EDITORIAL

Building The Southern Consensus

In paradise, many religions maintain, things are going to be different. To make way for eternal bliss, much has to change. Among the most important  of these changes is that old enemies must become friends. Nothing could convey this idyllic state of affairs better than the Bible: "The wolf shall also dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid," it says in Isaiah.

No two people could better represent the wolf and the lamb than Rajitha Senaratne and Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga. Old friends from their youth, they parted ways some 12 years ago over a petty difference of opinion. No one could have been more strident than Senaratne when it came to denouncing Kumaratunga. He never lost an opportunity to criticise the president, and her disdain for him is well known. So much so that neither will exchange even the most common civility with the other.

The end of the world has not come, but here in today's pages, readers will have been nonplussed to see the wolf offering to dwell with the lamb. Senaratne's change of heart, whether or not reciprocated by the president, is a watershed in the affairs of the present government. Even as the more sober elements of the UNF, led by Prime Minister Wickremesinghe himself, set about underplaying their differences with the president in the interests of the smooth management of government and furtherance of the peace process, Senaratne never let up. In parliament, in public and in the media, he together with Ravi Karunanayake were to become the most painful thorn in Kumaratunga's side.

In a sudden turn of events, the youthful and ebullient minister of lands has now made a volte face, smoking the peace pipe, tendering an olive branch and offering to bury the hatchet. According to Senaratne, his change of heart was brought about primarily as a result of his coming to terms with the fact that whether the UNF likes it or not, Kumaratunga is president for the next three years. That being so, if the government and she are to be continually at loggerheads, it will do no one, and especially the peace process, no good.

Senaratne has also no doubt looked to the example of Sarath Amunugama and Mervin Silva, formerly arch critics of Kumaratunga's, but now among her closest chums. When it comes to burying the hatchet, few people can do it better than she. Given their rich history of camaraderie, Senaratne knows that should Kumaratunga acquiesce, they could kiss, make up and go back to being friends (albeit political rivals) again. There is no need for him to prostrate himself and worship her as Mervin Silva did. The ball is now very much in Kumaratunga's court, and it would be interesting to see how she reciprocates. Indeed, initial reports indicate a positive response from her with a possible meeting between the two lined up sometime after October 15.

Everyone is agreed that what is needed most in Sri Lanka is peace, and no peace is possible in the absence of a southern consensus. And the likes of Senaratne are now convinced that since Prime Minister Wickremesinghe does not want to oust the president or impeach her, they too should help him in the process of cohabitation by holding the olive branch to the president rather than being projected as the spoil sports. Last week's events in the east, preceded as they were by the disgraceful conduct of the LTTE in abducting seven policemen and holding them to ransom even as the government feebly bleated its protest, was an insult to common sense. Here after all, is a government bending over backwards to accommodate the Tigers at every turn. And the ignominious retreat the government had to make in order to secure the release of the policemen cannot have been lost on Senaratne and many others in the UNF who feel the LTTE may be taking the government for a ride as they think Kumaratunga is. But if that is the style of governance the prime minister wants, Senaratne feels, it is not for him to stand in the way and is now in the process with much success of convincing Ravi Karunanayake also to follow suit.

Given the manner in which the abduction took place, the Tigers have sent a clear and insulting message that the government's writ is not to run in the north and east, at least when it comes to enforcing law and order among their own cadres. The LTTE is a law unto itself, and the UNF government has now been forced formally and publicly to recognise that reality. The LTTE no doubt has been emboldened to so act given the soft approach the prime minister has adopted towards Kumaratunga. The message to the LTTE from Wickremesinghe's dealings with the president obviously is that whatever the provocation, Wickremesinghe will move towards appeasement.

The LTTE-sponsored 'civilian' attack on the Akkaraipattu STF camp is but one more in a string of carefully orchestrated attacks on police stations and encampments. The message here is that while the Tigers are bound by the ceasefire, civilians are not. By instigating massive 'civilian' attacks on police stations, the LTTE are clearly making a move to get the police out of the north east, establishing a de facto eelam, while the government is forced idly to look on even as the Scandinavian monitors wring their hands helplessly.

Until now shunned as the prophet of doom, Kumaratunga is suddenly appearing more credible thanks to Wickremesinghe. All this cannot have been lost on Senaratne, who has in one deft manoeuvre moved from the extreme right of the UNF to its far left.

As Senaratne makes clear, this is not about destabilising the UNF or considering a crossover: it is simply about burying the hatchet and making way for Kumaratunga to play a fuller and more constructive role in the affairs of state since the prime minister deems it necessary. Whether the president reciprocates in kind or not is yet to be seen, but her actions will be closely watched not only by her own party, but by many within the UNF itself. This, after all, will be her last chance.

In the run up to passing the 19th Amendment, the government desperately needs every PA vote it can muster. Senaratne's message of peaceful coexistence will not be lost on PA MPs who until now have been planning to do the long jump. The events of this week will have given many of them pause, turning instead towards a process of reform and constructive politics rather than division and strife.

Senaratne's change of heart could well mark the beginning of the much hoped for southern consensus, which the prime minister is yearning for. Together, the government and the PA could cast petty divisions aside and move towards a unified stand vis--vis the LTTE in the forthcoming talks. The UNF has, for the most part, all along been willing to go along with Kumaratunga. The only two impediments to cohabitation, or so the impression was created, have been Rajitha Senaratne and Ravi Karunanayake. And they were even perceived as being sidelined by the prime minister as a result whereas Minister Milinda Moragoda who was advocating peace with Kumaratunga was given all the high profile tasks. The former has now publicly stated his desire to let bygones be bygones and make reconciliation. No doubt Karunanayake who has been working with Senaratne as a team will follow suit.

We at The Sunday Leader have been amongst the president's most strident critics, losing few opportunities to bring her to book. But, as Senaratne points out, there is a larger interest: the integrity of our nation and the safety of the law enforcement agencies working in dangerous circumstances in the north and east. Unless the entire country pulls together and speaks with one voice, the Tigers will no doubt continue with their strategy of dividing and ruling by pitting the UNF against the PA. Ditto for the SLMC MPs too.

The time for southern consensus is now, and every citizen has a duty to do everything possible to ensure the integrity of the leadership of this country, casting petty differences aside. The president herself has asked why it is that if the government can cohabit with the LTTE, that it cannot cohabit with her? And with Senaratne making his peace offering now, it is good a time as any to see the president's bona fides through her response thereto.