Military victories can provide room for political solutions - FM

The Government believes that military victories can provide the space for political and economic solutions to be found and without* military power the result can be more bloodshed, Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama said in London yesterday.

Delivering a lecture at the Carlton Club, Minister Bogollagama cited the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka as an example for this principle in action.

"Our Armed Forces carried out a military operation which cleared parts of the Eastern province which had been infiltrated by the LTTE. In these areas they had conscripted children, unfairly taxed the people and unleashed untold violence and misery.

Their objective was to subjugate the other communities with the barrel of the gun. Following targeted military action by our security forces, today the eastern province has been completely cleared of the LTTE. *As a result, between March & May this year we have been able to hold local government and provincial council elections in areas where there had been no elections for over 14 years when they were under de-facto LTTE control."

He said: "One of the most significant aspects of this election was that a breakaway faction of the LTTE decided to renounce the path of violence, register as a political party called the TMVP and contest the elections in coalition with the UPFA, they secured the majority i.e 52.21% of the vote in the Eastern province (obtaining 20 seats in the provincial council).

The significant aspect of this was that due to the coalition arrangement, they campaigned for support among all the communities and received a mandate from a cross-section of the people in the province drawn from all communities.

There was a voter turnout of over 65.2%. These elections were monitored by local and foreign observers and their conclusion was that the election was by and large free and fair.

Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan who has now become the Chief Minister of the Eastern province of our country previously played an active role in the LTTE. He and his members have renounced violence and entered the democratic process. As leader of the party that secured the majority of the votes he was appointed as Chief Minister.

However he has agreed to work together peacefully with all the communities including opposition groups. This indeed is a huge victory for democracy over terrorism but it is a very hard won victory and it must be sustained for the betterment of the people.

Our patience and determination to rid our country of the scourge of terrorism and restore democracy must be correctly understood. It's endorsement by the people at the elections is the best indicator. We have now launched a massive development drive in the Eastern province.

We are encouraging investors to go into the east because we have to ensure a peace dividend to the long suffering people in these parts. We are confident that the government's 'Re-awakening of the east' programme will truly result in a transformation, for the betterment of the people who live in that province.

The government is equally determined to clear areas of the Northern Province still in the clutches of the LTTE and to restore democracy and bring about rapid economic development in these areas too."

(Full speech will be published tomorrow)