Posted on March 4, 2010 by admin

Last week he was reported as saying that Tamil people did not seek a political solution to their grievances; rather, they simply needed to be resettled in their homes after the war.
He has also said he will find his own solution and has spoken of a possible upper house of parliament which would potentially give minorities more influence.
For such a change he would need a two-thirds majority in parliament, something he will try to get in parliamentary elections expected soon.
‘Intimidation’
So does he want to do it?
“In Rajapaksa’s heart of hearts he may not like the 13th Amendment, but it’s almost impossible for him to scrap it,” says Dayan Jayatilleka, former Sri Lankan ambassador to the UN in Geneva.
He says it is the only real way forward, and suggests that parties like the Tamil National Alliance, which is close to the defeated Tamil Tigers, should also embrace it, recognising that “the centre will remain Sinhalese nationalist”.
Defeated candidate Gen Sarath Fonseka had support from Tamil areas Indeed, many Sinhalese people do not feel that ethnic grievances are really an issue at all.
One international source told the BBC there was concern that with his large mandate at the polls, the president will feel he does not need to take account of his critics’ concerns.
“It remains to be seen how much progress he will make on immediate challenges such as political reconciliation, human rights and the humanitarian situation,” the source said.
Journalists’ rights groups say reporters are still intimidated in the country and are concerned at the disappearance of a web journalist who vanished just before the election after apparently writing pro-Fonseka articles.
But B Raman, a retired senior Indian official and security analyst, feels outside sentiment does have a role.
He writes in Sri Lanka’s Daily Mirror that the president will have to deal “skilfully and diplomatically” with human rights groups’ concerns that there are still unanswered questions about the methods the army used in crushing the Tamil Tigers.
Mr Rajapaksa is talking positively.
His victory statement spoke of the need to be rid of the past and its “violence and division” and to set aside the differences between his government and its domestic and foreign critics.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8487405.stm