Many in Sri Lanka's neigbouring countries and elsewhere have looked upon the Sri Lankan government from a distance with a considerable degree of admiration as one that possesses a leadership with a vision and also knowing how to get there.  Those who have the ability to be visionary, but who do not know how to achieve their vision, can only make a limited contribution to change in their societies.  An example appears to be Nepal, which was being looked upon as being a model of an internationally mediated and locally supported peace process.  It now appears to be running aground due to disagreements between the different parties and lack of leadership that can give coherence and a roadmap to Nepal's future.

By way of contrast, Sri Lanka presents an image of determined leadership that demonstrates an intention to take the country from a situation of war and division to a situation of peace and unified government.  Some of the recent actions of the government suggest that it has a plan for the future, although this has not yet been spelled out as a transparent road map and is unclear to the general public.  These include replacing the heads of the army and navy and giving these commanders new responsibilities. This could be on the basis that the requirements and expectations of a peace time military are different from those of a war time military.  The government has also decided to scale down the operations of the International Committee of the Red Cross, especially in the east of the country, on the grounds that the war is over.

On the other hand, in making these decisions it is important for the government to keep in mind the message that it is giving to the people, whose confidence it needs to keep.  The people in Sri Lanka are plural, of different ethnicities and expectations, and it is necessary that the different sections of the population feel comfortable with the actions that the government is taking.  This is vital if the people of Sri Lanka are to become united in supporting the government and its actions in a manner that promotes problem solving and national unity.

TAMIL ALIENATION

In the aftermath of the war the majority of the Sinhalese people appear to be satisfied with the government’s performance in safeguarding the country’s unity and security.  They would therefore be prepared to accept the government’s decisions regarding those issues, be it the changes in the military hierarchy or in the reduction of the ICRC presence in the country.  On the other hand, there is considerable alienation within the Tamil people who are yet to reap the benefits of peace that matter most to them.  The security checks that continue in all parts of the country are a constant reminder to them of their oppression and vulnerability that peaked during the period of heightened war, but which continues to this day even if on a lesser scale.

In particular, the unresolved problem of the internally displaced population confined to the welfare camps in the north  that are ringed with barbed wire and military personnel would remind them that the consequences of war continue to bear heavily on those who are Tamils.  The government’s decision to reduce the presence of the ICRC in circumstances where there continue to be IDP populations even in the east could be a major cause for discontent and apprehension.  Although the government may focus on the end of the war, problems such as the non-transparent screening of the IDPs, and the search of hard core LTTE cadres, create a situation of vulnerability that justifies an ICRC presence.

The years of war, particularly the last three years, saw the government concentrating power in itself to do whatever it deemed was necessary to win the war.  This centralizing attitude enabled the government to mobilize the country’s energies and resources defeat the LTTA and to silence its critics.  But now that the war is over, the government needs to change its approach, to decentralize and devolve power, and to permit the plurality in society to emerge and make itself respected and heard.  The war-time leadership and decisiveness that many in the world and in Sri Lanka appreciated now needs to be supplemented by a more participatory mode of decision making that is appropriate for peace time.

DEMOCRATIC CONSENT

Democratic governance is on the basis of the consent of the people.   When the LTTE was controlling large parts of the north and east by force of arms there was no possibility of democratic governance there.  However, the restoration of democratic governance in the north and east is now possible after the defeat of the LTTE.  This requires that the government should engage in a dialogue with the people of the north and east and with their elected representatives.  The fact that the government has invited the main Tamil political party, the TNA, for dialogue and obtained their participation recently is welcome in this regard.  Earlier the government had refused to talk to the TNA on the grounds that their election as representatives of the Tamil people at the General Election of 2004 was deeply flawed on account of interference by the LTTE.  A similar situation recurred more recently when local and provincial elections to the east were deeply flawed despite the eviction of the LTTE from the east.

With local government elections scheduled to be held in Jaffna and Vavuniya on August 8, the government will have another opportunity to assess Tamil opinion on recent developments and whether it is going on the path of consensus building and reconciliation, or on the war path of unilateral imposition and alienation.  The government is actively contesting those elections with its allies from the Tamil and Muslim parties campaigning under its umbrella.  The main opposition parties are also contesting those elections giving a possibility for the electorate to demonstrate their acceptance or non-acceptance of the new circumstances.  Some of them have been complaining about difficulties they have experienced in conducting their electoral campaigns due to intimidation and problems of access to the electorate.

The elections to the Jaffna Muncipal Council will be particularly important as Jaffna is the heartland of Tamil culture and sentiment, and it is also the home of Tamil militancy that has resisted Sinhalese ethnic domination and centralized rule for the past six decades.  The government's decision to conduct these elections so soon after the end of the war has the positive aspect that it provides an opportunity for quick feedback and corrective action to the government in regard to its performance. If these elections are free and fair, they would provide an invaluable opportunity for an assessment of current Tamil sentiment in the post war context, and enable the government to make suitable adjustments in re-unifying the country on the basis of democratic participation and consent.