wherewe needto insistthathate speeches andthe cul-
tureof impunitybe checked.If thereis eventhe slightest
feelingof a pervadingcultureof impunitycomingin once
again—we hadthatfeelingsoonafterthewarwiththe
LTTE—it willderailthisnation-buildingexercise.
Thecommunityhascooperatedwiththegovernment
andthatis thereasonsomanywerecaughtsoon...
Yes.Withina month theentirecultwasidentified,
andit hasbeenvirtuallyisolated. Whenit comesto
efficiency, I don’tthinkwe needto haveanydoubtabout
ourintelligence andsecurity apparatus....Thesystems
arethere.Butcomplacencyhadset in with10 yearsof
peace.
Thereis a viewthatwhatusedto happento theTamils
is nowhappeningto theMuslims.Atthattime,Muslims
didnotreallythinkthattheyshouldbewiththeTamils.
Howdoyouviewthis?
Thatis a verygeneralised view.I thinkthereis a lot of
empathy amongthe Tamilsaboutwhat’shappeningto us
nowbecause of theirownexperience.Buttherewill
certainlybe elementswithincivilsocietywhowillwantto
takepoliticaladvantage,to settlescoresfor somegriev-
ancefromthe past.
Butthenwe shouldn’tpaint theentirecommunity
withthesamebrush.Weare confident thatamongthe
Tamils, thereare well-meaningleaderswhowillnotbe
lackingin empathy.They are fullycooperating in resist-
ingthistendencyandworkingcollectivelytowardsna-
tion-building.They havealso learntto compromise
duringthe lastfewyears.Of course,the sameextremist
xenophobicforcesare notallowinga reasonable settle-
mentto emergeandthat,timeandagain,hasbeenthe
baneof thiscountry’spolitics. Butwe haveto, I think,do a
soul-searching andengagein efforts wherehealthycom-
promises are reached.
Butthen, healthy compromisescannotbe madein a
slavishmanner.Themajoritywillbe wrongif theytry to
impose solutions. Rightnow,it appears thatthereis a
gung-ho approach by someof them.Butwe aregently
resisting it andtellingthemthatwe cannotbe pushedtoo
much.
In thecurrentsituation,withtheelectionaboutsix
monthsaway,doyouthinkpeaceis achievable?It
alwayshelpsthemajoritarianpolityto haveanenemy
communityfromamongtheminorities...
It hashappened in the neighbourhood recently. But
in a maturedemocracy, suchpolarisationduringelection
timeis sometimesa given.Oncein power,the realisation
dawnsthatto rule,youneedto havecooperation; you
needto engage; youcannot thencompartmentalise and
continue to marginalise.
Weseethathappening post-electionin India. If
sucha situationoccurs here,a settling downwillcome
about[aftertheelection].Buttheelectionperiod
mightbecomeverytenseandfullof rhetoric andname-
calling.I thinkit is happeningin all democracies.
Right-wingpoliticshascometo stay, notonlyherebut
in muchmoremature democraciesin theWest.Be-
causeof economicdeprivation anddifficulties,thereis
alot of blamegame.
ButI feel,though suchissueswillhavesomepurchase
giventhe emotivebackground,the vastmajorityof them
arematureandtheywillaccepttheverdictfinally. We
haveall embracedtheWestminstersystemwithsome
modifications in ourelectoralmodels. Butwe havea
bettersystem in thatwe havea proportional representa-
tionmodel.Butthereareevenattemptsto tinkerwith
thatandthoseare thingswe keepresistingbecausethat’s
wherewe manageto get ourproperrepresentation.And
thenwe alsohavethishealthycoalitionapproachwhere
we workalongwithotherlike-minded partiesto make
surethatwe havesufficient numbersandwe havea say in
both the Central government and the provincial
governments.
Thiselectionis going to be a toughcall,particularly
for the rulingcoalition.We are hopelesslydivided, partic-
ularlywiththe Presidentexperimentingwithall typesof
things...Thatactuallybringsmeto theperformanceof the
government.TheTamilquestion,forexample.There
wassomemovement,butnoprogressbeyondthat.The
October 26 drama,andtheattemptedunseatingof the
PrimeMinister.Theresponseto theAprilblasts.These
threethingshityouin thefaceregardlessof thegood
thingsthecoalitionhasdone.So,howdoyouratethe
government?
My experience of almost25 yearsin national politics
hastaughtme the lessonthatif youwantsubstantialor
constitutional changes, youneedto achieve thiswithin
thefirst six monthsof your getting intopower.If you
procrastinate,that is as good as notbeingableto reach
yourgoal.Thishashappenedtimeandagain.
At leastwe wereableto achievethe 19thAmendment
[dilutionof powersof theExecutivePresidency]. Still
peoplewillcriticise.Thereweredictatorial tendencies
creepingin throughtheearly18thAmendment [which
removedthe termlimitthata President canserve].We
havefortunatelydoneawaywiththis.At leastthetwo-
termlimit is there.
Wehavenowinstalled a prime ministership, which,
in the term,willbe stronger thanthe presidencybecause
of thewayin whichit is structured now. So, thatagain
givesa certainamount of hopethatthiskindof tug of war
betweenthe presidencyandthe parliament willnot hap-
pen.
Here,we allowed the President to holdon to Minis-
triesandthenhe is, to an extent,illegallyholdingon to
oneMinistryor the other. Theseissuesmaynothappen.
Ourinstitutions, particularlythejudiciary,arealso
gettingstronger,andtheirindependenceis a matter of
consolation.Otherinstitutions,likethe Attorney Gener-
al’s department,the Auditor General’s department,have
displayedfierceindependence.Thatgivesus a lot of hope
thatthingswillchangefor the better. $