Government Should Have Every Right To Reject The ISGA Demand Where Pledged Donor Aid should Be No Yardstick Or Coercive Incentive

In a somewhat surprising mood swing from Colombo there seems to be a near precedent creating change of heart from the Sri Lankan Administration towards negotiating with the internationally banned and proscribed Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE ) and their disdainful and autocratic sounding demand for an Interim Self Governing Authority (ISGA) in the North and North East of Sri Lanka giving rise to many speculations about the incentives for such a decision foremost of which has to be '' Money Talks! So what about principles and the international accords against terrorism? Is Sri Lanka a no man's land applicable to the equation and a terrorist haven?And do the Aid donors have any right to intimidate the Government of Sri Lanka towards making favourable decisions to accommodate banned terrorists unwilling to relent, denounce objectives and weaponry whilst in the pretext of representing the entire Tamil Community through forcibly assumed proxies?

Also bewildering to a degree is the reality that the Government which was voted into power on the single issue of National Security and an election platform strong enough to topple the previous Administration where there was no mincing of words about undue concessions to the LTTE which logically is what the ISGA is all about! Has the UPFA sudenly turned its back on the voters, particularly the majority Sinhalese if the bartering with the LTTE on the ISGA would lead to any opportunity towards dividing the Nation regardless of how it is defined, and the implications seem crystal clear!

Undoubtedly the President of Sri Lanka is faced with a 'Catch 22' situation presently and torn between two major considerations. Firstly.the restoration of a lasting peace to Sri Lanka which now seems conditional to the appeasing of the big time Aid Donors whose recently concluded symposium in Brussels was purported to have issued a warning to the Government outlining the possibilities of the aid being rescinded should it not jump start the stalled Peace Process and secondly, how it will manouvre around its supportives within the UPFA vehemently opposed to concessions to the LTTE with Norway as their pawnbroker and the Sinhala Nation whose wrath on realising what the the interpolation of considerations to the ISGA as spelled out by LTTE demands would really amount to, short of providing a platform for LTTE progress towards their real objectives!

Perhaps it is time appropriate for the President of Sri Lanka to make her own decisions with a greater proportion of the Nation behind her regardless of the conditional carrots being waved by the present Aid Donors towards resolution despite the speculative nature it may be approportioned as being by some. yet in the long run may turn out to be something which might prove meritworthy towards her political legacy as well as the best interests of the Nation. There is also the likelihood that Aid if denied by the present donors may surface from unexpected areas with no vested interests or conditions coercing compromise to the terrorists!

There is also a firm conviction in most of Sri Lanka presently that the LTTE have all the indications of being be a spent force and that recalling Norwegian facilitation may not be the best option,considering their bi-partisan favouritism with questionable merits towards the choice in the wake of their past botched attempts at peace. where other alternatives have now presented themselves synonymous with friendly neighbours and powerful giants if put into perspective.There are many analysts who also ask 'the multi million dollar question'( pun intended!) "Should the LTTE bluff persistently presented to the Government of Sri Lanka be called and can the risk taking be measured without reprisals? The answer must surely be self explanatory and relative to the norms of free society and the Sovereignity of a Nation.

Also worthy of cognizance is the indelible right the Government of Sri Lanka has as a Sovereign Democratic Nation towards resolution of Peace within Sri Lanka unilaterally without being subjugated by, a terrorist group which has never been proven as a full representation of the minority Tamils or the dictates of a so called peace facilitator Norway showing biased and vested interests towards the LTTE's success. A time where The President is better off playing to the weakness of the enemy through her strengths which are manifest through the overwhelming support by the Nation towards the preservation of the Nation's Sovereignity ,Territorial Integrity Regional Security and the need to commence a dialogue towards dissuading the LTTE from their demands and the commencement of a lobby towards convincing them of their need to come clean, de-commission weapons and merge into mainstream Sri Lankan Society with no quest for a distinction apart from the rest of Sri Lanka!

It appears as though the Sri Lankan Government has once again been intimidated by the aid donors, peace- negotiators and the terrorists in the presentation of a bizzare and inexplicable connundrum. to palaver to the LTTE terrorists in order to initiate a lasting preace in Sri Lanka.

Through the accords of International law alone the unquestionable norm of the powers of The Sovereign Government of Sri Lanka as the sole protector of peace and security of the entire country has been put to the test and needs a fast response regardless of the dilemmas involved in order to avoid the the certain ridicule from ungainly sources such as a gloating opposition in Parliament which would follow the apathy of any Governmental indecision to assert its authority and should be responded to post haste! perforce ! and not with any indications of even partial condescendance and assention which the present attitude of the UPFA Administration seems to indicate.

In the simplest of terms the Sri Lankan Administration has every right to reject the ISGA where pledged Donor Aid should be no yardstick or coercive incentive.