Speeches at recently concluded OPA Annual sessions on the theme “Sri Lankans Reawakening Sri Lanka - as Paradise Isle”

Professionals should interlink with society - OPA President

OPA President Dr. Hillary Cooray said: As the President of the Organizations of Professional Associations of Sri Lanka it is a privilege to welcome the participants, to this unique 20th Annual Sessions on the theme “Sri Lankans Reawakening Sri Lanka - as Paradise Isle”.

Over the last few years I had realized that the image of the professionals and the respect they used to command had been declining year by year. The general public tends to look at them not as dedicated, trustworthy, honest, and ethical service providers but rather as group that tend to work towards their own benefit and interests.

Thereby they tend to avoid the professionals as much, as they could, which is detrimental to the development of society as a whole. The more the professionals, interlink with the society the better it is for all.

He said: professionals by any standard, in any country are a valuable group amongst men and women and occupy an important segment of a civilized society whose services are essential for the very existence of a society.

Therefore, this year the O.P.A. has taken steps to try and “Reposition the image of the professionals in the modern day society.”

In order to enhance their image the professionals must play a greater role in the decision making process at the national level. Particulary in a country such as ours where professional skills are in short supply due to the lack of adequate training facilities and the bane of brain drain.

Therefore, it is of utmost importance that the optimum use of the services of the professionals are utilized in order to bring about Good Governance and successful implementation of major development projects of the country.

The professional advice, on a collective basis, which can be of utmost importance to the country and the leaders, must be properly harnessed.

“In this context, our president elect, Elmore Perera with his team of expert professionals has made a significant effort in the process of formulating a set of policies to be placed before the political leadership, which will be the outcome of this year’s annual sessions.”

“This objective can be achieved at a macro level only if public and national interest prevails over sectional claims. Personalities tend to conflict in such situations but professional views must remain detached, objective, independent and dignified. This is of great significance when we deal with leaders exercising executive or legislative authority in their capacity as elected representatives in a democracy”.

“I fervently hope that we keep these principles in mind during our discussions over the next two days, he said.

“The response that we have received in the preparatory stages clearly demonstrates that we have made a start in the process of Sri Lankans Reawakening Sri Lanka. I can categorically state that we have made a start by reawakening at least some of our own professionals out of the total of 36,000 from 38 professional associations who are members of the O.P.A. Cooray said.

Finally let me conclude by saying that the O.P.A. has over the last 10 months made concerted effort in trying to influence the decision making process in the following matters by -

1) We have had discussions with almost all the political parties in trying to assist them in finding solutions to many issues by -

a) Acting as a mediator in trying to reach consensus amongst minor political parties in the appointment of the 10th member of the constitutional council in order to reconstitute the constitutional council under the 17th amendment.

b) Trying to bring about agreement regarding proposed electoral reforms.

c) Encouraging all political parties to participate in the all party conference for peace proposals.

d) Suggesting proposals to reduce Bribery and Corruption.

e) Advice and support the implementation of the official languages act.

“As part of our efforts to improve the professionals image and reputation in the society, we have started a programme to offer Professional advice to the general public through the print media.

We have conducted a question and answer pages in all three languages in the print media namely the Daily News and Dinamina on Thursdays and the Thinakaran on Saturdays.

This serves to answer and give relief to many of the problems faced by the general public in professional aspects. These weekly columns have proved to be very popular judging from the number of questions that come in especially in the Sinhala column,” he said.

I wish the annual session’s outcome to be a set of recommendations which would be professional, objective, detached, responsible, independent and useful to the policy makers and the Country as a whole.”

OPA annual sessions designed to galvanise public - President Elect

President Elect Elmore Perera in a introduction of the theme at the Annuals Sessions said:

“When Ceylon gained Independence in 1948, several racial, linguistic, religious and cultural groups co-existed in amity as truly equal “Ceylonese”. We did not know, nor did we care, what the race, religion or caste of our friends, were. Proceedings in Parliament were dignified, educative and productive.

In-built checks and balances facilitated “Good Governance” of 12 million people by a Cabinet of 12 Ministers together with outstanding public servants who did not hesitate to even disagree with the political authorities when the occasion demanded it.

The Judiciary upheld the Rule of Law and held the scales even, without fear or favour. It was Lee Kuan Yew’s declared aim “to make Singapore another Ceylon.”

A few days ago (on August 24th, to be precise) the same Lee Kuan Yew reflected thus: In 1965, (that’s when they got their independence) we had 20 years of examples of failed states.

So we knew what to avoid - racial conflict, linguistic strife and religious conflict. We saw Ceylon. Thereafter, we knew that if we embarked on any of these romantic ideas, to revive a mythical past of greatness and culture, we’d be damned.”

“When India “achieved” Independence in 1947, after a long and bitter struggle, it immediately established a permanent National Planning commission which has consistently guided whichever party was elected to power. India’s phenomenal growth can largely be attributed to this.

Sri Lanka, on the other hand, had no such permanent commission and the policies adopted were subject to the whims and fancies of successive politicians and, more so, of their supporters. This is a lacuna that needs to be filled with no further delay,” Elmore Perera said.

“The Organisation of Professional Associations (OPA) of Sri Lanka was established in 1975 to, inter alia, fill the void caused by the abolition of the Senate in 1972. The OPA is the apex body representing nearly 40 Professional Associations with a total membership of over 40,000 Professionals islandwide, covering every aspect of Professional expertise from Accountants to Veterinarians.

“The Annual Sessions is the key activity of the OPA in its busy calendar of events, and the preparation for this takes nearly 6 months. This year’s Annual Sessions is of great significance as we are now facing numerous challenges in the Social, Political and Economic affairs of our country.

We Professionals believe that integrated, home grown, long term planning is imperative for the country to move out of its present precarious situation.”

He said: Ever mindful of the words of Whinstone Churchill, “If we were to open a quarrel between the past and the present we shall find that we have lost the future”, the 20th Annual Sessions of the OPA is designed to galvanize (we need galvanizing, sometimes) “Sri Lankans to Reawaken Sri Lanka as Paradise Isle.”

Not to reawaken and go back to sleep but not to rest until Paradise is restored. Seventy seven Committees of Volunteers have been assembled to focus on a comprehensive and mutually consistent framework of policies for every sector of state activity and to determine the goals that should be ideally pursued, by this and future governments.

The policies presented at the Annual Sessions on September 14th, 15th and 16th need to be so compelling that it would be difficult, if not impossible, for our elected representatives to disregard them. After all, they are our elected representatives who are deemed to know that sovereignty is with us and is inalienable.”

“Nearly 300 Professionals of irrefutable expertise, with decades of experience in the local and international arena, have, during the last six months, devoted thousands of hours in Committee to develop a National Plan that is apolitical and will stand the test of analytical scrutiny, in this era of globalisation.

“Most of us are products of the “free education” we have received in this country, and therefore owe it to our country, to avail of, what is perhaps the last opportunity to “Reawaken Sri Lanka as Paradise Isle” and prevent a permanent state of anarchy.

“These Annual Sessions is only the first step. It will only be a prelude to consistent and strenuous efforts to be made by the OPA, with the active support of the Business Community (often described as the engine of growth) - but the engine was not very quick to support this enterprise - Civil Society (justly described as the sleeping giant) because every time this giant wakes up, it is put back to sleep by the Politicians - and, most importantly, the General Public, to restore sanity in governance at all levels.

“The active involvement of the General Public will be crucial to the success of our endeavours,” he said.

It was Charles de Gaulle who stated that - “Politics is too Serious a Matter to be left to the Politicians”, particularly when they are duplicitous like some of our politicians.

No less a person than Albert Einstein stated that, “The world is a dangerous place to live, not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don’t do anything about it.”

Going further, Martin Luther King Jr. stated that “Cowardice asks the question: Is it safe? Expediency asks the question: Is it politic? Vanity asks the question: Is it popular? But conscience asks the question: Is it right? And there comes a time (like the time we are in right now) when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular but one must take it, simply because it is right”.

“Sri Lanka is teeming with Seminarians who religiously do the round of regular seminars. At a very recent seminar two of the Chief Speakers stated, inter alia, that “At the end of the Seminar we will hopefully be more educated on these subjects” and “Managing the Macro Economy is more Art than Science and involves difficult trade-offs. There is no correct answer.”

These are all excuses for doing nothing other than warming those seats at the Seminar and going home with a nicely bound report and so on.

Perhaps referring to an Old People’s Association, which the OPA is often referred to as, Herbert Hoover stated that:

Old men declare war,

But it’s the youth who must fight and die.

“Yes, most, if not all of the Volunteers are Old People. It is not that the Young People are not concerned but most of them are not in a position to face the probable consequences of taking a stand.

However, I wish to assure one and all, that we will not only declare war but we will also fight and die (as we must, some day) in the confidence that we would create environment in which the Young can take the baton from us and build on the foundation that will be laid.

For that, I can do no better than to quote the American Novelist and Poet Josiah Gilbert Holland. It is up there, but it’s not easy for you to read it, so I’ll read it.”

“God, give us men! A time like this demands,

Strong minds, great hearts, true faith and ready hands,

Men whom the lust of office does not kill;

Men whom the spoils of office cannot buy;

Men who possess opinions and a will;

Men who have honour; most important men who will not lie;

Men who can stand before a demagogue and damn his treacherous flatteries without winking!

Tall men, sun-crowned, who live above the fog in public duty and in private thinking;

For while the rabble, with their thumb-worn creeds, their large professions and their little deeds, mingle in selfish strife,

Lo! Freedom weeps,

Wrong rules the land and Justice sleeps!”

Re Justice I am constrained to quote from Mark Antony’s oration over Caesar’s body (Julius Caesar Act III)

“O judgement, thou art fled to brutish beasts,

And men have lost their reason! - bear with me

My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar

And I must pause till it come back to me”

I wish to say that the vote of thanks will be delivered by General Gerry de Silva, but before that I wish to specially mention two persons whom I have known for more than 45 years. One is, of course, General Gerry de Silva himself, who cannot thank himself in his vote of thanks.

I want to say how grateful I am to him because without him and his support I would not have ventured on this ambitious programme. I got his assurance that he would be supporting me in this venture, before I ventured out on this. The other person is a person, without whose support, I may have given up long ago.

That’s none other than General Denis Perera. After my first appeal appeared in the Daily News OPA Page on March 15 it came again in the Daily Mirror of March 20 - with Winston Churchill’s photograph. the very next day, i.e. 21st March, he wrote to me on the subject “OPA Committees relating to Good Governance” and stated “I saw a Newspaper report on March 20, 2007, pertaining to the OPA Organising Committees to study various aspects of the proposals for Good Governance.

“Sri Lanka as Paradise Isle” was the caption. I have been a Government Servant from 1949 to 1981 whilst I was in the Army rising to be its head for 4 years. I also served as Chairman of several Statutory Bodies and Chairman of some large Private Sector Companies. I also served in diplomatic posts for 7 years.

Since the study is to be under the auspices of the OPA, of which I am a member, I would like to serve in some committees, particularly Defence. I have not involved myself in politics throughout my life and I do not intend spoiling that record in my old age. OPA, I know as a professional body and political I hope.”

My letter to him calling for volunteers crossed this letter and on receipt of same immediately the reply came that he volunteered to be Chairman of the Defence Committee.

You will see the product of that Defence Committee it is separately bound. They met at least 30 times and they have done a magnificent job and his ability to get together people who were very knowledgable about what had actually happened and what ought to have happened, was invaluable.

We will be discussing all those papers in the next two days and then polishing them up thereafter. “As I said earlier, we will need the approval and support of the Public because even if what we prepare is a perfectly professional document, if it is not acceptable to the public, the Politicians are not going to waste their time with it”, he said.

OPA exemplifies critical role civil society can play - Guest of Honour

Guest of Honor US Ambassador Robert O’ Blake said: “It is a special pleasure to be able to address an organisation that represents 38 Professional Associations, with a combined membership of over 34,000 professionals; an organization that has as its vision to provide leadership and development of Sri Lanka’s professions; and an organization that is guided by high professional and ethical standards.

The OPA exemplifies the critical and positive role civil society can play in a country’s growth and development. For more than three decades, you have advanced Sri Lanka’s economic, social and development policies by bringing business, civil society, and the general public together to ensure the government is accountable, transparent and efficient.”

I would especially like to commend the OPA on your current anti-corruption initiatives. Your Bribery and Corruption Monitoring Committee and its anti-corruption plan have brought positive attention and greater transparency to a problem that thrives on apathy and opacity.

Indeed I would like to focus my remarks this evening on the importance of good governance to help Sri Lanka reawaken as a paradise isle, the theme of this year’s conference,” he said.

Good Governance

In the words of one of America’s greatest Presidents, Abraham Lincoln, democracy involves Government “of the people, by the people, and for the people.” Good governance provides the mechanism and safeguards for citizens to speak freely and exercise their legal rights.

It should be participatory, transparent and accountable. It respects the rule of law. And good governance promotes equality by giving even the poorest and the most vulnerable a voice in a country’s decision-making process.

Just as a government must provide its people with the freedoms they need to live and prosper, the people must also keep the government accountable to them and behave responsibly as empowered citizens. This is what ensures good governance in a democratic society.”

America’s System of Checks and Balances

As we know, instances of bad governance and corruption affect all countries, including the United States. The American government and its people do not tolerate corruption and have instituted processes and institutions to ensure that our President and the branches of our government are faithfully serving the public.

Our founding fathers, in the U.S. Constitution, foresaw that the three main branches of government - the executive, the legislature, and the judiciary - should have separate responsibilities, yet be able to balance and limit one another’s authority. For example, the president checks the power of Congress with the ability to veto laws that Congress passes.

The Congress limits the power of the President by controlling spending. And the judiciary limits the power of both Congress and the President by determining whether or not laws and executive actions are legal under the Constitution.”

To help Congress exercise its oversight responsibilities over the Executive Branch there is the Government Accountability Office. The GAO audits, evaluates and investigates the use of public funds and related federal programs and activities.

If you were to check the GAO’s web page today, you would see a wide range of reports that are critical of the executive Branch, including: Securing, Stabilizing, and Rebuilding Iraq: Iraqi Government Has Not Met Most Legislative, Security, and Economic Benchmarks Defense Acquisitions: Department of Defense’s Research and Development Budget Requests to Congress Do Not Provide Consistent, Complete and Clear Information.

Another institution that provides an important oversight function is the Offices of Inspector General. Each office is autonomous and acts as a general auditor for a specific government agency or military organization.

OIG officers examine their agencies’ operations to ensure they comply with government policies, including prevention of waste, fraud, and abuse. In my last post in Delhi, an OIG team spent 6 weeks examining all our accounts and management and fortunately for me, gave us good marks or I would not be standing here!

Another check on all senior government officials, including elected officials, is that we must fill out each year a lengthy public disclosure form in which we disclose all our assets and those of our spouses and children, including property, stocks, bank holdings and all gifts above a certain nominal value. Each submission is checked against the previous year to be sure there are no unexplained gains.” he said.

Lastly, we cannot forget how the rights to freedom of speech and press serve as an important check on the government. These rights ensure that if the government takes improper or unpopular actions, the media, individual citizens, and civil advocacy groups can bring the actions to public attention and try to effect change.”

The U.S. has many nonpartisan, nonprofit advocacy organizations that protect our citizens by educating them about their rights, encouraging them to participate in civic life, and mobilizing their support for legislative reforms.

These groups are often referred to as “public watchdogs” and just like the name suggests, these groups stand guard to protect the civil rights and civil liberties of all Americans. They provide a watchful eye and demand that government serve the common good, rather than the special interests of a few.”

Freedom of Information Act

The US Ambassador further said this last issue, freedom of information, is one I would like to highlight briefly. The public right to access government information is vital to holding government accountable.

The public can better assess its government’s performance if it knows how government decisions were made and what the results of those decisions were. Over seventy countries around the world have implemented some form of freedom of information legislation.

“Let me give you one example I witnessed first-hand. In 2005, India established its Right to Information Act. Under this law, government agencies are required to disclose information to a petitioner within 30 days of the request. Since the law went into effect, a number of high profile disclosures revealed corruption in various government schemes.

A draft Right to Information Law is largely prepared and ready to be voted on in Sri Lanka’s Parliament, but successive governments have lacked the political will to move it forward. Parliamentary passage of this important legislation would mark an important milestone in Sri Lanka’s efforts to increase accountability and reduce graft.”

Ensuring Good Governance in Sri Lanka

“Indeed, poll after poll shows that corruption and the absence of good governance have become major public issues in Sri Lanka. This is a tribute to the efforts of groups such as OPA and institutions such as the Committee on Public Enterprises to highlight the problems.

But it is also an indictment of Sri Lanka’s own system of checks and balances. Many of my Sri Lankan friends attribute that failure to a combination of the following factors:”

* First, the growing concentration of power over the last 20 years in the hands of the President, a trend that the current All Parties Representative Committee is seeking to address;

* Second, the failure of Sri Lanka’s Parliament to act as a check on the executive branch by, for example, developing a system of committees or other bodies that could effectively oversee the budgets and activities of the executive branch; and

* Third, the failure of the judiciary, with certain notable recent exceptions, to challenge the actions of the executive.

Let me say a special word about corruption. Corruption slows down economic development and reform, impedes the ability of developing countries to attract foreign investment, hinders the growth of democratic institutions, and concentrates power in the hands of a few.”

“With significant assistance from the OPA, Sri Lanka has taken several important steps in the fight against corruption. It has enacted a bribery and corruption law and established a Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption.

It has also enacted an Assets and Liabilities Declaration Law, put in place a law to control money laundering, and signed the U.N. Convention Against Corruption. You should be proud that many of these initiatives are a result of OPA’s tireless efforts.”

U.S. Assistance

“There is, however, much more to be done to combat official corruption in Sri Lanka. For the past 18 months, the U.S. and Sri Lanka have been working together to develop strategies to fight corruption.

For example, the U.S. Agency for International Development undertook a $2.3 million Anti-Corruption Program, or ACP, in Sri Lanka as part of its $135 million tsunami recovery and reconstruction program, on the island.

The ACP provided technical support to the Sri Lankan Government to enable them to begin to identify corruption and to develop a national action plan to address it, thereby providing broader benefits to the country beyond the tsunami reconstruction program itself.

In July, USAID together with Sri Lanka’s Auditor General’s Department and the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption, presented Sri Lanka’s first National Anti-Corruption Action Plan, which aims to mobilize citizens to combat corrupt practices and to promote principles of integrity.

A Consultative Council, with participation from OPA members, was established to provide a forum for discussion and coordination among interested individuals and organizations.

The ACP conducted more than 1,000 workshops, meetings, and seminars throughout the country involving more than 3,000 citizens of all ages and ethnic groups, producing a document that represents the views and hopes of a broad range of Sri Lankans.”

“As the OPA’s efforts show, the fight against corruption is a challenge that requires sustained, committed involvement by all elements of society: government, civil society, business, and media, as well as individual citizens who are prepared to take risks, challenge the status quo, and stand up for what is right.

I congratulate OPA for its hard work and dedication, and I applaud each of you for accepting the responsibility of maintaining and promoting the integrity of your democratic government,” he said.