that the UNP too switched to Sinhala Only but was unable to hijack that Bandaranaike policy. Bandaranaike's efforts to heal the wounds with the Bandaranaike - Chelvanayakam Pact and the Reasonable Use of Tamil legislation and the UNP's own attempt to resolve the festering wound with the Dudley - Chelvanayakam agreement were in their own time scuttled by the greens and the blues. The result was that instead of reaching an agreement with moderates, the country has had to go to war with extremists.

All this is now water under the bridge and the result of what the president has called "petty political differences" plus, we must add, the greed for power of the two major political parties in this country. Inconsistencies of their policies both in office and in opposition abound. They are too well known to merit re-telling and that is why the JVP, when it twice sought to unseat governments it had helped install in office, said "a plague on both your houses." Although the majority of the people still appear unwilling to embrace a JVP alternative, both the SLFP (or PA) and the UNP are increasingly conscious that the new left is eroding part of their support bases particularly by attracting disgruntled young voters.

The state media is engaged in a clumsily orchestrated effort to show the country that the UNP is behind the violence that has already been evident in the North Western province during the run-up to the election. Saturday's Daily News blazed a front page headline, "Wayamba in fear of brutal UNP terror." Governments, whether it be the incumbent establishment or its predecessor, never learn that this kind of campaigning cuts very little ice with the people. The voters are very well aware of who calls the shots at election time. They know who is responsible for transferring DIGs and police officers, and who is responsible for maintaining law and order and ensuring that the election is free and fair.

They also know best why they get what the government controlled paper called a "New Year bonanza" of fifty new buses of why an "inter-city super service" that assures them a 90-minute ride from Colombo to Puttalam are lavished on them at this time of the year. All political parties indulge in such gimmickry in the vain belief that it helps impress voters. They never learn better despite the lessons repeatedly taught by the electorate. The result of the Wayamba P.C. poll is important for both the PA and the UNP as it would be an early sign of the coming colour for purposes of both the other provincial council elections that must be held soon or even a premature parliamentary or presidential election.

It is now very well known that various dishonest tactics were employed at the last local government elections and at least one supreme court judgment bears testimony to that fact. Let us hope that history will not repeat itself on this occasion and that the electors will be able to freely and fairly register their preference. But the signs are that we are heading for a no holds barred contest.

| NEWS | PROVINCIAL | POLITICS | DEFENCE | FEATURES | LEISURE | BUSINESS | SPORTS | ADS |