Sri Lankan Peace Talks Ã¢â‚¬â€œ III: An Agenda Chart by N Manoharan

As the parties concerned agreed on a ‘step-by-step’ approach, an agenda for the on-going peace process in Sri Lanka is crucial. A final and lasting solution to the ethnic question demands careful consideration of all the issues involved. What are those issues? Who are the parties concerned? What is the status of consideration of these issues? The tabulation below provides some clues. It also provides a checklist for negotiators and the parties concerned.

Issues	Ranking	Parties concerned	Status
Development and economic revival	Non-contentious	GOSL, LTTE, International community.	Discussed in the first round; both parties have shared interests on this issue. Common appeal made to donor community for aid; A-9 highway connecting Jaffna and Kandy opened.
Rehabilitation& Reconstruction *IDPs/Refugees De-mining Settling former militants	Non-contentious	GOSL, LTTE, Muslims, Plantation Tamils, International community.	Partly addressed; progress on IDPs and de-mining; incorporating former non-LTTE militants within the state forces has already been addressed in the MoU signed between the GOSL and the LTTE in February 2002.
Interim Government	Semi-contentious	GOSL, LTTE, Muslims.	Reserved for later rounds of talks; evolving an administrative mechanism for the ethnically mixed east will be extremely convoluted.
Human Rights	Semi-contentious but all-important	GOSL, LTTE, Muslims, Plantations Tamils, Human rights bodies.	Given consideration in the first round; decided to swap POWs, but taxation and child recruitment by the Tigers in ‘uncleared areas’ continue; very detailed discussions required in future rounds
Nationality Issue	Contentious	GOSL, LTTE.	Not taken up in the first round, the LTTE spelt out its stand, which was not contested by the GOSL. To be discussed in detail in later discussions
Homeland	Highly contentious	GOSL, LTTE, Muslims.	The LTTE reiterated its stand on the homeland boundaries; Muslims continue to have reservations.
Character of the state	Highly contentious	GOSL, LTTE, Muslims.	Figured in the first round with LTTE announcing its interest in “autonomy and self-rule” rather than separatism. GOSL is expected to face three-pronged pressureÃ¢â‚¬â€LTTE, Muslims and Sinhalese. Has potential to wreck the peace process if not handled carefully. Might take many years and tedious negotiations to reach a final agreement. Expected to be taken up in future rounds.
Citizenship of Plantation Tamils	Not known	Plantation Tamils, GOSL.	This had figured as one of the four Thimpu principles, but the LTTE later dropped it. This is not a priority for the LTTE or GOSL, but requires consideration as thousands belonging to this community remain stateless.


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