This then was the quintessential post election speech. The garrulous party of election talk is over, and finally it is time to take stock of the country's problems.

The news agencies which reported the Premier's speech basically encapsulated what he said in two lines when they noted that "the premier painted dismal picture of the economy, and by implication placed the blame for it on the previous government.''

As Prime Minister he is entitled to do that. His brave face under threat of chronic economic malaise is also laudable. But the Prime Minister does have a point when he says "we talk to please.'' He also has a point when he says that even if a single bullet more is not fired, we will still have to service loans incurred due to the war for the next eight years.

It is because we cannot talk to please that these columns have constantly been raising the issue of the ceasefire agreement with the LTTE and what ensues. The Prime Minister should not have to waste a hundred bullets, when he might have been able to do the needful with one or two. In other words (if we are to speak the plain speak and not sound cagey and needlessly guarded about it) the Prime Minister and his UNP government needs to make sure that there is no room for war to break out again. If it does, the country will have to spend much more on the war considering the gains the LTTE has made in terms of strategic advantage due to the ceasefire agreement.

It is no secret that the LTTE cadres now have a virtual free run in what were army-controlled areas then. Technically, they may not be able to carry weapons, but this becomes a detail once the physical infiltration is complete. If economic recovery is what the peace process seeks, it may not necessarily materialize. Certainly, previous regimes are responsible for lack of control of the war machinery. Even a tinpot dictatorship might have run the army better - but the reality is that the war became a personal resource for some men with insatiable ambitions. We cannot change the past. The economic mess may be dire, but the Premier can hardly begin to lose his head because everybody around him may be losing theirs. An astute assessment has to be made, and the resources of a resilient economy need to be mustered, while making sure that the nation is ready for any eventuality despite taking out this insurance policy that is being called the peace process.

Removing Arafat
"Peace requires a new and different Palestinian leadership so that a Palestinian state can be born.'' So said the US President in a speech that tied Arafat's removal to the US support for a Palestinian state. But considering that it was former US President who shook hands with Arafat and Rabin at the White House, it sounds as if the US in an oblique yet brusque way is now admitting its failure in seeking peace for the Middle East. Considering the Norwegians were also involved, we hope there is no room for a repetition of this peace sequence elsewhere. Will the US next make the state of Eelam incumbent on the removal of Prabhakaran? No, we are certainly not serious, but it is still so sad to see peace everywhere in pieces.

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