Snap poll in Sri Lanka

The current power struggle between the two revolves mainly around how to handle peace negotiations with the LTTE, that has been waging a guerilla war against the Sri Lankan army for the past two decades. It was the terms of the peace treaty that Wickremesinghe was poised to sign with the LTTE in November that she considered to be reconciliatory. It caused Kumaratunga to step in and exercise her authority to halt the negotiations.

The April election is thus being set up as a virtual referendum on the peace process, with Kumaratunga demanding that the voters be consulted before the deal that Wickremesinghe had painstakingly negotiated to be inked. There is no more pressing crisis in Sri Lanka than the resolution of the war between the government and the LTTE and it makes sense that the public approve any deal that will shape the country's political future.

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However, the danger inherent in the obvious tensions and differences between the prime minister and the president might prompt the LTTE to conclude that they would be without a partner for peace and could pull out of the negotiation process. Already the cease-fire that has been in place since February 2002 is in jeopardy. Kumaratunga's new alliance with the JVC which oppose any kind of deal with the LTTE suggests that if her party does emerge victorious in April, then the peace process will be derailed.

The mutual accommodation that the prime minister and the LTTE had negotiated in the peace talks represented the best chance for a settlement. Common ground was found, concessions were made, and both sides were accommodative of the majority of the other side's demands. It is of critical importance that, whatever the outcome of April's polls, the peace process be kept alive and the advance made towards reaching resolution be not squandered.