• English Site
• > SPIEGEL Magazine

SPIEGEL Interview with Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa

"I Want Lasting Peace"

Mahinda Rajapaksa, 60, became president of Sri Lanka in November. In an interview with SPIEGEL, the leader of the South Asian island nation analyzes peace talks with the Tamil Tigers rebel organization, which are scheduled to resume this week in Geneva after a three year hiatus.

SPIEGEL:

 Mr. President, the cease-fire with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) has more or less held up. But peace talks aimed at finally ending the bitter, 18-year-long Sri Lankan civil war -- which has killed more than 65,000 people -- broke down three years ago. Beginning with the assassination of your former foreign minister, Lakshman Kadirgamar, in August, bloodshed is once again on the rise. Both the Tamil Tigers and Sri Lankan troops have violated the cease-fire with 200 people killed in the past several months alone. What made you suddenly decide to talk to the LTTE this week?

Rajapaksa: It was precisely the violence of the last months, which has given me many sleepless nights since I came to office in November last year, that motivated me to pick up negotiations again. We’re all human beings, Tamils and Sinhalas. Instead of killing each other, we can talk, can’t we?

SPIEGEL:  There is widespread skepticism in the international community, but also within Sri Lanka, given that the peace process has broken down so often in the past. Do you have some sort of secret recipe this time that gives you greater confidence about the talks commencing on Wednesday?

Rajapaksa: I have no secret ingredients and, by the way, I know just as many people who are positive about the outcome of the talks. Geneva will be a new beginning and we have to build upon it. Failure in the past is no reason to abandon the peace process altogether. Of course, we hope that the LTTE, for its part, will bring the desire to stop violence with it to Geneva. 

SPIEGEL: Critics say that your election campaign late last year was marked by fiery rhetoric against the separatist LTTE, largely to please right-of-center Sinhala parties like the Janatha Vimukthi Perumuna (JHU), a right-wing Sinhala party, and Jathika Hela Urumaya, a Sinhala party made up of conservative Buddhist monks -- both of which are now your coalition partners. Now you’re talking to the Tigers. What do your coalition partners think of these talks?

Rajapaksa: I am amazed at how the international media has dubbed me a "hawk" and a "hardliner". Can you please give me one example of when I have spoken in such tones? On the contrary: I offered a hand of peace to Tiger chief Velupillai Prabhakaran early on in my election campaign. At the same time, I wanted it to be known in no uncertain terms that I will do my best for a united Sri Lanka.

SPIEGEL:  You have categorically ruled out a "separate homeland for the Tamils." But what about the other blueprints that have been floated? Are you willing to discuss ideas such as confederalism, federalism, devolution, even an "interim self-governing authority" for the LTTE and the Tamils of the north and northeast, as long as there is no talk of a separate homeland.

Rajapaksa: Sri Lanka is home to all its citizens. It is a small country. We can share power and we can develop a new model based upon all the suggestions made up until now. But there can be no talk of a separate homeland for Tamils in Sri Lanka.

SPIEGEL: The talks in Geneva will be mediated by Norway and hosted by Switzerland, both non-European Union countries that are, nonetheless, politically and economically closely linked to the EU. There is a large Tamil expatriate population in the EU, and as one of the four "donor nations" involved in the Sri Lankan peace process, Brussels is taking great interest in the talks this week. What do you expect from the EU?

Rajapaksa: Whatever the political pressures from the EU given its Tamil population, it must take the larger picture into consideration: the methods used by the LTTE, how the organization functions and whether such methods are conducive to durable peace or not. After the assassination of our foreign minister last year, the EU did take certain measures –- like refusing to receive LTTE delegations in its countries. But it must do more. It must treat us as though its own soil were threatened by terrorism. That is the support we need from the EU and, indeed, the international community.

SPIEGEL: The Cease-Fire Agreement of 2002 was between Colombo and the LTTE. However, since April 2004 there has been a third "faction" -- that of the renegade rebel "Karuna" -- who defected from the LTTE with thousands of armed fighters and has waged battle against the LTTE ever since. LTTE's main demand is for an immediate re-working of the cease-fire agreement and not necessarily an immediate resumption of the peace talks themselves.

Rajapaksa: These talks are aimed at ending the violence and to examine how best to implement the existing cease-fire agreement. Yes, we’ll certainly have to take a fresh look at the document, but we do hope that these early steps will help us commence peace talks soon.

SPIEGEL: The Tamil Tigers, along with many international analysts, accuse Colombo of protecting and even arming Karuna -- essentially using his troops, headquartered in the  eastern town of Batticaloa, as "paramilitaries" against the LTTE. One of the LTTE’s key demands at talks on Wednesday will be that Colombo stop supporting him.

Rajapaksa: I would like to make one thing very clear. My government knows nothing about such "paramilitaries" or even "Karuna". The Norwegian peace monitors have themselves clarified that the Sri Lankan army has nothing to do with any armed groups operating in eastern Sri Lanka. Still, my government is committed to disarming such groups and we have already begun to do so.

SPIEGEL: International observers also say that the greatest hurdle to lasting peace with the LTTE has been inflexibility and constant squabbling between Sri Lankan political parties -- like the longstanding political one-upmanship between your Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and the opposition United National Party (UNP).

Rajapaksa: The greatest hurdle to lasting peace with the LTTE has been its repeated violation of the cease-fire. Yes, we do have our differences of opinion in Colombo, including over the peace process. But even that’s dying down. We met with all political parties last Friday and there is broad consensus over this week’s talks.

SPIEGEL:  But you have to admit that after the tsunami of December 2004, your party, which was also in power then, failed to work closely with the LTTE to distribute tsunami aid. It was a perfect opportunity to build mutual trust and create a solid basis for future talks. Why did you let that chance slip by?

Rajapaksa: Yes, you’re right, we were divided in Colombo at the time over the conditions laid down on how to share the funds donated by the international community and distribute them along with the LTTE in the north and northeast. Actually, even the LTTE was displeased with the conditions and, finally, even our Supreme Court declared them flawed. So it wasn’t just political in-fighting that frittered away the opportunity.

SPIEGEL: Opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe is considered to be more popular than you among the Tamils of the north and northeast, who are under LTTE control. If those Tamils had not boycotted the vote, you would have lost the presidential elections of November last year to him.

Rajapaksa: The saddest development last year was LTTE’s call to Tamils under its administration to boycott the elections. In any case, there is no such thing as an accurate prediction and many Tamils and minority Muslims in other areas supported me. Ranil and I see eye-to-eye over the talks today. On the whole, I intend to work towards building more and more consensus among the many political parties in Colombo over a final agreement with LTTE.

SPIEGEL:  Despite your alliance with right-wing partners and distrust among Tamils in the North, you are considered a "people's man" and you are far more popular than members of the political dynasties that have dominated Sri Lankan politics up till now. To what do you attribute this positive image?

Rajapaksa: I became a member of parliament at age 24 and have consistently worked among the poor, common people ever since. Don't forget, I'm also a human rights lawyer and respect all human beings, be they Tamils or Sinhalas. I want one country, I want lasting peace and I believe that talks are the only way out.

Interview conducted by Padma Rao