Politicians in the Sri Lankan ruling party Peoples Alliance and particularly those in the dominant coalition partner SLFP (Sri Lankan Freedom Party) should not play games and confuse the masses about the prospect of peace in Sri Lanka.

Furthermore the temporary 'marriage' between the hard-liners JVP (Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna) and the SLFP and the games both play, using each other for opportunistic reasons of political survival should not be interpreted that these parties are genuine about pursuing peace in Sri Lanka.

What is utterly preposterous is the fact that SLFP in general and its leader Chandrika Kumartunga specifically, think that a new proposal on interim administration will prolong the 'marriage' of convenience with JVP and at the same time push though the LTTE's unacceptable proposal, which was submitted earlier this year.

How she is going to convince the international community is not clear, although the very regional forces that undermined the leadership of Ranil Wickermesinghe are currently operating in the guise of a cordial relationship between India and certain Sinhala chauvinistic forces.

The LTTE, fighting for a separate Tamil state, does not give a damn as to who is in power in the country. Whether it is UNP or UPFA (United Peoples Freedom Alliance), it does not really matter. Last July it was the UNP government that sent out a proposal to the LTTE about the need to re-start the peace talks, on the basis of its short proposal on interim administration.

Winning over the international community

Before this, the LTTE made it very clear to the Sri Lankan government and the international community that without an interim administration it would be pointless to have talks.

Subsequently, upon receiving the government's interim administration proposal through the good office of the Norwegian government, the LTTE, rather than rejecting it outright, informed the government that it would submit a counter-proposal.

To move in this direction, the LTTE set-up a Constitutional Affairs Committee, which met in Paris and Dublin to draft its proposal before submitting it to the LTTE for a final approval.

Early this year, the LTTE's proposal of ISGA (Interim Self-Governing Authority) was submitted to the government and hardly before the government could react to this, Kumaratunga - by seizing some key government ministries and proroguing the parliament - sent the country on an inevitable road for fresh elections.

Knowing very well that her party could not come to power by itself, she entered into a coalition agreement with JVP, a chauvinistic party, and the party that was responsible for killing her husband some years back.

By perpetrating half-truths, blatant lies and chauvinism the SLFP-JVP combination came to power without the required majority in the parliament, and of course lip service was paid to re-start the peace process.

The government was not interested in the peace process, but rather on the best way to obtain the US$4.5 fund that was pledged during the donors conference. Without re-starting a meaningful peace process, Kumaratunga knows very well that she cannot touch a single cent of the fund.

The government of Ranil Wickermesinghe might be faulted for many things, but at least the economy showed signs of visible recovery and most importantly, by showing some sincerity in the peace process, allowed the foreign investors to look at the country favourably.

However, true to Kumaratunga's highly mercurial politics, confidence in the economy has been shattered. Foreign investors are reluctant to invest after the suicide bomb blast and killings in the city.

Tourists are afraid that Colombo might be returning to its ghost town image. The message on the wall is simple - unless and until the government take the initiative to hold peace talks, there is no way Sri Lanka can economically develop.

Regression

It is really paradoxical that the country that introduced universal suffrage in 1931 and set a fine example for other countries to emulate, should be sliding into economic and social backwardness.

Family rivalries, petty quarrels, extreme ideological rivalries and personal vendettas have made it difficult for the Sinhala elite to think of national interest; in fact, the concept of national interest is anathema to the organisational politics in Sri Lanka.

What really matters for Kumaratunga is whether she can remain in power for some time, gather the crucial parliamentary majority to abolish the executive presidency and have the opportunity to create a political position for herself to remain indefinitely in power.

Given the primacy of this personal criteria, it is little wonder that politics in Sri Lanka seem to function around the themes of how to stay in power, what needs to be done, how to form temporary alliances, how to marginalise or militarily defeat the LTTE and so on.

Recently, when there was small rift between the president and JVP over the question of whether or not to re-start the peace process on the basis of the LTTE's proposal, with the UNP announcing that it would support the SLFP if JVP withdrew.

Superficially this was a magnanimous gesture, but the president rejected the offer. She was the best person to know that to accept the offer, would be to alienate JVP for good and that the UNP's offer might not materialise at the crucial time. If this happened, she would have no choice but face the prospect of another election, a prospect that she wants to avoid for the time being.

The latest news is that Kumaratunga has directed her party to come out with an alternative interim administration proposal. Clearly, this is nothing but a mischievous plan to derail the peace process.

By proposing an alternative one, knowing very well that the LTTE would not accept it as the basis for discussion, she hopes to turn the tables on the outfit by taking the matter to the international community.

She hopes to get the international community to back her plan and by doing so the LTTE would be put in a dark spot. As far as the international community is concerned, the Sri Lankan government has lost its high moral position.

This is precisely what Kumaratunga wants to revive by coming out with her own proposal. However, she forgets the simple fact that the government of Sri Lanka, whoever controls the administration immaterial of the time period, cannot give two or three proposals and the LTTE does not care who is in power.

Proposals cannot be submitted on the basis of political party differentiation. Since the earlier government of UNP has delivered its proposal, Kumartunga cannot deliver another one. She has no choice but to focus on the proposal submitted by the LTTE.

P RAMASAMY, a keen observer of Sri Lankan politics, is a professor of political economy at the Political Science Department, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, and has academic interests in Malaysian politics and labour.