A durable peace is an essential ingredient for human development. But finding it is no easy task. In the process there could be pitfalls and clashes, but in the larger interest of peace, these problems could be sorted out given the will to do so. The opening of the A-9 road linking the northern peninsula with the rest of the country is in a sense symbolic of a new phase in the North South relationship.

War is cruel and the people have experienced the cruelty for decades now. The destruction it has caused is quite evident. It is in this context, we should ask ourselves whether we should continue it any longer. At Muhamalai on Monday afternoon there was euphoria with people rushing to the barricades to cross to the other side of the divide. But there were of course hiccups.

A problem arose when the LTTE stopped a Sri Lanka Transport Board bus at the Omanthai checkpoint saying that it has no permission to go beyond Omanthai. Sri Lankan authorities were not happy at the way the LTTE handled the matter. They held the view that the road had been fully opened for vehicular traffic and the LTTE action went contrary to the truce agreement. But the LTTE apparently sought a further clarification on the matter and the word 'modalities' mentioned in the agreement.

Clause 2-10 of the agreement states that the parties shall open the Kandy-Jaffna road (A9) to non-military traffic of goods and passengers. Special modalities shall be worked out by the parties with the assistance of the Royal Norwegian Government by D-day+30 at the least. (D day: signing of the agreement between the government and the LTTE). Clause 1-10 states unarmed government troops shall as of D-day+60 be permitted unlimited passage between Jaffna and Vavuniya using the Jaffna-Kandy road (A9). The modalities are to be worked out by the parties with the assistance of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM).

Firstly it was the LTTE which protested to the SLMM over government moves to allow buses to directly to Jaffna without transitting passengers at Omanthai from where they would proceed their journey upto Muhamalai in LTTE-run buses. When the dispute came before the Norwegians, they listened to the Sri Lankan side attentively and on Tuesday had a discussion with the LTTE. The MOU was clear and it was not difficult for the Norwegians to give a ruling.

Some say there should be a free passage for buses on the A9 road and if the LTTE wants to levy a tax or a fee it should be done at the final destination. Levying a fee at the entry point could create a wrong impression among the people that the government was bowing to everything that the LTTE demanded. It would also give an impression that the LTTE has already set up Eelam. The Norwegians ruled later that the obstruction of the bus was a violation of the truce agreement. The LTTE is yet to react on the ruling, but it has said that it will comply with the ceasefire agreement.

In any case, both sides should refrain from acts that could jeopardize the cessation of hostilities. But there were also encouraging signs. The LTTE has invited the SLMC leadership to discuss Muslim grievances. The invitation came in the wake of a series of protests by the Muslim in the East. The Muslims have been traditionally living in the North and East and most of the Northern Muslims have been displaced due to the terror campaign carried out by the LTTE in the past - an action referred to as 'ethnic cleansing' in modern political phraseology.

SLMC leader and Minister Rauff Hakeem has accepted the initiation with much appreciation and believes outstanding issues could be settled amicably with the LTTE. The meeting between SLMC leaders and the LTTE was scheduled to take place on Saturday and Minister Hakeem was busy with preparing his brief for the discussion. At present, Muslims in East have been threatened by LTTE cadres who want land owned by the Muslims on the basis - or on the pretext - that these lands were grabbed from Tamils through treachery and deception.

Muslim Parliamentarians expressed concern over the matter and condemned utterances made by LTTE Eastern commander Karikalan to this effect. The situation became so alarming that it threatened to rock that the peace process. However, the LTTE, realizing the danger that the Muslim factor posed to the peace process, invited the SLMC for negotiations while tendering an apology to what happened in the past.
The LTTE's latest stand has helped ease the burden on Rauff Hakeem who otherwise had to take the brunt of the political criticism, especially from the Eastern Muslims.
Eastern Muslims, however, have expressed reservations over the LTTE-SLMC meeting saying that the negotiations won't take them anywhere.

"They might soft-peddle the issues for the moment without taking concrete steps," one eastern province Muslim politician told this column. "We cannot rule out the possibility of the LTTE working on a hidden agenda to eventually chase the Muslims out of their traditional habitats." This is the most delicate issue that the SLMC should handle with care but there is scepticism about the capability of the SLMC to talk hard politics with the LTTE and strike a deal that will lead to a situation where all communities in the East could live harmoniously.

On another front, people are keen to know the manner in which Presidential Security Division Chief Nihal Karunaratne was arrested by the CID. On the surface, it looked a covert operation by the CID to arrest a much-wanted person. The CID personnel who were involved in the operation first took position in the Nawaloka Hospital. Others went into different directions in search of the suspect. Patients were in panic as the CID and PSD men who were providing security to their boss moved about. When the CID finally detected Mr. Karunaratne he was under anesthesia. Newspaper reports said he was handcuffed when he was getting prepared for a haemoeride surgery.
CID Director Lionel Gunatilleke denies this version of the story and accused the PSD of obstructing the process of law.

The CID wanted to execute the arrest warrant issued by the Kandy Magistrate immediately and raided the hospital. Though the CID Director had denied that his men had caused panic in the hospital, patients and hospital staff say the CID acted with disregard to the sanctity of the hospital. The CID has a right to execute the warrant, but human decency demands certain norms when dealing with patients, even if they are criminal suspects. Arresting someone while he was about to undergo surgery is not on accepted norm.

President Kumaratunga expressed displeasure over the harassment caused to her chief security officer and hurriedly fired out a letter to the Prime Minister protesting against the manner in which Mr. Kurunaratne was arrested by the CID. She said Interior Minister John Amaratunga has acted mala fide in arresting Mr. Karunaratne. When asked by a private TV channel about the impending arrest of Mr. Karunaratne, Minister Amaratunga denied there was any such move. The President referred to the TV programme in her letter.

It is important for the police to act impartially and objectively if a new political culture is to flourish. The government should expedite the setting up of the Independent Police Commission so that officers can act with responsibility without bowing to political pressure. We are not for a moment trying to defend Mr. Karunaratne. If there are serious allegations against him, the police should go ahead and take necessary action according to the law of the land without any political strings attached to it.

Amidst all these political squabbles, Elections Commissions Dayananda Dissanayake released the administrative report for 2001, in which he describes the December 5 elections as the worst ever election in history. Indeed, it is severe indictment on the PA government. Mr. Dissanayake states that "during the elections period complaints were received by the Inspector General of Police as well as by me and all the complaints received at my office were inmediately referred to the Inspector General of Police and other authorities concerned to take appropriate action.

From the date of nominations up to the declaration of results, there were 2330 incidents of violence with 46 murders. It was the worst election campaign and the whole process of democratic election might be destroyed especially if the major parties did not take urgent corrective action to curb violence and malpractices during the elections. My fervent hope is that the IGP will take legal action against the persons concerned in respect of the election violence." The Commissioner also lamented that he was helpless in the absence of legal provision in the 17th Amendment to take action against offenders. He called for legislation to give more teeth to the 17th Amendment.

"In terms of Article 27 (2) of the 17th Amendment to the Constitution, powers of the Election Commission are vested in the incumbent Commissioner of Elections as such I exercised the powers in terms of Article 104B(5) and issued guidelines to all electronic media and print media on 19.10.2001, and under Article 104B(4)(a) directions were issued to all the Secretaries of the Ministries and Chief Secretaries of the Provincial Councils to prohibit the use of any movable or immovable property of Public Corporations, Government Departments, Ministries and Provincial Councils for the purpose of promoting or preventing elections of any candidate or any Political Party of Independent Group contesting at this election. Further paid advertisements were published in national dailies in all three languages for the information of the public.

"Further in terms of Article 104C of the 17th Amendment and under Section 127A of the Parliamentary Elections Act No. 1 of 1981 as amended I have given necessary direction to the IGP in respect of all security arrangements to enable me to conduct a free and fair election. In addition, I requested the IGP and the Secretary to the Ministry of Public Administration to suspend all the transfers from the date of proclamation of the election till the declaration of results. "There were complaints from the members of the public, political parties and NGO that some of the ministries, departments and corporations are violating the directions and guidelines issued by the Commissioner of Elections. In this regard there are few FR Applications and Writ Applications filed by the NGOs and the Deputy Leader of the UNP.

There is no provision in the 17th Amendment to enable the Commissioner to take legal or disciplinary action against anyone who defied his directions and guidelines. There were complaints from the political parties and NGOs that state resources were misused for the election campaign and the state electronic media are not following the guidelines issued by the Commissioner and demanded a competent authority to be appointed by the Commissioner under 17th Amendment. But as an Act of Parliament in respect of powers and functions of the competent authority has not been enacted by the Parliament the Commissioner held the view that merely appointing a competent authority would be a fruitless exercise.

However he strongly advised the SLRC and SLBC to strictly follow his guidelines and also adhere to the Section 126 of the Parliamentary Elections Act. I strongly urge the legislators to provide legal provisions to give teeth to the 17th Amendment to the Constitution." Recommending preventive measures to ensure future elections are conducted in a free and fair manner, the commissioner said.

• 1. Introduction of the Identity Card is a mandatory requirement for a voter who should produce it to the Senior Presiding Officer to obtain a ballot paper to cast his vote.
  2. The prevailing postal voting system should be changed, instead the advance voting system should be introduced, in order to install polling stations at central locations with election officers appointed by Returning Officers.
  3. The deposit amount of the independent groups should be increased from Rs. 2000/- to Rs 5000/- per a candidate in order to eliminate non-serious independent groups.
  4. Reduce the number of preferences allowed for a voter from three to one as past experience has been that only a very small percentage of voters marked more than one preference.
  5. Direction given by the Supreme Court in respect of annulment of poll in the SC/FR application No. 412/99 should be included under Section 48A of the Parliamentary Election Act No. 1 of 1981.
  6. In respect of political broadcast, any electronic media state or private, if they violate or defy the provision in Section 126 of the Parliamentary Elections Act, (Election Commission) should be empowered to take legal action against the institution.
  7. To avoid absenteeism of the public officers who are deployed for election duties, the Election Commission should be empowered to take disciplinary action directly without channelling through the respective Heads of Departments of Head of the Service.
  8. Any Government Institution failing to release their vehicles for election purposes to the Elections Commissioner or Returning Officers, legal authority should be granted to the Commissioner of Elections and the Returning Officers to take over those vehicles without the consent of the Head of such Government Institution.
  9. Any political party which does not contest three consecutive National Elections shall be liable for de-recognition.
  10. All the constitutions of the recognised political parties should be treated as a public document, make it mandatory to send annual administration reports to the Election Commission together with the minutes of the annual conventions held at stipulated intervals.
  11. Appoint a Commission of inquiry as the number of incidents related to election violence, malpractices and misuse of public property was significantly high during this election."

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