Export Development and International Trade Minister G.L. Peiris recently briefed 16 EU envoys resident in New Delhi and concurrently accredited to Colombo on the current situation in Sri Lanka where he stressed that while the Sri Lanka Government did not believe in a military solution to the conflict, terrorism required a military response.

"The position of the government of Sri Lanka is that there would be a military response to the terror perpetrated by the LTTE and a political process to address the problems of the minorities," he said.

Peiris said that in the midst of many challenges, the country’s economy had grown by 6.5% and Sri Lanka remained a vibrant democracy largely on account of its ability to strike the right balance between fiscal management, development and welfare. Also, the country has made tremendous progress in infrastructure and human resource development and its exports have grown by 14% last year.

Diplomatic observers regarded the minister’s address to EU diplomats from countries not physically present in Colombo as a particularly useful exercise pitched to areas that were of particular concern to the country.

He made the point that in the political dimension, the centrality of India’s role was manifest and the basic characteristic of a political solution would be the devolution of power subject to the protection of the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Peiris made the point that with the involvement of India in 1987 in the form of the Indo-Sri Lanka accord the 13th Amendment to Sri Lanka’s Constitution was promulgated.

Subsequently there have been discussions during the past 20 years on amendments and additions to its concept and he himself had on October 3, 2000 presented to parliament what were perhaps the most far-reaching proposals to resolve the conflict. But none of these efforts bore fruit, the minister said.

Offering some thoughts on why attempts by successive governments had not yielded a favourable result, one reason was the disconnect between the proposed measures and the thoughts and feelings of the public of Sri Lanka. Peiris had led the GoSL delegation for talks with the LTTE from Sept. 2002 to March 2003, he made the point that some aspects of the behaviour of the LTTE constituted another reason for the problem.

*For success, one had to inspire the confidence of the majority. The LTTE was never prepared to discuss the de-commissioning of arms as was the case of in successful peace processes in other parts of the world such as Northern Ireland.

*The LTTE insisted that it was the sole representatives of the Tamils. This claim involved a conflict with basic democratic values and assumptions.

*The LTTE did not want to participate at elections and subject themselves to the people’s mandate.

Therefore President Rjapaksa had to consider options as to how a political momentum could be generated. It was felt that the GoSL should not engage in in discussions regarding futile arrangements, which cannot be implemented, such as changing the Constitution which required a two thirds majority in parliament. Given Sri Lanka’s electoral system, it is unlikely that any government in the foreseeable future would command such a 2/3 majority.

Moreover, far-reaching statutory changes may not be immediately needed, because implementation of the laws that exist through political will and sincerity would enable considerable progress to be made.

Peiris said that the All Party Representative Committee had presented a proposal to government to implement the 13th amendment to the Constitution. Part of this process involves holding elections to nine local bodies in the Eastern Province where the writ of the government now lies.

``Franchise represents the most basic of human freedoms and this would now become areality in the Eastern Province,’’ Peiris said. ``With the revival of the electoral process, a natural momentum could be anticipated.’’

He agreed that it would not be realistic to hold elections in the Northern Province immediately but as a temporary measure and advisory committee would be established to advise the governor of the province who is the representative of the president and the government would have the advice of a committee representative of the people of the province.

The minister also said that there would be forward movement on the security sphere as well stressing that the government has the clear obligation of ensuring the safety of life and limb which is the ultimate rationale of the nation state.

On human rights, Peiris said that over the years Sri Lanka has developed into a caring society based on human welfare. But all civilizations had to strike a balance between security and liberty in times of turbulence. This did not mean that one had to choose between the two, but extraordinarily legal regimes derogating from normal legal principles had been adopted in times of crisis.

"Therefore, in the context of Sri Lanka, it is sometimes necessary to take people into custody and question them so as to find out the reasons for their presence at a particular location, their accomplices etc., in order to prevent the infliction of grave harm on the civilian population," he pointed out.

Peiris stressed that GOSL wished to work closely with he UN to strengthen domestic mechanisms, but would be adverse to a monitoring mission which would essentially act as an international policeman.