Rebuilding of Sri Lanka

Rajapaksa appears more focussed on economic development, including that of the Tamil-dominated North

FROM WINNING THE WAR
TO WINNING PEACE:
Post-War Rebuilding
of the Society in Sri Lanka:
Edited by V.R. Raghvan;
Centre for Security Analysis

Since the end of the military operations against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam more than a year ago, the Sri Lanka watchers have been preoccupied with the question of how the government plans to go about the task of reconciliation between the majority and minority communities. Constitutional changes have apparently been rendered easier by the massive victory the coalition headed by President Mahinda Rajapaksa scored in the parliamentary elections earlier this year, winning nearly two-thirds of the seats.

While there are some signs that the government may be considering constitutional reform, President Rajapaksa appears more focussed, at the moment, on economic development, including that of the Tamil-dominated North and East regions, prompting the view that he is chasing Sri Lanka's long-cherished “Singapore-model” dream — one in which the country's development and prosperity, rather than sweeping constitutional reform, will be the key to co-existence and reconciliation between ethnic communities.

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