Leadership and President Rajapaksa

Premasara EPASINGHE

A greatness of a man is judged by the powerful and pervasive influence he exercises for the good of his generation and by the certainty of his influence on the generations yet unborn. Such people are National Leaders. To achieve this feat they must be blessed with Leadership qualities.

Leadership is one of the most enduring human responsibilities. Leaders must take their ability to craft a vision, inspire action and empower others. We must have Leaders who are credible. If you don't believe in the 'Messenger' you won't believe in the 'Message'.

Demand Leaders

The first milestone on the journey to leadership not only we demand Leaders to be credible, but also, they be forward looking and they have a sense of direction and a vision for the future. Visions are possibilities for desired futures. If you study leadership in depth you would see that the first and key principle of Leadership is that it is a relationship between a Leader and a follower. Without a follower there is no one to lead. In short, as Bill Bradley, the Democratic senator, Presidential contender and great basketball player stated, "Leadership is unlocking people's potential to become better".

Modern history

I consider, President Mahinda Rajapaksa as an epitome of a good leader. He occupies, unquestionably, a very important place as a great leader in the modern history of Sri Lanka for ending the scourge of terrorism in the country, freeing our North and Eastern brethren from the yoke of a maniacal terrorist-Prabarkaran and restoring democracy to all parts of the country. President Rajapaksa's contribution will be even more appreciated by those unborn generations who would have benefited from the heroic act, beyond what our present generation can see or understand in the short time that has passed since the ending of the war against terrorism.

Ethnocentric politics

Hailing from a village background- Madamulana in Giruwapathuwa in Hambantota District, he knew the pulse of the rural folks, he moved with them, stood with them, and understood them better than most leaders. Some would say that earlier leaders used the rural folks to come into power and forsook them by embracing ethnocentric politics that led to many problems that the country faced in the later years. No one can accuse President Rajapaksa on that score. He has not only distanced himself from such politics, he championed minority rights both in this country and abroad. No former President had taken the effort to learn our second national tongue-Tamil. That speaks volumes to his commitment to all citizens of this country.

He is a lawyer by profession. But he never forgot his roots. He is a man who could move with the ordinary men as well as the kings as Kipling had cast in the poem "If". With his charismatic, pleasant, charming, personality he communicates with the peoples in a way which can be described in one word. It is simply 'magic'. A man with a golden heart he possesses golden qualities that make a great leader.

Political career

In his political career spanning nearly four decades he gained much experience, first as a Member of Parliament, Elected in 1970 from Beliatta a mere youth of 26 years, bubbling with enthusiasm. He later became a Minister, the Leader of the Opposition, Prime Minister and President. His political career was not a bed of roses; he had to fight his way to become a leader. But it was never and unfair or dirty fight. He placed principle and party before personal aggrandizement. He achieved these milestones as he possesses the ability to influence people. To be able to achieve these heights in a democratic open society like ours, a leader should possess honesty, and integrity. He must be genuine in his course of action. President Rajapaksa is blessed with all these qualities.

Political convenience

The greatest achievement of this Leader was the unification of Sri Lanka after defeating "Bloody Terrorism" in the country. It was his dream and vision. He did not get into it haphazardly but took measured and definite steps to achieve this goal. He did not offer our Tamil brethren to a dictator just to keep peace in the South. He knew that it was totally unacceptable to offer a part of our population to a maniacal undemocratic dictator for political convenience. Unfortunately many political leaders before him did precisely that. President Rajapaksa is a brave and a courageous leader. I presume no Leader other than Rajapaksa had the guts and courage to jettison Wickremesinghe - Prabhakaran Pact or C.F.A, where the land in North and East was directly handed over to "Prabhakaran and company" on a platter. The terrorist leader had taken the earlier Presidents for a ride. They had offered Prabhakaran unfretted "rule in the North and the East". Many so-called experts on external affairs said that this division of the country was a "fiat accompli". To the contrary, President Rajapaksa through enormous dedication and unflinching commitment as the Commander in Chief achieved his vision of freeing a part of our population from the maniacal dictator, with the help of all the defence forces.

President Rajapaksa stood firm and tall. He never bowed down to local and foreign reactionaries. Like a great statesman who saved the Commonwealth and Great Britain, Sir Winston Churchill, this Great Leader President Rajapaksa ordered his Commanders of his defence forces to fight.

Team work

Rajapaksa motivated the Forces like Churchill and motivated them to fight in the Land, Sea and Air. He knew that prior, preparation would prevent poor performance that characterized the past. Therefore he motivated all his defence leaders strongly but without a song and dance about it to be ready for the eventuality. Through the advice of dynamic Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, he provided all facilities and prepared the groundwork and the infrastructure to eradicate Terrorism. He was a team leader. Success was due to Team work. The battle against Terrorism was not fought by "One Individual". The entire defence force should be highly complimented to this achievement. We honour them.

Various promises

President Rajapaksa through his leadership desisted foreign parties in the pay of the LTTE to end the campaign to wipe out terrorism. Many such leaders sent their emissaries with various promises to go back to the status quo of a divided Sri Lanka. All these attempts failed because of President Rajapaksa's fortitude and his ability to say no without rancour and with great diplomatic skill. At the same time, he secured the support of many leading powers to help against terrorism as it had manifested in Sri Lanka for thirty years while in the US, UK and Europe it was a rather new phenomenon. Thus due to President Rajapaksa's leadership, the country got help from many sources who do not usually work together. To name a few, these included India, Pakistan, US, China and several others. It was in this sense a rare configuration of forces that provided the cover for our defence forces to secure a convincing victory over the LTTE.

I am certain that the grateful people of this country who appreciate the unification of Sri Lanka after 30 years will ever remember Mahinda Rajapaksa not only as the President of Sri Lanka but also as a great national hero. His name will be written in gold in annals of Sri Lankan history.