Development as a Precursor to Conflict Resolution: A Critical Review of the Fifth Peace Process in Sri Lanka

There is a growing interest in the links between development and peace in low and middle-income countries and especially between international development assistance and conflict resolution. This article analyses these links in the case of Sri Lanka's fifth peace process (2002-2004), by examining the unconventional approach of choosing development of the war-torn areas as a forerunner of conflict resolution. While showing the convergence between the government and the LTTE on development policy and the role of international donors, the article highlights the divergence between the protagonists on the politically charged issue of an interim administration for the war-torn region where the Tamil Tigers controlled territory and had established their own structures of administration. The government, holding only a small majority in parliament and facing a strong opposition to the peace process, was trying to find an interim arrangement within the limits of the unitary constitution. In the LTTE's view, such an arrangement would inevitably reduce LTTE to a junior partner with little or no formal power. The Tigers were instead seeking a legally constituted interim body in which they would play the lead role. An interim authority proposed by LTTE was seen by the powerful Sinhalese opposition as a first step towards secession and hence as a threat to the sovereign unitary state. While showing that addressing development needs may provide meeting points for the protagonists, the fifth peace process also demonstrated that the approach would inevitably lead to the political question of power sharing in the interim phase and beyond.