By Jeevani Pereira
October 16, 2006
The Daily Mirror
A survey conducted by the Marga Institute and the National Peace Council on , ‘People’s Opinion on Peace has revealed’ that 51 per cent of those who participated in the study were of the opinion that to achieve peace in Sri Lanka, a constitutional framework that did not confine itself to the unitary state should be explored.
This survey was conducted from a sample of 5000 persons from all provinces comprising all ethnic groups and religious communities to find out what the people thought about the present situation in the country and also the solutions they propose to solve the problems facing.
Godfrey Gunatilleke Chief Executive, Marga Institute at the presentation of the survey said “Of The 51 percent 39 said a constitutional change that provided maximum devolution of power was the best solution, while 7 percent preferred a federal solution. However, 34 percent chose the unitary state as the suitable framework for the solution,”
However, he pointed out that most people were not aware of what the federal solution was. “Only 24 percent claimed out of those polled that they had some knowledge of what federalism meant, while 14 percent were able to identify the federal system as one of devolution of power within an undivided country,” said Gunatillake adding that a majority of 62 percent had no idea of what the federal system was.
It was also noted that most of those surveyed believed that there would be a return to war within six months, 53 percent in actuality, while only 12 percent believed there would be no return to war. “58 percent of Sinhalese expected a war, but the numbers were lower among the Tamils with 42 percent and 43 percent of the Muslims were expecting a war,” he said.
Furthermore, it was noted that a large majority (79 percent to be exact) were of the view that the best solution to the conflict was through peaceful means, including the re-negotiation of the Ceasefire Agreement, negotiation of an interim solution and negotiation for a final solution.
A minority said a full scale war was necessary which according to Gunatillake was, coupled with the measured response that all communities provided in attributing blame to both sides of the conflict, and also indicated that with proper attitudes a foundation for building a conflict resolving process.
“62 percent of the Sinhlese blamed the government for the present crises while 64 percent blamed the LTTE but when it came to the Tamils, 77 percent said the government was to blame and only 35 percent blamed the LTTE,” he remarked.
As Simon and Garfunkel crooned out: “Last night I had the strangest dream I ever dreamed before, I dreamed the world had all agreed to put an end to war” , along with bullet ridden houses, stricken faces and blood stained pavements, one speaker pointed out that the people’s opinion on the current situation was the most important when it came to bringing about a true peace.
“Peace is the absence of conflict, so resolving conflict is the key and remains in the hands of people,” he continued.