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Friday, 19 November 2010

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Aurora: Daily News supplement on the occasion of the inauguration of President Mahinda Rajapaksa's Second Term of Office | www.dailynews.lk

Mahinda Era:

New chapter begins

President Mahinda Rajapaksa embarks on a new journey today carrying with him the destiny of the nation into a new era of peace and development.

There is fresh hope among all patriotic Sri Lankans that the second term of the President would usher in the long awaited prosperity for which the country always had the potential but was thwarted due to fracturous politics and a protracted civil war.

The second term of a Presidency is usually fraught with much expectations. While the first term gives a President some leeway to consolidate his power and chart out his future plans for the country, a second term is the time to deliver and deliver in full.

The anticipation of the people is that President Rajapaksa who is no longer being hamstrung by a civil war and with virtually no political challenge would exercise the full scope of his mandate to make the country realize its true potential.

The next six years of his Presidential term is certainly going to be a decisive one for Sri Lanka which is poised to enter the next decade from the threshold of a new era of independence with the defeat terrorism and all sinister destructive forces arrayed against the country and its sovereignty.

Therefore expectations are riding high that the country will turn the corner somewhere during this period of his second term putting it on course to breach new frontiers while making Sri Lanka a key player among the international community.

Hence all eyes will be on Sri Lanka to see how it will charter its destiny in the new found climate of peace after the end to three decades of war. It will be a test of character no less of the President to deliver on these expectations.

Never has so much being asked from a Sri Lankan leader as President Mahinda Rajapaksa enters his second term anointed as the helmsman by an overwhelming public mandate to steer the ship of State from the trouble waters and bring it to tranquil harbours.

He has already laid the foundation for a resurgent Sri Lanka going into the next decade. The economy has bounced back after years of debilitation. Damaged infrastructure is being rebuilt and new infrastructure laid all over the country.

President Rajapaksa has initiated IT and English language programs to get the country moving with the rest of world, Ports and Airports are being built and the tourists industry is gradually awakening to realize its true potential.

With the President’s 10-year Road Map to Development plan dovetailing into his second term there is renewed hope that his vision for a prosperous nation could well be a reality.

In Sri Lanka’s experience the second term of a President has seen the country sliding in its performance on all fronts.


Strengthening international relations

This is mainly due to the fact that a President in his second has nothing to lose and is liable to act irresponsibly.

However President Rajapaksa now having got over the Constitutional bar limiting a Presidency to only two terms has a lot riding this time around and the country can be assured that he would make a genuine bid to see the country not only achieve its development objectives but the cherished goals of peace and reconciliation making Sri Lanka the ideal nation to be emulated by others.

Of course for a country just emerging out of the ashes of war it would not be plain sailing. Much effort and sacrifice will be needed to make this dream a reality. There could also be many snares and pitfalls on the way.

There are still many forces arrayed against the country who would thwart and impede its efforts to move forward.

Therefore it would need the courage and determination of all Sri Lankans to ensure the road is smooth for the President to traverse on his visionary journey.He can be assured of this support from a nation that has given him a ringing endorsement for a second term.

President Rajapaksa no doubt would use this second term to build and consolidate on his numerous conquests. He will be mindful that he is carrying the legacy of a leader who ushered in true independence to the nation.

His task will therefore be all that more onerous given the high expectation reposed in him by an adoring public in whose eyes he is a saviour and liberator. President Rajapaksa knows the pedestal to which he has been elevated and will be eager to deliver in his second term.

At this moment of marking President Rajapaksa’s second term inauguration, it is only appropriate to dwell on his single contribution to the nation that of eliminating the scourge of terrorism from its soil. It is this singular feat that brought him such overwhelming public adulation and reverence.

Had he not taken the decisive steps needed, had he cringed before the mounting international pressure the problem would have still very much be in our domain. This courage and single minded purpose of achieving his objective is a quality reflected in his determination to achieve the goals set in his sights.

For example he overcame all opposition to the construction of the Norachcholai coal power plant and got the project underway whereas previous Governments succumbed to pressure of various environmental lobbyists and the Catholic church. Today the project is nearing completion with the country standing to benefit immensely.

With his overwhelming mandate behind him and restrictions on Presidential terms removed, President Mahinda Rajapaksa can only go from strength to strength to reap the bounty of the peace achieved to charter a new course for the country that would see it emerge as a fully fledged nation in all its pomp and glory.

The son from Giruwapaththu who mingled with the common man, raising a voice against the voiceless ,always in the forefront of agitation for justice in a 40-year long political journey will today embark on yet another phase of that journey that is bound to decide the destiny of the nation.

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