'Commonwealth support for SL's peace building'

Athapattu Bandara

Sri Lanka can receive the support of the Commonwealth in its reconciliation and peace building process as many leaders of the Commonwealth countries have first hand experience in rebuilding a post war country, Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Executive Committee chairman and British Parliamentarian Sir. Alan Haselhurst said.

He was delivering the Lakshman Kadirgamar Memorial lecture 2012 at Sri Lanka Foundation Institute yesterday amid a large gathering which included foreign delegations.

The Lakshman Kadirgamar Memorial Oration was organized by the Management Board of the Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute for International Relations and Strategic Studies (LKIIRSS). LKIIRS chairman Suganthie Kadirgamar and External Affairs Minister G.L. Peiris also participated.

Hasslhurst thanked them for inviting him to make the memorial lecture of late Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar who was a long time friends his during their Oxford University days.

"When Lakshman became the President of the Oxford Union, I knew I was truly associating a memorable man". "He had an aspiring future and he was a good cricketer too at the University. Both of us were interested in Cricket and unlike Luxman I was not good at cricket, he said.

"Many countries in the world are going through turbulent periods. Sri Lanka also experienced agony due a protracted war. Unfortunately, Lakshman Kadirgamar who was instrumental in the reconciliation and accountability process of Sri Lanka is not among us today to witness post war Sri Lanka, he explained. "But Sri Lanka will succeeed in its tasks", he said.

"Lakshman Kadirgamar worked hard for the country's progress and development," he said.

"Parliament is the bridge from government to government", he added.

"The recommendations of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) and a welcome approach for the reconciliation process in Sri Lanka, he said.

"Good governance is the key to everything in any country. Absence of corruption, universal franchise, free and fair elections, freedom of speech, absence of fear and suspicion should be included in good governance," he said.