No way out without Norway Posted On: Sunday, January 15, 2006

The situation in Sri Lanka has come to a climax. It demands the government of Sri Lanka to come to terms with the reality by coming out of its indecisive state. The delay in manoeuvring a firm stand on key issues only would exacerbate the plight that the country is forced to face upon while giving the upper hand to the LTTE in what ever front they choose; war or peace. Political acumen Irrespective of the shortcomings and leniency towards LTTE in the peace process, the mistake the government and its allies did was the underestimation of the position of the Norway in the global politics. It took so long for the president to understand the reality and nobody knows how long it would take for parties like JVP and JHU. What is of paramount importance in present day politics is the comprehensive understanding of the current world order. The global political dynamics demands responsible political parties to talk and act with due care and respect. Political acumen and diplomacy should be harnessed in order to negotiate situations in which other countries are involved and international relations are affected. It’s very naïve to be heroes in front of their vote base on one time and be ashamed and humiliated in the big picture on the other as and when they change their respective stances rather than being proactive in the first instance. Norway and the reality Norway is a well respected and a powerful country within the elite class of nations. The influence she  commands  were amply evidenced by the commendations  dedicated to her in statements issued by number of powerful states in respect of Sri Lankan peace process during the past including the recent one  issued by the USA . Some of the parties and politicians did not comprehend this reality and were not talented enough to arrest the deteriorating relationship with Norway in a professional manner using diplomacy while turning it into a constructive and a favourable one for the government of Sri Lanka.   Whether one likes it or not, the only force that could break the dead lock is the Norway due to the trust and confidence LTTE has placed upon her. The LTTE is immune to the international pressure as it has strong connections with some of the politicians in many countries and they are confident that they could survive in disguise under any kind of restrictions imposed upon them by those respective countries until they find alternative ways. Therefore in this complex situation the only way out for the government is to depend on Norway again as they were unable amass the anticipated level of assistance from India at the this juncture. Stand of the government As it stands now the government of Sri Lanka has run out of options. If we forget the path of war which the country is slowly approaching towards, the only other option available for the government to is to accept the LTTE’s proposal of Norway as the venue for any future discussions. The government’s original position was that talks should only be held in Sri Lankan soil and eventually accepted a venue in Asia as the LTTE did not agree to have talks in Sri Lanka. Now the LTTE is resolute that talks should be held only in Norway. As the things are moving it seems like that the government is prepared to accede to this request as that is the only way to break the ice. The sad part is that the government’s inability to take a timely decision on war or peace has cost the country too many lives, unnecessarily.

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