Mahinda Rajapakse

COLOMBO: The Sri Lankan Prime Minister and Presidential aspirant, Mahinda Rajapakse, releasing his manifesto on Tuesday, promised a "new approach" to conflict resolution and said he would work for a solution within the "unitary character" of the Sri Lankan state. The Prime Minister plans to seek a "national consensus" before commencing "time-bound" talks with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to reach "durable peace."

The manifesto, named `Mahinda Chinthana,' says the four "main challenges" faced by the country were "achieving peace while preserving an undivided country," building the economy, creating a "disciplined and virtuous society," and building a secure future for the children.

For conflict resolution, Mr. Rajapakse plans to hold consensus talks with the major political parties, including the opposition United National Party (UNP) before negotiating with the rebels. Expressing confidence that he could achieve peace "without returning to war," Mr. Rajapakse said he intended to "begin peace talks with all the stakeholders in the conflict to realise this goal." He would "build a national consensus" to "achieve an honourable peace." He strongly believed in upholding the "civil and human rights of all communities, our nation's sovereignty, security and the unitary character of the state."

Unitary structure stressed

The manifesto envisages the rolling back of a nearly-decade long political discourse, which centred on the need for a federal solution to solve the separatist conflict.

Elaborating on the manifesto, Mr. Rajapakse's campaign manager, Mangala Samaraweera said it was the Prime Minister's vision for Sri Lanka. Talks with the Tigers would be "time-bound" and would commence after a national consensus. "Even the LTTE has been saying that a southern consensus is required," Mr. Samaraweera said.

Pointing out that the Prime Minister would uphold the unitary structure of the state, Mr. Samaraweera, however, said a lot would depend on the flexibility shown by the LTTE. "The LTTE has never renounced the concept of a separate state. If the LTTE is flexible, then we are also willing to be flexible," he said.

The Prime Minister was incorporating "all shades of opinion," as part of his campaign, Mr. Samaraweera said, referring to the 24 parties that have expressed support for Mr. Rajapakse's candidature.

After consensus talks with "all political parties," the Prime Minister would start talks with the "LTTE and other parties," to find a solution that was "acceptable to the majority of the people in the country," he said.

On the President, Chandrika Kumaratunga's proposed draft constitution, which provided for changing Sri Lanka's unitary state to a union of regions, Mr. Samaraweera said "that is history," and that the document could not be moved forward.

The draft constitution, promising far-reaching political reforms, was Ms. Kumaratunga's main electoral plank in the 1994 and 1999 Presidential elections.

The ceasefire agreement, which is in force since February 2002, would be "reviewed." Mr. Samaraweera also rejected the concept of "traditional homelands," saying that the party had never endorsed the position. The manifesto also said that Mr. Rajapakse would not be trapped by "the right to self-determination," a concept that predates the advent of Tamil militancy.

Earlier Mr. Rajapakse launched his manifesto in the presence of clergy leaders from the island-nation's main religions — Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam and Christianity.

Foreign Affairs Minister Anura Bandaranaike and a few other high-profile Ministers, considered loyalists of the President, Ms. Kumaratunga were absent.

The President, who said she disagreed with the concept of finding a solution within the unitary state, was abroad.

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