The dates for the peace talks in Thailand between Colombo and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have been fixed for 16-18 September, according to a statement issued by the Norwegian facilitators. The prospective talks have attracted considerable international attention both in South Asia and overseas. US Undersecretary of State Richard Armitage's late-August visit to Sri Lanka, and especially to Jaffna, is only the most recent indication of the importance that the international community attaches to the Sri Lankan peace process.
In South Asia alone there are at least a half-dozen major ethnic conflicts that could benefit from the example set by Sri Lanka. If Sri Lanka can find a peaceful solution to its longstanding ethnic conflict, it will be a powerful example to other countries facing internal strife, and a major victory in the US-backed war against terrorism. Irrespective of this external attention, however, much of the public attention within Sri Lanka itself has been devoted to the power struggle between the two major parliamentary groupings of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's United National Party (UNP)-led government and the People's Alliance (PA)-led opposition of President Chandrika Kumaratunga.
There are two reasons for this focus on politics in Colombo. One is that most Sri Lankans know very little about what is actually transpiring in the peace process. They know that it is happening, and that the ceasefire is holding, but little beyond that. Media commentators, civil society groups and even most government politicians (let alone opposition politicians) appear to be unaware of the details of the peace process. Only the Norwegian facilitators and those at the very highest rungs of the government and the LTTE are participating directly in the peace process. Given the success up to now, perhaps this is how it should be.
The second reason for the present public focus on the power struggle is that its outcome will determine whether the ongoing peace process moves forward or not. The success of the peace process up to now is owed in large part to the positive relationship between the top leaders of the government and the LTTE. It is notable, for instance, that there has not been even a single acrimonious vocal exchange between government and LTTE leaders since Wickremesinghe assumed office in December 2001. This is remarkable when compared to the frequent and bitter exchanges that used to take place between the leaders of President Kumaratunga's former government and the LTTE. More remarkable still, the LTTE's top leadership has gone out of its way to praise the leaders of the present government led by the prime minister.