A plea for moderation

Maiden speech given by Prof Rajiva Wijesinha MP during the Emergency Debate in Parliament on May 5, 2010

I should begin by thanking you and the party I represent for giving me this opportunity to speak here today. Many years ago, as a child, I used to attend debates in Parliament, and marvel at the learning and commitment of our Members of Parliament. That was in the old Chamber, which was a place of great dignity. I must admit to having felt some sorrow when I first attended a debate in this Chamber, sadly the debate in which I think I saw Parliament at its worst. It was the occasion in which Ms Bandaranaike’s Civic Rights were taken away, and I thought then that my youthful dreams of being a Member of Parliament were misplaced. It seemed to me then that the excessive grandeur of this Chamber went hand in hand with a reduction of the actual dignity of Parliament, and the situation seemed to get much worse when that Parliament ensured its own extension without permitting a General Election.

I am grateful therefore to the President and the government that guided us over the last four years to overcome the legacy of authoritarianism and terror that has oppressed this country since the early eighties. I hope, that under your guidance this Parliament too will be able to herald a return to the dignity and sense of responsibility of earlier Parliaments.

Extreme views

I am addressing the House in English for a variety of reasons. One is the point made by my learned friend External Affairs Minister that the Emergency is a topic of interest in other countries too. But, more important is that through debate, one of the main functions of Parliament, I hope to convince Parliamentarians who are not familiar with Sinhala that they should indeed support this motion to extend the Emergency under revised conditions, or at least not oppose it.

I address myself particularly to those Members from the Jaffna District who spoke yesterday in Tamil, and suggested what I believe are extreme views in the current context. One of them indeed talked of a war victory of Sinhalese over Tamils, which is nonsense. The government, aided by loyal public servants and servicemen and a general public tired of terror, registered a victory for Sri Lankans over terrorism, and it is on that basis, that we need to move forward.

In that respect, today’s motion represents compromise, which I hope will lead to consensus. As a Liberal, as a representative of a government committed to the middle path laid down by the Founder of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party.

I am pleased to support this motion. As you are aware, we have to steer between extremes at this stage. On the one hand, there are those who say there is no danger, and therefore no need of special security precautions.

On the other hand, there are those who say this government is too lax, it should have recruited 100,000 more soldiers to the Army, it should not have begun releasing the displaced without more stringent security checks.

Political system

Indeed, it is a peculiarity of the Sri Lankan political system that we have in our midst individuals who have enunciated both these viewpoints, not quite simultaneously, but without any explanation for their change of mind.

The conclusion is inescapable that we have to deal with individuals who will say anything for political purposes.

I do not have time to address the concerns of those who think we are being too lax, since I believe most rational people will realize that the security situation is much better than it was a year ago. However security is the primary duty of government, some Liberals - though we do not belong to that tradition in Asia - would say the only duty of government, though encompassing not only physical security but also financial security and legal security.

To these obviously in our context we must add social security and food security and also energy and environmental security.

But, things being better, the regulations have been relaxed, I do not need to go into this in detail since the External Affairs Minister has described the changes, but I should note that I am shocked that no member of the Opposition has bothered to consider the changes. I was surprised that one distinguished member complained that he did not known what they were, when they were staring him in the face. The fact is that, in changing requirements as to publications, as to periods of arrest, as to requirements for registration, and many others, the government is making it clear that its aim is to restore normalcy as soon as possible, but without derogating from its primary responsibility to all our citizens.

In this respect, I would urge members of the former TNA, rid as they how are of pressures from terrorists, to look at this proposal in a fresh light. If they vote against this, they are suggesting, as they have done before, that they will not meet people moving half way, they want everything. We have heard of the boy who cried wolf when there was no danger, but Sri Lanka must be the only country where the boys persisted in saying 'No wolf, no wolf,' when the Tiger was howling at the door. Now, they must realize that, though the Tiger is no longer there, they must help us to ensure that it does not return in another form, so that they, like us, can continue to enjoy the fruits of democracy.

I would urge them therefore at least to abstain on this occasion, to make it clear that they would like to move forward together with us. I was horrified that one member of Jaffna, with a display of the racism that has done so much to prevent progress in this country, urged all Tamil speaking members to vote against this motion. That shows a continuing failure to understand the courage and objectivity of those Tamils and Muslims who have stood up for the rights of all our people, but not only those of their own kind, in struggling against terrorism.

I hope therefore that all such members, instead of playing politics, will register now the efforts this government is making to move us all forward, and will refrain from partisan politics in the vote today. In this context, I would like to congratulate the National List MP from the TNA for a studied moderate speech that did much to make up for the extreme partisan criticism of his colleagues.

I take his point that there is further to go, and I hope he and his party will join with government to enable us to make the journey together. That would immeasurably be facilitated by a recognition that we have started on that journey, with today's relaxation of some regulations, and in that respect I would urge a positive view of the motion before us today.