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“There is no question that a democratic solution should be the goal of the peace process. The concept of self-determination articulated by the LTTE and other Tamil parties is meant to be liberating and empowering the people. True liberation and empowerment requires democracy.” These views were expressed by Dr. Jehan Perera of the National Peace Council in an exclusive interview with the PRIU. “The present ceasefire is advantageous to both the government and LTTE. There is an end to the fighting, destruction and terror of war.” “The government benefits from this as it can claim credit for providing this basic requisite of civilised life to the people. The most basic governmental function is to provide an environment in which people can live without being killed. The LTTE also benefits from the current ceasefire. It has been able to obtain normalcy for the areas it controls and governs, and also the ability to expand its political and other activities to areas under government control.” “Thus, the current no war situation is a win-win situation for both the government and LTTE. The masses of people are also beneficiaries, which accounts for the lack of serious mass-based opposition to the current peace process.” “Continuing with the present ceasefire for a further period, without consolidating it into a final settlement at this time, has its advantages. It permits the sharing of power between the government and LTTE in the north and east in the interim period.” “At present, the Sri Lankan military is present in the main population centres of the north and east. The Sri Lankan judiciary and police are functional there. They are a countervailing power to the LTTE. It is unlikely that a final solution negotiated at this time could provide for these levers of state power to continue functioning as they are.” “The fact is that the present balance of military forces in the north and east makes only one final, and yet peaceful, solution negotiable at this time-- that is to give the LTTE control over the region.” “But it is better that the LTTE be entrusted with this power after the passage of some time. In this interim period, the efforts of those who want democracy and human rights in the north and east should be to strengthen civil society in the region. Accordingly, this interim period should be one in which trust and confidence of the people in both the government and LTTE is restored.” Asked whether economic development could succeed before a final solution is reached, Perera said, “Donors and investors are saying that there must be a final solution before they pump in large sums of money into the country. This makes sense for two reasons. First is that only a permanent solution would be an adequate guarantee that their investments will not be blasted away in a renewed war. The fact that donors and investors are reluctant to invest in an interim period will be an incentive to the government and LTTE not to remain stuck where they now are. For the sake of obtaining economic results they will need to move forward in the peace process.” “But there is also a second reason why immediate results in the economic field cannot be expected. After enduring nearly 20 years of war and destruction, the people of the north and east require relief and rehabilitation as their first priority. At present the economic absorptive capacity of that region is low. The ground has to be cleared for rapid economic development to take place with large-scale economic investments. Reacting to whether peace in Sri Lanka should be achieved within a democratic framework Perera said, “There is no question that a democratic solution should be the goal of the peace process. The concept of self-determination articulated by the LTTE and other Tamil parties is meant to be liberating and empowering for the people. True liberation and empowerment requires democracy.” “The essential features of a democratic society need to be present in the final solution that is arrived at. These include free and fair elections, the separation of powers between the executive, legislature and judiciary, and the protection of human rights. These essential features of democracy need to be entrenched at the national and regional levels.” “The government, LTTE, Norwegian facilitators, opposition, civil society and international organisations working in Sri Lanka must be united in ensuring the existence of these basic features of democracy to any solution of the ethnic conflict.” “Whatever be the extent of devolution of power and regional autonomy there must be a separation of powers between the executive, legislature and judiciary, and the protection of human rights at both the national and regional levels,” Perera said in conclusion.
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