Insurrection and a bitter 22-year civil war between the Sinhalese majority and the Tamil minority have brought devastating political turmoil to Sri Lanka, as over 65,000 citizens have lost their lives in fighting since the war began. The conflict surfaced in the 1970s when the Tamil population, concentrated in the North and East, began pressing for self-governance. When the government resisted, a separatist group known as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) began to carry out suicide bombings and attacks throughout the country. Peace talks between the LTTE and the government have been initiated several times during decades of fighting, but these efforts have failed to establish a lasting peace.
The current political effort to solve the conflict began in late 2001, when the United National Party (UNP) gained a majority in parliament after pledging to sign a ceasefire and begin negotiations with the LTTE. While progress in the subsequent negotiations was inconsistent, talks produced the first signs in decades that the LTTE would accept a federal structure instead of secession. In the 2004 parliamentary elections, the UNP government lost its majority to a new political alliance between the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and the nationalist People's United Front (JVP). While the coalition government initially pledged to continue the peace process, the fragile political alliance was hampered by internal disputes and the peace negotiations stalled.
The latest political effort to solve the conflict began following the election of the SLFP's Mahinda Rajapaksa in November 2005 presidential elections. The Rajapakse government has yet to engage in direct dialogue with the LTTE, and in 2006 violence escalated dramatically. Subsequent fighting in the eastern provinces has displaced thousands of civilians and lead to widespread human rights abuses. Future negotiations will have to overcome increasing mistrust among all political stakeholders in the conflict, excessive partisanship among the major political parties, and signs that the current ceasefire agreement may be defunct.
NDI Programs
NDI has conducted program activities in Sri Lanka since 1995, including election monitoring assistance during parliamentary elections in 2000 and late 2001. In March 2004, the Institute provided technical assistance to local domestic election monitoring organizations for the April parliamentary and July provincial council elections. NDI also sponsored roundtable discussions across the country with citizens, civic leaders, political party representatives, and election officials concerning recommendations for electoral reform and strategies for their implementation. In preparation for the November 2005 presidential election, NDI conducted a program to enhance the capacity of civil society organizations to monitor and report on the electoral process and analyze election coverage produced by national media outlets.
In January 2006, NDI began a two-year program designed to strengthen responsive dialogue and cooperation among political parties in the tsunami-affected districts of southern and eastern Sri Lanka. The program is designed to help foster inter-party cooperation in addressing issues of local concern and strengthen the capacity of district-level party organizations to articulate public priorities to national party leaders. NDI has established six multiparty steering committees to identify issues of local concern in the districts of Galle, Matara, Hambantota, Ampara, Batticaloa, and Trincomalee. All six multiparty committees have identified issues of common concern, and NDI has provided the groups with expert, non-partisan mediators to help party representatives develop consensus-based plans for addressing local issues. To date, dialogues have focused on issues including conflict resolution, human rights, promoting women's political participation, anti-corruption efforts, and infrastructure needs. The program is also delivering constituency relations and leadership development training to district party organizations to assist them in becoming more responsive to local concerns.
Funding
NDI programs in Sri Lanka has been funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED).
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