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Don't
expect much in Geneva Peace
talks were first held in Thimpu, the capital of Bhutan in the mid-1980s,
under the supervision of the Indian Government. Next week's talks
in Geneva are being held under the supervision of the Norwegian
Government. When the announcement came that the LTTE had agreed to talk, there was great jubilation in quarters which once asked that the Norwegians be kicked out of the process together with Erik Solheim. That was because the LTTE had embarked on a blitzkrieg against government forces in Jaffna. That they had eventually used this to gain a bargaining lever in deciding the agenda for the Geneva talks was overlooked in the first flush of optimism. We are now at the table in Geneva. And we would imagine that the Government brief has been well prepared and studied intensively. The careful advocacy of that brief is now what is required. From a situation of no information, there is this fear that a sudden surplus of information has been infused into our team of 4 cabinet ministers, the IGP and the Navy Commander no less. But like in all hard fought cases -- the opposite side will, no doubt, have a trick or two up its sleeve. And the LTTE may genuinely be thinking the same of the Government. President Mahinda Rajapaksa came into office - no doubt helped by the LTTE -on a platform of renegotiating the CFA (Ceasefire Agreement). His alliance found several flaws in the CFA, mainly that the truce needed to be tightened since it was evident that the LTTE was getting away with blue murder despite the existence of a CFA. For the LTTE, they will only want a win-win situation from these talks. They will insist on the full implementation of the existing CFA and not a revised one which the Govt may propose in Geneva. Then since a new threat has surfaced with the emergence of the breakaway Karuna faction - they will simply want the Geneva talks to settle that issue -- and then if that is not done - they will use this to complain to the international community that the government is not serious in its efforts to gain peace. There are miles to go before any common ground can be found. What
is disturbing is that the whole gamut of outstanding issues that
are in urgent need of attention such as child conscription; pluralism;
democracy etc., in the north and east are going to be shelved for
another day. Our senior staff have just returned from Jaffna after checking the pre-talks mood and asking the ordinary people there what their hopes are. Their feeling is akin to what we expressed soon after the LTTE agreed to come to the negotiating table. A sense of déjà vu; a sense of cautious optimism. The
people of Jaffna, no different from those in other parts of the
island, want to get on with their lives; live in their own homes
without fear of displacement; do their cultivation and fishing and
trade in other parts of the country without the fear of violence
and death stalking them at every turn. |
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