What impact will Octobers parliamentary elections in Sri Lanka have on the islands ethnic conflict?
TIME: But isn’t there hope that if President Chandrika Kumaratunga’s People’s Alliance wins convincingly, she could push forward her plan to give more powers to the Tamil-majority districts? Vaiko: During the last election [in December], Kumaratunga promised many things, but she did not implement them. And in recent months there has been loud talk of “devolution of powers.” But what has happened? The constitutional amendment did not go through Parliament. The Buddhist clergy showed that they would never allow such a thing. Both political groupings in Sri Lanka, the People’s Alliance and the opposition United National Party, are under their thumb. The Sinhalese are just not prepared to provide any sort of real devolution of powers to the Tamils. This has been the attitude of the Sinhalese, particularly the Buddhist clergy, right from the time of independence in 1948. TIME: Don’t you think President Kumaratunga is sincere in seeking to resolve the problems with the Tamils? Vaiko: Kumarat
Related Questions
- How Sri Lankas Ethnic Conflict Became Internationalized Why did a man widely regarded as one of Sri Lankas most sophisticated and astute political leaders fail to achieve the goals he that he had envisioned for decades?
- Is that a positive sign for a lasting solution of the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka?
- Is the defeat of the LTTE an end to Sri Lanka’s ethnic conflict?
