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The Oldest English Newspaper in South Asia
Founded 4.2.1834
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Colombo 10, Sri Lanka.
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Delicate steps

The Government must be commended for its handling of the main Opposition party, the People's Alliance, so far. Given the compulsions of the western-style competitive parliamentary system with which we have been colonially burdened, it would have been but natural for the newly elected government to follow the style of its predecessors in bashing the the defeated Opposition.

In the now distant past some regimes subjected the defeated party to thuggery and mass detentions, while more recently we have seen at least some form of political harassment and intimidation. After the last election, however, while there have been a rash of intimidation and minor punishments at certain levels in the State sector, the ruling UNF has seen fit to pursue a more cordial and accommodating relationship with People's Alliance. This is partly due to the fact that the PA may be in 'Opposition' in the Parliamentary sense, but yet is in power in the form of President Chandrika Kumaratunga. It is also due to the UNF's very pragmatic recognition that the solid co-operation of the PA is essential if the peace process is to make any headway.

This pragmatism is most welcome and the understanding reached between the two parties on the local government electoral process is a harbinger of the harmony that must be maintained between Government and Opposition at this delicate stage in the attempts to resolve the country's crisis.

The country is now moving towards a new stage of negotiations between the LTTE and the Government and, after all these years of political contortions, bungling, half-hearted initiatives, and failures, the nation full well knows the care and sensitivity with which the process must be approached. All steps towards re-starting the peace process as well as the management of the negotiating process requires that the most delicate steps be taken. The new Government's performance so far is convincing.

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