Pledges of financial help and existing gaps in Sri Lankan peace process

The two-day conference, attended by representatives of 51 countries and 22 international organizations, however, has tied the release of the fund to a package of political and economic reforms, including the resumption of peace talks between the government and the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE). The Tokyo Conference on Reconstruction and development of Sri Lanka was held amid concerns that the stalled peace talks between the Sri Lankan government and LTTE might possibly affect the donors' enthusiasm to pledge. A ceasefire is still in place between the government and the Tigers since February 2002 and six rounds of peace talks have so far been held.

At the center of controversy now is the crucial issue of an interim administration for the northeast of the country. The LTTE is demanding that the government should make a firm commitment of its formation before the rebels can be persuaded to return to the negotiating table. But the government's response so far is that, all it can provide under the constitution is an agency like structure that would supervise development and rehabilitation programmes and the procedure. As constitutional amendment in Sri Lanka requires two-thirds endorsement in parliament followed by ratification at a referendum, the only option remains before the government is to set-up an administrative body, and LTTE has already rejected the idea.

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Weeks of intense appeal by Japan and the main peace-broker Norway had failed to change the hard-line stance of the Tigers and the Tokyo donor conference had to be arranged without the participation of the Tamil side. Japan and other co-chairs of the meeting decided to go ahead with the conference to show the LTTE the benefits to Sri Lanka by staying the course of peace; and also to send a strong and clear message to the parties that they should negotiate for a durable peace. Japan promised US$1 billion in soft loans and grants and the Asian Development Bank will provide a similar amount of assistance. The World Bank will provide a further US$ 800 million and the International Monetary Fund more than US$ 500 million. The reminder will come from the European Union, the United States and other donor countries and international organisations.

With aid money already on the offer, the major parties involved in pledging the amount are now convinced that both sides would realise the importance of assistance coming from outside in rebuilding country's shattered economy and will not miss the opportunity of helping people to start rebuilding the physical and social infrastructure destroyed by 20 years of civil war. But the promise of big money alone will not be enough in convincing the concerned parties of the conflict to forget their differences and join hands in building a better future.

The Tigers pulled out of a scheduled seventh round of talks in April, saying they were dissatisfied with the progress in humanitarian aid and rehabilitation need for the war-shattered region. They also fear that the aid money will be concentrated in the hands of the government and will be used on a preferential basis to help the clients more than those who are in real need of help. The demand for immediate formation of an interim administration was the reflection of such anxieties among rebels, who by now are holding their pledge of not to resort to civil war again for more than a year.

But it is not only the LTTE, which is showing their reluctance to stay out of the peace negotiation for the time being. The administration of Prime Minister Wickremesinghe is also increasingly coming under pressure from country's main opposition party People's Alliance, which is accusing the government of taking too soft a stance against the rebels and giving up to the demands of foreign powers interfering in Sri Lanka's internal affairs. Comm-enting on the outcome of the Tokyo conference, a party spokesman made it clear that People's Alliance objected to Western involvement in country's peace process. Increased international involvement could make Sri Lanka becoming a colony of the West, he said. This reality also reflects a deep division between rival political parties of President Chandrika Kumaratunga and Prime Minister Wickremesinghe. The president and her party is worried that any success in the peace process might add extra points to the credit of the prime minister that might help him in a big way in the next presidential election. Hence they are determined to rock the boat by all possible means, even if it would result in derailing the whole peace negotiation.

President Kumaratunga had earlier snubbed a request made by the Japanese government to issue a videotaped statement supporting the Tokyo donor conference. The request was made through former foreign minister Lakshman Kadirgamar, who is now a senior advisor to the president. The organisers of the conference intended to show the video prior to Prime Minister Wickremesinghe's speech at the opening session of the conference. A spokesman for the president's office confirmed that Kumaratunga had declined to issue the video statement. In Tokyo too, members of Sri Lanka's Janata Vikhumuti Party, a radical Sinhala group belonging to country's multiparty opposition, protested against the conference and confronted the prime minister.

As a result, the absence of Tigers in an important conference held in Tokyo to help Sri Lanka overcome post civil war difficulties is not the only stumbling block that the island nation's peace process is confronting in recent days. Lack of consensus among different political groups is also posing a serious threat; and this might further undermine international community's effort in helping Sri Lanka to overcome the effects of civil war and ethnic conflict. The pledged amount of financial help, therefore, is not the only precondition capable of allowing the country to move forward by burying all hostilities of the past.