A ministerial source said the present arrangement caused much inconvenience to the public and a workable solution was a crying need. At present, those who travel to and from Jaffna on buses are required to board LTTE buses for the journey through the LTTE-controlled stretch of the road.

However, both the Defence Ministry and the LTTE are exploring ways to ensure a direct passage to Jaffna. There are proposals put forward by both sides and the pros and cons of these are being weighed and evaluated by them.

The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission is expected to play a vital role in this respect though it came under heavy fire last week from the main opposition and other groups for the manner in which it handled the Navy-LTTE standoff at the sea off Vakarai.
The Norwegians defended themselves against all odds by saying they could not satisfy everyone when dealing with a delicate issue such as the LTTE problem.
The main opposition PA, especially its main constituent party the SLFP, entertains reservations about the peace process. The SLFP is opposed to the government's move to de-proscribe the LTTE before talks begin. General Secretary Maithripala Sirisena conveyed the SLFP's position to the Prime Minister in a letter. The SLFP also says there should not be an interim administration before the core issues are discussed with the LTTE.

It is believed that the Bangkok talks are mainly aimed at setting up an interim administration at least for three years. The actual talks will begin only after the interim administration is set up.

The SLFP also fears that talks would drag on for a long time, thus establishing a de facto separate state. Thus the party says talks should be held within a specified timeframe. It also says the interim administration should be talked about and formed only after reaching a final solution to the problem.

There should be no difference between the quality of democratic governance in the Northeast and that of the South. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe is not unaware of these concerns.

He concedes that there could be a vast gap between the positions of the two sides when they sit down for talks in Bangkok. The differences have to be ironed out patiently through a systematic approach. Striking a compromise will be an arduous task, he seems to believe.

The government is not unduly worried about the stand taken by the LTTE right throughout, because it believes any group will adopt a hardline position before talks begin as a bargaining strategy.

"It is at the negotiating table we should discuss with the LTTE how far we can go with its demands. There is a limit. All the demands cannot be fulfilled," one senior parliamentarian told this column.

The bone of contention apart from other issues such as the character of the state is the homeland concept put forward by the LTTE. Prime Minister Mr. Wickremesinghe categorically stated that the UNF government would not support such a concept, when he addressed the prelates of Malwatte and Asgiriya Chapters recently.
Hence, it is gong to be a homeland for all instead of a homeland for only Tamils. This appears to be the position of the United States as well. In a recent statement, the US embassy said it would not support ethnic enclaves anywhere in the world, as it was not the US policy.

All these matters require in-depth and intellectual discourse before a decision is arrived at. The LTTE is no doubt obsessed with the homeland concept while the government and the Sinhala majority think otherwise. The government has also rejected the two nations, one state theory put forward by the LTTE. Then what is the viable solution? The government is of the view that it should emanate not from anywhere else but from the talks that would take place between the government and the LTTE.

The government is in a favourable position because it has the international community on its side. But it wants the unwavering support of India to exert pressure on the LTTE to accept a reasonable solution that could be acceptable to all communities in Sri Lanka.

Besides these, the Sinhalese living in the Northern and Eastern parts of the country are uniting under one banner to ensure their rights are not infringed upon when reaching a settlement with the LTTE.

A group of parliamentarians especially from the opposition had come forward to represent the interests of the Sinhalese. To discuss the Sinhala issue, parliamentarians met at the Dharmayatanaya of which the chief incumbent is Ven. Elle Gunawansa Thera. Though it was meant to be an all-party meeting where the UNP, PA and others could send in their representatives, the UNP kept away from the meeting.

At the meeting it was decided to hold an 'Adhistana Pooja' in Anuradhapura on Tuesday and parliamentarians from the East are expected to make a vow to protect the interests of the Sinhalese living in the Northeast. They would march from the Sinha Kuluna (Lion Tower) to the Sri Maha Bodhi and Ruwanveli Seya and resolve to take an oath in front of the statue of the warrior-king Dutugemunu, who many Sinhalese believe symbolises the Sinhala uprising.

The forum that was set up under the leadership of the Ven. Gunawansa Thera adopted five principles:

i) To protect the rights of the Sinhalese and their cultural identity along with important Buddhist shrines and monuments in the affected areas.
ii) To re-locate the displaced Sinhalese on their traditional habitats in the North and the East.
(iii) To protect the unitary character of the state and the constitution.
(iv) To defeat separatism and any attempt to set up a separate state within Sri Lanka.
v) To defeat the homeland concept put forward by the LTTE.

The Ven. Gunawansa Thera expects a large gathering at Tuesday's ceremony which coincides with the anniversary of the LTTE attack on the Sri Maha Bodhi.
It appears that the organisation is gathering some momentum irrespective of political hues or colours, with parliamentarians of the government also making discreet inquiries about the organisation.

Its main objective it claims, is to ensure a decent and a dignified living for the Sinhalese in the North and the East and not to undermine or scuttle the peace process. The Ven. Gunawansa Thera also met President Chandrika Kumaratunga to discuss the plight of the Sinhalese in the North and the East. MEP Leader Dinesh Gunawardene and several other parliamentarians were present at the discussions which lasted for hours.

Be that as it may, the PA is perturbed over the manner in which it believe the government is trying to implicate the former top brass of the Kumaratunga government. The PA feels that the UNP, which called for the depoliticisation of the police during the election campaign, is perpetuating the same.

In the first instance the UNF government has a separate ministry for the police - the Ministry of Interior which also has Emigration and Immigration Department and Prisons under its purview. The PA hierarchy feels that the police especially the CID are on a witch-hunt digging into the buried past in order to embarrass the President and former ministers of the PA government. The President and the PA is apportioning the blame to Interior Minister John Amaratunga for exerting pressure on the CID.
To prove their case, PA members cite the Akuressa shooting incident involving former minister Mangala Samaraweera during the campaign for the 2001 General Election.
The PA is also accusing the UNF government of hurriedly finalising police promotions before the Independent Police Commission (IPC) is established.

President Kumaratunga according to some confidantes, is feeling the pinch now and is pushing for the setting up of the IPC to put an end to political interference by the UNF government. In the past we saw an exchange of letters between President Kumaratunga and Minister Amaratunga over issues concerning the police.
With the constitutional council now in place, the President might put pressure on the government to expedite the setting up of the IPC.

In this backdrop Colombo's political circles are buzzing with a rumour that several top PA members are planning to cross over to the UNF. Big names are being mentioned and it is likely these crossovers will take place with the 18th Amendment to the Constitution. But there are doubts as to whether the PA support for the bill would be forthcoming after the Nuwara Eliya group meeting where the party said it was unable to support the government sponsored amendments to the constitution on a piecemeal basis.

However, at one stage Constitutional Affairs Minister G. L. Peiris was confident that the UNF would get the necessary numbers to push through the 18th Amendment, which among other changes envisages the committee system practised under the 1931 Donoughmore Constitution.

Not only the PA, but the SLMC also has its own grievances against some provisions in the Amendment, especially the conscience vote provision. nThe politiburo of the party discussed it at length and many members expressed reservations about the conscience vote. The SLMC's thinking is that it would affect small parties if the whip is unable to control MPs of the party.

Small parties are worried about the members crossing over to the stronger political entities under the guise of the conscience vote and participate in the governmental affairs without the authority of the party.

Thus the party feels it would definitely dilute the bargaining power of small parties.
SLMC leader Rauff Hakeem was to meet Prime Minister Mr. Wickremesinghe to discuss the issues involved and add some safeguards to the amendment to protect the party interest.

At present a legal committee of the SLMC is studying the pros and cons of these constitutional amendments and the SLMCers think that finally they would be compelled to vote in favour of the amendment in the greater interest of the country and to resolve the ethnic crisis.

But it is unlikely that the 18th Amendment to the constitution will be presented in parliament before the end of May.The President may delay it by not sending it to the Supreme Court as an urgent bill. While the UNP government resolves to clip the wings of the President through the proposed amendment, the President is also doing her best to delay it as far as possible to make things difficult for the UNF. The PA group vehemently opposed the amendment, which seeks to remove the Presidential power to dissolve parliament after parliament completes one year.

In the meantime the President is trying to strengthen her position in the party. A meeting was held to this effect at the Presidential secretariat a few days before the President's departure to New York. Few people including Sarath Amunugama and Dilan Perera attended the meeting. There they decided to remove 41 organisers - most of whom Mahinda Rajapakse loyalists - from their positions.

Among the few names mentioned are Richard Pathirana A.H.M. Fowzie S.B. Semasinghe, S.B. Navinna, Soma Kumari Tennakoon, Jagath Balasooriya, Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra and Vishwa Warnapala. Meanwhile, at the next meeting of the SLFP Central Committee, Anura Bandaranaike is likely to be appointed as the Deputy President of the SLFP. This is likely to seal the fate of Opposition leader Mahinda Rajapakse who is making his way in the local political arena.

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