A national government has been the demand and dream of the vast majority of our people for a long time. It wouldn’t be incorrect to say that many are sick and tired of the petty clashes between the two main parties who after all are ideologically closer to each other than to any of their respective allies.
The euphoria about the now real possibility of the SLFP and UNP working together is therefore legitimate and indicative of the will of a large section of the political spectrum.
An SLFP-UNP agreement on a consensual approach to government falls short of anything close to a ‘National Government’ which has often been touted as the panacea for all the ills that plague the country.  No political entity, after all, can be truly ‘national’ in the present context if the JVP, JHU and the minority parties are not part of the arrangement and it is hoped that efforts will be made to incorporate these parties into the grand national alliance.
Since there have been references to the grievances of minorities it is especially important to find ways of including the parties representing them. ‘Solutions’ that are conferred, however workable and meaningful they may be, are qualitatively different from those arrived at with wider participation and this has to be remembered.
In any event, since these are the two largest parties and as such can claim to be representative of the overwhelming majority this is no doubt the best step taken towards a combined effort to address issues.
Talks between the two main parties showed a lot of promise and raised expectations when it was maintained that the task was to reach common ground or to develop a set of programmatic principles or a national agenda. The signs are that indeed such principles have been articulated and agreed upon.
The two parties, according to reports, appear to have gone further and reached consensus (yet to be officially announced) on a ‘structure for collaboration’. In other words we are going to see a sharing of portfolios of a kind that would result in something that a few months ago would have been unimaginable given the back and forth of bickering these two parties have engaged in: a Blue-Green Government. Even for a country that has a long history of coalition government, this would be a remarkable first.
If and when the historic document is signed by party leaders there would no doubt be widespread euphoria, not least of all because the principles of co-habitation if you will appear to cover a wide range of issue including good governance, electoral reform and resolving the conflict in the North and the East. 
Subject to the caveat that politicians will be politicians and that good intention frequently slips in the face of ambitious self-interest and matters of expediency, at this point The Nation salutes these two parties for being bigger than they have ever been before.
We hope that together they would resolve to the people’s satisfaction the problems they’ve individually caused and grappled with for decades.
Whether these two parties desire and are able to persuade others represented in parliament to join them and build a truly ‘national’ government remains to be seen. The JVP, for its part, for whatever reason not succeeding in resolving its outstanding issues with the Mahinda Rajapaksa regime, have the right to feel betrayed because no one will dispute that Rajapaksa would not be making any pacts with anyone had it not been for Somawansa, Wimal, Tilvin, Nandana and Co.
That party, on the other hand, can now play the role that the UNP appeared to be reluctant to accept: a vibrant and constructive opposition. This should not be seen as a consolation prize but a serious responsibility which, if correctly embraced, would enhance the party’s chances at future elections should the Blue-Green Coalition fail to deliver. 
The prospects? Let us be generous and as this long-awaited moment arrives, wish the two main parties a happy cohabitation and urge them not to forget that no political cohabitation is of value if tangible benefits do not accrue to the public.  Let us say that perhaps at last, better times await our nation.