Democracy and Governance in Sri Lanka
The Development Challenge: Sri Lanka is struggling to recover from two decades of armed conflict and will now have to confront the challenge of recovering from the Tsunami calamity of December 26, which flooded coastal areas and wiped away communities along the south and east coasts of the island nation. As of January 26, 2005, official death toll estimates in Sri Lanka are 38,195 dead and 504,440 displaced. In the affected areas, economic life has ground to a halt, and businesses have collapsed. Millions of people have seen their families and communities torn apart. USAID is presently developing a strategy for long-term recovery and reconstruction to address the impact of the Tsunami in Sri Lanka.
USAID/Sri Lanka's program before the Tsunami focused on the opportunities presented by the February 2002 ceasefire agreement between the Government of Sri Lanka (GSL) and the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Now, along with ongoing activities to support the peace process, foster economic growth and civil society participation, and provide physical and psychological rehabilitation for those affected by the war, the Mission will need to undertake a range of recovery and reconstruction activities.
FY 2004 was a tumultuous year. The President's decision to dissolve Parliament and call for elections in April 2004 resulted in a new government with a different political and economic focus. It brought into power the President's party with the neo-Marxist and Singhalese nationalist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) as a key Alliance partner. JVP support plus "crossovers" resulting from concessions made to members of opposition parties gave the Alliance a Parliamentary majority. The new Government has shifted focus from an export-led market economy to rural development in order to address regional income disparities.
The peace talks have been on hold since they were suspended in April 2003. The JVP is opposed to the LTTE's proposal for an Interim Self Governing Authority (ISGA), while the LTTE views the ISGA as the basis for resuming formal peace talks. Although the President made a commitment to restart talks with the LTTE, she has yet to find a compromise that will satisfy both her Alliance partner and the LTTE. Progress in the peace process was a condition set by the international community for the disbursement of the development assistance portion of the $4.5 billion pledged at the June 2003 Tokyo Conference on Reconstruction and Development. The failure to resume peace talks slowed development activities in the conflict-affected regions of North and East Sri Lanka.
(Excerpted from the 2006 Congressional Budget Justification for Sri Lanka)
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