Laudable goals
President Mahinda Rajapaksa addressing the nation from
the hill capital Kandy last Thursday set out three tasks to be
accomplished during the next term of his office. They are
uniting hearts of people of all communities, fast track
development to the status of a developed nation and opening a
new era in international relations.
These are all inter-related tasks with the accomplishment of
one feeding the other. He united the territory of the country by
defeating terrorism that plagued it for nearly three decades.
Uniting the hearts or establishing durable peace that would
erase all ill feelings and ill will among different communities
naturally takes priority. It is a huge challenge which has to be
met not just by the President or by politicians alone. It is a
task for all people inhabiting Sri Lanka. It is not possible
without the dedication, understanding and commitment by all. In
order to bring the estranged communities together many
initiatives of bridge-building at various levels are required.
Here artistes, the academia, the professionals and the business
community have a vital role to play. The Government has taken
the initiative in this regard beginning with the rehabilitation
and resettlement of the internally displaced, the easing of
restrictions guaranteeing freedom of movement and livelihood for
the people hitherto confined to certain areas on account of
security considerations etc.
President Rajapaksa has pledged to put forward a blueprint of
a solution of the National Question for discussion to arrive at
the widest possible consensus. We hope the process would begin
in earnest after the conclusion of the forthcoming general
election and the swearing in of the new Government.
The next task President outlined in Kandy was economic
development. He stressed the need to go fast forward to a
developed country status. He said funds hitherto used for the
war could be channeled for economic development, the basis for
which has already been laid despite the war. This is not a mere
dream but a realizable dream. Sri Lanka already has a per capita
GDP of over US $ 2000. The target is to double it in the next
four to five years. If correct economic and fiscal policies are
followed we could attain a growth rate exceeding eight to 10
percent annually.
To quote the President, he said: "An efficient, advanced
nation needs to be built to replace a country which is lazy,
lethargic and lacks energy?. This calls for more dedication,
commitment and discipline from all. It also calls for an end to
wastage and corruption. It demands a higher productivity of
labour which in turn calls for more resources for the
development of human resources and R & D. Incidentally, how much
would the country develop if all employees in public and private
institutions put in an honest eight hours of labour.
Finally, the President said that Sri Lanka is entering a
golden age of foreign relations. The basis for his optimism was
the fact that the separatist war has ended and the LTTE which
spearheaded the separatist campaign has been definitively
beaten. It is true that during the period of the war and
especially during its last stages of relations with certain
friendly countries were strained. However, Sri Lanka continued
to engage these countries and did its best to explain the true
position with regard to the situation in the country. Already we
see signs of a thaw where earlier it was not so smooth.
Unfortunately certain internal forces too were in collusion with
the misguided elements abroad to campaign against the country in
the international media and elsewhere. The people have now given
a fitting rebuff to all these detractors and those individuals,
organizations and even countries that were misled could now
realize the baseless nature of the allegations they were making.
Sri Lankan foreign policy is truly non-aligned. That does not
mean it is sitting on the fence on international issues. It only
means that it is pursuing an independent foreign policy dictated
by the national interest without being servile to or influenced
by outside forces.
Sri Lanka's friendship with one country is never at the
expense of another for she is friendly with all countries.
However, our relations with our Asian neighbours occupy a
special place due to historical economic, political and cultural
links with them through centuries. |