The Hindu : International : Sri Lankan parties bury the hachet for now

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Sunday, Jan 02, 2005

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International

Sri Lankan parties bury the hachet for now

By V.S. Sambandan

COLOMBO, JAN 1. Seven days after Sri Lanka's worst natural disaster, there are initial steps of cooperation among old foes across the island's political spectrum, but a true reconciliation appears as elusive as it was during previous decades.

Contrary pronouncements that come to the fore threaten to erase the groundswell of goodwill this ravaged country witnessed since last Sunday's tsunami, which has so far killed over 28,000 persons.

Perhaps the greatest opportunity for reconciliation and rebuilding was missed today — the New Years Day — when a joint public position, even symbolic, could have been made.

First steps

With the main parliamentary parties, barring the LTTE-backed Tamil National Alliance (TNA) taking the first steps in working together on a committee to manage the national disaster, senior Government sources see a ray of hope that political bitterness would be a matter of the past. According to current indications, contact has also been established between Colombo and the Tigers on the specific issue of managing the disaster.

However, in a manifestation of distrust, a visit to the affected areas in Jaffna by the Prime Minister, Mahinda Rajapakse, along with two members of the left-nationalist ruling ally, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) was rudely disrupted earlier this week. According to sources, the visit was proceeding rather smoothly, when suddenly the crowd turned restive, waved broomsticks, threw sand and demanded that Mr. Rajapakse should leave as "he was accompanied by the JVP." Political sources see the LTTE's instigation behind the act.

Relief

Though there is a lot of relief from ordinary Sinhalese going from the south to the north and the east, the complaints were that "government support" was not flowing in. Countering such allegations, Colombo released statistics of relief assistance sent to the affected 11 districts.

At the level of the national polity, in a rare coming together, the President, Chandrika Kumaratunga, and the Opposition leader, Ranil Wickremesinghe, the leaders of two bitterly opposed political parties, shared the public platform on Friday to mourn the national tragedy. The underlying theme of Ms. Kumaratunga's speech at the public event, and her New Year message, was a call for unity. Also present were the Mr. Rajapakse, and the JVP leader.

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