අන්තර් පාලන ගැටලුව
India’s view that any interim administration for the North and East must be linked to a final settlement matches the SLFP’s position. The editorial notes that apart from the JVP and Sihala Urumaya all parties and India favour an interim administration, expects the LTTE to open with a confederal demand in the hope of a better bargain, and argues that it can be brought down to a federal model only if the state argues strongly for one, with safeguards for eastern Muslims and Sinhalese.
ජපන් ආධාර සමුළුව
Despite the LTTE’s absence, the Tokyo conference pledged $4.5 billion against the $3 billion sought, huge relative to government revenue, though much of it is loans and past aid use has been poor. The editorial finds the Prime Minister’s vision attractive but says good governance must begin with an independent judiciary and a disciplined party, and that the LTTE, having rejected his interim proposal, is unlikely to accept reconstruction outside its control.
සාම කතා වැඩපිළිවෙළත් අවුලක
Johan Galtung’s prediction that a peace process built on the carrot of aid would fail seems to be coming true. The piece argues that people fight over grievances, not money, and cites Willy Brandt and Desmond Tutu on healing inner wounds through apology and truth. It says the LTTE, undefeated and running its own institutions, must be dealt with as a quasi-government, and that its withdrawal over the Washington meeting and unmet resettlement pledges leaves the Tokyo aid conference without it.
ප්රශ්න සමග චත්ගුඩ ගැසීම
With talks stalled and the LTTE rejecting the government’s proposed authority in place of an interim administration, the Japan aid conference will go ahead without it. The piece argues that Ranil Wickremesinghe’s strategy of holding on without resolving anything until the President’s term ends in 2005 cannot satisfy the LTTE or Tamils, that using American backing as a threat is futile, and that he should have reached an honest deal with the President or pro-peace PA forces and informed the public.
බූරුවා සහ කැරට් අලය
The LTTE’s withdrawal from talks is a setback the government must resolve quickly. The piece argues that an undefeated adversary cannot be handled with the carrot of aid, warns against using American backing to intimidate the LTTE or irritate India, and says the government should not seek LTTE help for southern electoral ends as Chandrika Kumaratunga did in 1994. It faults the exclusion of the LTTE from the Washington pre-aid meeting and the failure to implement resettlement and rehabilitation.
ඔස්ලෝ ආධාර සමුළුව
The piece defends the LTTE’s inclusion in the Oslo aid conference but says involving the President would have strengthened it, and notes that Western delegates stressed sovereignty, territorial integrity, human rights and democracy. It contrasts Chandrika Kumaratunga, who offers much on paper but nothing in practice, with Ranil Wickremesinghe, who has no prepared plan but concedes whatever is asked, and warns that opposition obstruction is strengthening the LTTE’s hand.
ත්රස්තවාදය හා මාධ්ය
Ivan reports on the UNESCO World Press Freedom Day conference in Manila on terrorism and the media, where Zimbabwean editor Geoffrey Nyarota received the Guillermo Cano prize. He summarises sessions on Abu Sayyaf kidnappings of journalists and on media ‘oxygen’ for terrorism, recounts his own speech as a former insurgent jailed for seven years who argued that terrorism has social roots and was nurtured by great powers, and describes post-September 11 curbs on information in the United States and elsewhere, ending with the conference declaration.
ඇමරිකාවට එල්ල වූ ප්රහාරය හා උගත හැකි පාඩම්
The attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon shows that a movement willing to sacrifice its members can do great damage to even the most powerful state. The editorial says America’s democracy at home was not matched by its oppressive treatment of other countries, which bred hatred. Retaliation will spread the fire, it argues, and both the world and Sri Lanka should address the grievances that give rise to extremist movements rather than try only to crush them.
මෝඩකමට බෙහෙත් නැත
Justice Minister Batty Weerakoon objected when the UN Special Rapporteur on judicial independence, Dato’ Param Cumaraswamy, asked through the Foreign Minister that Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva stand aside until the impeachment is resolved. Ivan explains Sri Lanka’s obligations under the ICCPR, its 1997 accession to the Optional Protocol, the 1985 UN principles and the 1997 Beijing Statement, recalls Cumaraswamy’s earlier objection to Silva’s appointment over pending complaints and seniority, and calls the People’s Alliance era the darkest in the judiciary’s history.
ජනාධිපතිනියගේ ඒබ්රහම් ලින්කන් ආදර්ශය
Ivan examines President Kumaratunga’s 22 July racecourse speech calling the 1978 Constitution a death trap and citing Abraham Lincoln as a leader who acted outside the constitution to end slavery. He argues the referendum is a ploy to avoid a no-confidence vote; that crossing the floor is lawful and was done by S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike, D.A. Rajapaksa, Mahanama Samaraweera and the LSSP leaders; that the Constitution has allowed stable governments; and, recounting the Civil War, the Emancipation Proclamation and the Thirteenth Amendment, that Lincoln acted within the constitution.