As Sri Lanka prepares for the Presidential and Parliamentary elections, for the first time in many decades the Grand Old Party UNP as the leading democratic political force in the country is looking beyond party politics. The leaders of the party to keep the country united have decided to think out of box to resolve issues of the minorities, as they appreciate that the prolonging political stalemate at present is because the former oppositions in the conflict have failed to forge new relations after the war was brought to finish over a decade. Though the violence stopped, the underlying causes remain unsolved has affected the Tamil speaking people most, who are left to live with their basic problems. For the reconciliation projects undertaken over a decade moving at snail pace should have by now at least primarily dealt with the socio-political problems that led to the conflict. These are addressing the issue of power-sharing, releasing the Tamil prisoners who were arrested on the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), assisting war widows and so on that would have gone a long way in achieving reconciliation. Further missing are the truth finding commissions and investigations that should have been introduced as supplementary mechanisms to promote reconciliation.
It is commonly accepted by most Sri Lankan that resolving the underlying causes of the conflict remains as the stumbling block preventing the development of their little island nation. Thus it is the expectation of these people loving democracy that the disruptive and divisive media reports on the Grand Old Party will all come to an end soon and that thereafter the UNP lead alliance would field corruption free candidates to cause a win win situation for democracy to prevail in 2020 after the presidential and general elections in the country.
Northern Breeze 