The President has also indicated at times at least that she not only doesn't know what she is saying, but also does not know what she is doing, such as when she granted a three-year extension to the Commander of the Navy. It was an act that demoralized the Naval forces and split the Navy high-command right down the middle.

The government is in the meanwhile provoking the President who resembles a wounded hog on the rampage. The latest of these moves is to solicit her support to enact laws that will effectively strip her of powers to preside over the armed forces, through its new command structure which is the Joint Chief of Staffs Committee.

It may not be a bad idea to take these powers away from her - for during her tenure of office she abdicated those powers to her Deputy Minister who was put in charge of prosecuting the war against the guerrillas up north. When army camps fell like ninepins the President did not even see it fit to return from her foreign sojourns.

But there is a sticky issue that arises now, which is whether the government is trying to bypass the President to control the military apparatus, in order to make passage for its peace deal with the guerrillas, smoother.

The government's handling of the military apparatus during the tenure of the current MoU with the LTTE is far from exemplary. At every turn, there was a capitulation to the designs of the rebels, a series of events which has now climaxed with seven soldiers being abducted flagrantly in violation of the MoU, and coinciding with the much ballyhooed release of prisoners-of-war last week.

These are what are colloquially referred to as incidents which reveal 'coming colours'; why is the government bending over backwards to accommodate the LTTE in relation to each and every bizarre and brazen incident?

Despite the popular sentiment countrywide that the Presidency is not suitable for our country as it concentrates too much power on one individual who often acts as a dictator, the UNF does not want the Presidency dismantled either, for reasons of its own. The PA wants the Presidency because their leader is incumbent.

If that is the case, at least let cohabitation then work, and let there be some super structure mechanism that is created that allows for good governance.

This mechanism must be at the highest political level. It need not be a move to sideline cabinet government but be very much like the regular joint committee that was set up on Friday to monitor the peace process. There is not much fun in having bipartisanship on the peace process if domestic issues are to be thrown to the wolves and subjected to the vagaries of party politics and personality clashes.

The people - labouring under the strains of rising bills to settle at home - are sick and tired of parochial issues that range from the import of a handbag to fictitious claims of bribe taking for school entries.

National issues like education, defence and security, investment and tourism, environment, etc. need bipartisanship at the highest levels at least for as long as this country must live with the fate of cohabitation.

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