"All I want is victory for peace"

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Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe spoke through his car window to TIME's Alex Perry as he drove into Colombo on his return from the U.S., past tens of thousands of supporters shouting "Don't cry Chandrika, Ranil has won."

TIME: Did you expect this reception? Has the President's move backfired? Wickremesinghe: People want peace and people want me to go ahead with the peace process. That's why they're here. Peace has brought prosperity to all. But I can't complain, can I? If there is a crisis here, it's not mine.

TIME: What happens now? Wickremesinghe: First I must get to Colombo. [The 28km-journey was eventually to take eight hours.] The president has to decide whether she will meet me. She has not spoken to me. It is for her to call me.

TIME: Is your government crippled by the state of the emergency? Wickremesinghe: The emergency is not worth the paper it is written on.

TIME: How dangerous is the game that the President is playing? Wickremesinghe: She put the whole peace process at risk. She strained the credibility of the peace process. She almost dared the Tigers to mobilize. They have been very concerned and all the commanders have been called back by Prabhakaran to discuss what they do next.

TIME: What about her claims of national security being endangered? Wickremesinghe: There were no reports of changes. If anything, the LTTE was getting itself ready for peace. President Bush and the Congress are fully behind our peace efforts and that's why I continued with my visit—to finish my work for the process in Washington. After all, I had phone numbers in Colombo with me.

TIME: Are you going to win this power struggle? Wickremesinghe: I don't want victory for me. All I want is victory for peace.