Tsunami Response in Sri Lanka, Report on a Field Visit From 6-20 February 2005

In the end, however, the tsunami’s impact or the aid attached to it will not be the determining factor for peace. This has simply to do with the LTTE’s appreciation of its political space for reaching a sufficiently satisfactory solution in view of their ‘historically legitimate grievances’ and the ambitions crystalised in their proposal for an Interim Self-Governing Authority (ISGA). On the other side, it will be determined by the ability of the Sinhalese polity to come to some type of politically acceptable accommodation with the LTTE’s demands and the aspirations of the Tamil community at large that can count on sufficient support in the south.