FOREIGN FRIENDS AND THE ISLANDERS

Among the major issues to be canvassed at the Sri Lankan general elections in April 2004 will be the role of the international community. There is an influential section in the country that believes that Sri Lanka's lifeline to peace and development lies through the international community.The question is whether a majority of people would agree with it. Certainly the past two years have seen an increase in the presence of international actors in Sri Lankan affairs, ranging from the Norwegians in the peace process to international NGOs in the reconstruction of the North-East.

The United National Party (UNP, led by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe) campaigners are likely to emphasise the close ties they were able to forge with the international community, and in particular with aid-giving countries and multilateral donor agencies. Wickremesinghe's ability to obtain two face-to-face meetings with President George Bush was a remarkable feat considering the relative unimportance of Sri Lanka in the past in the US global scheme. The pledge of USD 4.5 billion at the Tokyo donor conference last year and Japan's singular contribution towards this fund have made the rapid economic development of Sri Lanka a viable proposition. There has been a corres-ponding negative side as well to the UNP's close association with the international community. The stalling of the peace process between the government and LTTE that took place in April 2003 can be attributed at least partly to this. The LTTE justified its suspension of participation in the peace process by accusing the govern-ment of trying to establish an international safety net. The LTTE alleged that such a strengthening of the government's position internationally was to the detriment of Tamil rights, as no government that felt itself strong would be fair to the Tamils.