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| Tuesday, 2 March 2004 |
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Internal integration in pre-election Sri Lanka by Dr. Ruwantissa Abeyratne, Montreal
Sri Lanka, as well as many other Afro-Asian countries, burst into independence in the late forties and early fifties when there was some reliance and faith placed in the economic development of newly independent States through a political process named somewhat euphemistically as "development administration". This was a type of administration which relied upon a system of state enterprise and foreign aid. Soon enough, a pervasive depression and disillusionment set in where public enterprises largely started losing money and making losses. Being essentially a political hype at the time, it would have survived if not for the crisis brought to bear by the rising price in oil coupled with a new wave of privatization which started in the first world and gradually seeped into the rest of the world. Acute debt crisis The developing countries did not have much choice in view of the acute debt crisis incurred as a result of the loss making public enterprise system as well as the increasing public expenditure on the one hand and the decreasing demand for their products on the other. On top of this onerous administrative nightmare, the developing countries faced increasing pressure from donor states as well as international lending institutions to make "structural adjustments" which was another term for globalization, privatization and liberalization. This process saw developing countries go through a sustained period of being virtual prisoners of external decisions imposed by foreign governments and international financial institutions. Obvious way The obvious way to get out of the gridlock and make progress was to follow the path of self sustainable development, without external assistance. However, the benefits of sustainable development have been largely obscured by the much vaunted virtues of Marshall McLuhan's "global village" and the trinity comprising globalization, privatization and liberalization. Although it is by no means intended to denigrate these practices as totally useless, it must nonetheless be emphasized that they should not be taken as a panacea for all ills. The ultimate winner in this race has been the increasing speed of travel and electronic communications which offered spectacular speed in information transfer and communications skills transfer. The nation-State, as it were, looked weak and insignificant in the face of this juggernaut which seemingly offered the world a "quick fix" and an easy way toward achieving a world State and peace. One might argue that perhaps what Sri Lanka needs at this hour of need is such introspection and an integrated dialogue between State and society. It is incontrovertible that quality governance need not necessarily be confined to financial efficiency and the absence of corruption. Essential need While economic progress and timely delivery of services are essential, these are only achieved consequent upon the essential need of Society - that of ensuring its safety, security and stability - being in place. Internal integration is therefore a vital part of good governance which helps banish dissent and disagreement. What might be of use, on a pre election platform is "internal diplomacy". Current political and diplomatic problems mostly emerge as a result of the inability of the world to veer from its self serving concentration on individual perspectives to collective societal focus. This distorted approach gives rise to undue emphasis being placed on rights rather than duties; on short-term benefits rather than long-term progress and advantage and on purely mercantile perspectives and values rather than higher human values. There would be no need for diplomacy in the world today if there had been no socially and politically recognized units known as States. In similar vein, there will be no need for discourse and diplomacy within a State if there were no recognized political units having their own political philosophies. Often diplomacy is used from a foreign relations perspective to diffuse dissent and arrive at a consensus, and there is no reason as to why the same principle could not be applicable in a domestic sense. Preeminent issue One of the preeminent issues in Sri Lanka today, as indeed in many nations of the world, is diversity. Diversity is a very complex subject which has no definitive parameters. It covers a vast field of distinctions including race, sex, age, ethnic origin, language, faith, orientation, opinion and association. Diversity may also encapsulate differences in personality, approach and position in hierarchy and even personal experiences. Canada provides as good an analogy as any other country on internal integration the subject of diversity. There are several identifiable dimensions underlying the Canadian model of diversity. These vary from individual rights versus group rights, uniformity versus heterogeneity and economic freedom versus economic security. Since 1996, the Federal Government of Canada has identified the key areas necessary for social cohesion within the country as being effective citizenship, identity, inclusion, values and attitudes and governance. Canada Canada has a long history of social discourse within its boundaries between State and society, which has resulted in containing the debate on cultural diversity with an analysis within a precise, measurable context. This has in turn caused the emergence of a contrived process whereby Canada has succeeded in committing itself toward respecting cultural differences for a sustained period of time. One area of concentration has been immigration, resulting in Canada having one of the world's most diversified populations. The enactment of legislation to facilitate the removal of concerns on cultural diversity is impressive with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guaranteeing equality rights for men and women together with special measures calculated to correct earlier practices of gender based discrimination. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms has been an integral part of the Canadian Constitution since 1985. Context of diversity Perhaps the most important piece of Canadian legislation in the context of diversity is the Canadian Multiculturalism Act which considers diversity within a framework of general action encompassing the rights of the individual, civil participation and support for cultural diversity. According to policy enshrined in the Act, all Canadians, by birth or choice, enjoy equal status. They have the same rights, powers and advantages and are bound by the same duties, obligations and responsibilities. Of course, reference to the above mentioned elements of Canadian legislation by no means implies that there are no similar provisions in the laws of Sri Lanka. The 1969 Official Languages Act and a 1973 Parliamentary Resolution on Official Languages in the Public Service uphold the equal status for the English and French Languages in all Canadian Parliamentary and public institutions. Linguistic duality is a fundamental characteristic of Canadian Society. Other pieces of legislation, such as the Canadian Human Rights Act of 1977; and the Canadian Bill of Rights of 1960 forbid any form of discrimination. Catharsis need In the broadest of general terms, any society needs a catharsis from time to time in order to expiate the past and start anew. It needs to liberate the future from its past. Technically, one could argue that there is never an immediate future, as the present keeps tumbling into what the future would be at any given time. Similarly, the present keeps becoming the past with the passing of every second. There is, however, always a distant future which is within the realm of human expectation, and a distant past which can be readily identified and recalled. When viewed in this context, one can strive to control the future - perhaps even liberate it from the past - by correcting one's mistakes. As to whether one could strive to liberate the past from the future is a more complex goal which can only be achieved by seeking retrospective justification for one's actions, making amends or considering the past as a stepping stone towards improvement. One consolation However, one consolation is that the two tasks of liberation are made easier by the fact that both the past and the future have a common feature, in that they both represent time; one in which one's actions can be analyzed and judged; and the other in which one's actions can be planned and anticipated. Within this commonality, it is not difficult to arrive at the crux of the one problem that has plagued us in the past and threatens us in the future, to effectively preclude us from helping one another as we should - our own moral perception of differences within the human race. |
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