Focus

      What Next?

The end of war has been a 'few days away' for about two months now. I'm looking forward to it. However, I also wonder. Will our reconstruction be as neglected as Iraq, or will Sri Lanka finally realise its great potential? We have done long-term damage to our nation in the name of short-term gain. The real victory will come when we repair that damage and emerge as a free Sri Lanka, under rule of law.

There are a great many things that we have sacrificed in the name of war. Chief among them, our constitution, our good governance, our people, our minority rights, our free media, and significant parts of our humanity. Will we be getting those back? Are you ready to demand them?

Will Emergency end?

The Prevention of Terrorism Act is voted on and passed every month by parliament. This regular approval belies the fact that it's a truly radical piece of legislation which effectively overrides all other written laws, including the constitution. This means that our fundamental rights and freedoms don't really exist. They may be tolerated, but they are not guaranteed. Once the war is over, will parliament continue to pass Emergency Law every month? If it holds is the war really over?

Will the President give up powers?

The President as Commander in Chief has effectively subsumed all other branches of government. The lion's share of budgets and power lie with him and his family. Parliamentarians live with fear of death on one side and love of wealth on the other. They generally chose wealth and titles and abdicate responsibility as independent legislators.

Meanwhile, our judicial branch has its own dictatorial power (which the President sometimes chooses to ignore). The Chief Justice periodically issues broad rulings on everything from the thickness of plastic bags to who serves in what office. These rulings, while often right, corrupt the institution even further and concentrate power in one man. That's fine if you agree with the decisions, but what happens when the already dictatorial President appoints a new chief justice?

Once the war is over, there shouldn't be a need for such an all-powerful presidency. He could even deign to implement the 13th and 17th Amendments (devolution and the Constitutional Council). However, having tasted power, will the President give it up?

Will people return?

Throughout our long war over 500,000 people have been displaced. When the war ends will they return? Right now there are plans to keep the most recently displaced in camps for up to three years. Is the war over if they're still held against their will? More to the point, how do we empower and enable them to the point that the LTTE or something worse doesn't reappear?

There are also hundreds of thousands who have migrated. Some of the Tamil diaspora is virulently pro-LTTE and wants nothing to do with the Sri Lankan nation. The question is whether we can ever convince them to fund reconstruction rather than destruction and even feel safe to come back themselves. Its unclear whether they're negotiable at all.

Will Tamil grievances be addressed?

Tamils have had the same grievances for over 50 years, mainly language, education, employment and colonisation. If we get a peace dividend, will we spend it tackling those issues or will we waste yet another opportunity? Ideally, the government should attack these problems with the same tenacity with which it has prosecuted the war.

However, this political work doesn't pay the same easy dividends as capturing land, and the general public doesn't much care. That is something that we (the public) can change, but it's difficult when the LTTE has systematically eliminated moderate Tamil voices. It is, however, the only sure way to end this war once and for all.

Will the press be free?

The government has viewed the media as a front in this war and it has effectively got them to march. Many journalists have left, many have died and those left censor themselves. The media at large is effectively bowed and afraid.

Presumably once the war is over the press can be free again. As the bullets stop firing on the military front, perhaps they'll stop firing on the media front as well. That seems logical, but will a government that has successfully cowed the media be inclined to uncow it again?

Our humanity

More to the point, many Sri Lankans have forgotten that these things even exist at all. That war could be for something positive, rather than simply against the LTTE. That what defines Sri Lanka is not their terrorism but our democracy. That we could stand for something rather than just being against their nothingness.

The broader point is not what our government does, but what we let it do, and how little we care. Most people in this country probably believe that the war will be over when the map on defence.lk is finally filled in. It's not. This war does not truly end with the military defeat of the LTTE. It ends with the victory of Sri Lanka. On that point we all still have a lot of work to do.