President’s second term in office:

New era begins

Disna MUDALIGE

The inauguration of President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s second term is a historical landmark specially after the complete eradication of LTTE terrorism due to the clear political leadership.

The country’s next goal is to achieve ‘the miracle of Asia’. Media and Communication Minister Keheliya Rambukwella spoke to the Daily News

Q: The country acquired significant achievements during past five years tenure of the President. At this historical landmark of the inauguration of the President’s second term of office how would you look back at our nation’s achievements under his leadership?

Minister Keheliya Rambukwella

A: First we have to realize why the inauguration of the President’s second term of office becomes an historical episode. Swearing in ceremonies of Presidents were held in the country before. Therefore how does this event become special? Even though the country got independence from the colonial rule in 1948, people could not enjoy that freedom in reality. The main drawback of the country was the ethnic conflict which transformed to terrorism at the end of 1970s. This was an unsolved crisis which bounced up at different periods such as 1952 and 1956. This was perceived as a simple puzzle by then political leaderships in the country. Then at the beginning of 1980 it reached its climax and after 1983 it was an internationally concerned challenge.

The world eye was directed towards this problem. Many leaders in the past approached this crisis in both peaceful and military means. People were disappointed when all these attempts proved to be futile at the end. The country could not foresee its future and was highly miserable. Ultimately in 2005, most of the key economic and social sites were endangered and the country was named as ‘a failed state’. It is at this critical stage that President Mahinda Rajapaksa took the responsibility to govern the country.

During the initial period of his tenure many ridiculed him saying that he does not know how to deal with the world. They pointed us as frogs in well and claimed that the country would isolate. Because of the colonial mentality some thought that we must seek the advice and help of those countries all the time. When a new Government was appointed in 2002, the idea was that we must work according to the safety net imposed to us by the international community. Vitally, the majority of people in the country had formed their mentality to accept the fact that this is our life and this cannot be changed. Many sent their children overseas. The notions that ‘this is our Motherland’ and ‘we are Sri Lankan’ were deteriorating among us.

Eventually even the religious leaders said that we should give way by offering the terrorists whatever they demand. Our country which inherits a great history was collapsed to a powerless and daft position. The present leadership could completely reverse this situation.

This is one reason why we consider the inauguration of the President’s second term of office as a historic event. But unfortunately many have already forgotten the position where we were sometime back. Blasts could be experienced in economical strategic places as well as numerous junctions.

The President clearly identified the problem and acted with enormous determination to grant freedom to his countrymen and to eliminate terrorism. Various criticisms were directed at this point. We brought about an attitudinal change to modify the colonial mentality of the people.

The idea that ‘we are a sovereign nation and we must enjoy the freedom’ was created. At the same time we enlightened our people that we must take decisions on behalf of the country. When talking about political solutions the President always stressed that those should be indigenous and home grown solutions.

This President did not allow any other country to point its finger and order us to follow their policies in order to receive aids and funds. He believed in the three forces and citizens of our country.

As a result of this faith he could regain the lost spirit of our nation. The foremost duty he fulfilled within the past five years was to eradicate terrorism completely from the country while putting an end to the misery and havoc it caused.

Q: After the eradication of terrorism how is the progress in the country?

A: I take this opportunity to thank the people in this country. They offered him a massive blessing for the enormous work he did. If we analyze Presidential Election results in the past we can see that there had been a drastic decline in the percentage of preferential votes when contesting for the second time. Contradictorily, President Mahinda Rajapaksa recorded a historical conquest by obtaining over 1.8 million votes from the second Presidential Election he faced. This was another historical landmark of the country.

He also initiated massive power supply projects to pave way for economic development. If projects such as Norochchole and Kotmale was not implemented the country would have been in dark today. He could revive the agricultural and irrigational culture which is the base of the country. He could promote local economy while ending the season which sold the local properties under the World Bank, IMF or Asian Bank domination. We could place the country in the world map with a good ranking and thereby earn international recognition. We could stand by our own feet as an independent sovereign state.

Many previous leaders also saw that thousands ships passing Hambantota annually, but there was foreign pressure to hinder the launching of this project. Surpassing all these barriers, the first ship will reach Hambantota Port on 18th of this month. All these contributed towards a historical phase in the country.

The background necessary to reach our target to be ‘the miracle of Asia’ has been generated now in the country. Therefore after 19th I believe that we start a new journey under a new Government with a clear target, faith and determination to regain what we lost and could not gain in the past 30 years of time. The President’s inauguration of second term of office is connected to the commencement of a new era.

Q: What are the challenges before the country with the commencement of the President’s second term of office?

A: The challenge of terrorism belongs to the past. The benefits we gained by destroying it should reach the general public. It is a challenge that we have at present and we have to cope with it. The country has an economic growth rate of 7.8 percent. The per capita income which was USD 1056 for a period of 60 years has now increased to USD 2100. We have an aim to double this amount by 2015. Irrigational based agricultural system which is the foundation of the country has now been revived at a large-scale. We have been able to convert agriculture as a profitable occupation and to upgrade the lives of farmers.

We not only adhered to the policy not to give way for privatization, but we could also buy Shell Gas Company to the Government which was the first privatized institution. This signals the initial step of a new journey. We have determined to safeguard the remaining public property while procuring more. We cannot belittle the challenges before us. Other Asian countries such as Singapore, China, India, Vietnam and Malaysia have gone a long way surpassing us. We have a visual picture of the country we dream to establish. Assuming the responsibility to reach these targets as the governors of the country, we hope to start a new journey with the President’s second term of office. The present leadership with his vision has given us enormous self confidence to face the challenges. We declare this era as a transition period from the mentality of ‘impossible’ to ‘possible’.

Q: What are the Government’s plans to improve the spiritual development and social discipline in the country?

A: The destruction which could not be done through war can be brought in another angle. One example is narcotics which can demolish a society without being noticed. Already we have identified the menace and given necessary directives to combat with it. Sometime back the underworld was reigning the country. Massive operations are being conducted in this regard now. Various maneuvers are followed to ensure law and order and peace in the country. In the education sector, we do not allow a small group in universities to disturb the whole university system to carry forward an ideology which has been rejected by the society. In broader politics their power is weakening and they are out of slogans today. They cannot talk about patriotism or dedication towards Motherland and religion because it is the President who penetrates these qualities more than any other leader. We recognize students’ rights and revolts and allow them.

Q: Still some foreign actors and agents including international media channels are trying to tarnish the image of the country through false propaganda. What is your opinion regarding this issue?

A: We also obtained a great deal of experience regarding these matters during past few years. If there is a UN conference or meeting some unreal incident occurs in the country two days prior to that. The situation was same when nearing the International Mass Media Day or any other important International conference. Luckily, the people in the country have now understood this pattern clearly and I request all not to be deceived by these conspiracies.

We taught a lesson to the whole world by eliminating terrorism which was thought to be impossible. We even added a humanitarian aspect into it. Now many of the IDPs have returned to their homes and various programs to revive the broken hearts are now progressing. This is not an easy task and consumes time. Economic development is also necessary for this mission. Independence becomes meaningful only when it encompasses social and economic aspects too.

The world has not yet given up their effort. I clearly proved that what was shown in Al Jazira channel was baseless and incorrect. We also challenged it to prove their facts, but they have not accepted it until now.

They have made three such films but when we proved that the very first film was bogus and not scientific they did not broadcast the remaining. What they are showing now are the parts of them. I regret this conduct of an internationally recognized channel. I see it as an attempt by the remaining LTTE supporters to recover their diminishing power. We have the necessary wisdom, capability and experience to face this kind of challenges with the guidance of the country’s leadership.