‘Nothing to sweep under carpet’ - Part IV:

The importance of putting the past behind

External Affairs Minister Prof. G. L. Peiris replies to recent TNA adjournment motion in Parliament

On the question of accountability, I will quote this one sentence, Hon. Sampanthan, from the Report of Lord Naseby which says, “There is a danger that persistent emphasis on accountability from outside may well jeopardize the larger goal of true reconciliation”. We are not saying that we shut our eyes to accountability.

There is a way of handling it. But, we do believe that infrastructure development and the upliftment of the economic conditions of the people of the North are essential ingredients of a viable reconciliation process. They are absolutely necessary. They alone will not suffice. But, no reconciliation process succeeded anywhere in the world at any time in history unless the material needs of the people were sufficiently addressed.

On the political solution, it was a long catalogue of errors attributed to other people and an attempt, an unabashed attempt, to vindicate oneself in all respects. I would ask in all humility the Hon. Sampanthan whose sagacity, age and experience I genuinely respect, not to dwell on the past.

You know yourself that the amendments that you wanted to the Terms of Reference, government agreed to and then the government is ready to start this process.

So, without complaining about everything that has happened in the past and without imputing blame to everybody except oneself, let us make a fresh start.

In life, you have to do that sometimes. You have to put the past behind you. That is baggage. Let us forget about it.

A fresh dawn, a new opportunity filled with hope for the future, let us seize that with both hands and let us move forward. The government of Sri Lanka is only too happy to reach out to you.

Come in; do come in. We are not asking you to agree with us. We are not asking you to adopt any particular point of view.

Come in; say your piece without fear or favour. But, do come in because we want it to be an inclusive process, not a top-down process, where we decide what we think is in the interest of the nation.

Before I conclude, I want to make this point with emphasis.

The Hon. Sampanthan’s Adjournment Motion which consists of three pages opens with a quotation from the Joint Statement by His Excellency President Mahinda Rajapaksa and His Excellency Ban Ki-Moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations on May 23, 2009.

He quoted sections of it. I want to tell this House categorically that at no time did President Rajapaksa, in any manner whatsoever, agree to any form of international intervention in this country. There is a reference to accountability.

There is a reference to Sri Lanka’s obligations at international law and humanitarian law, but at all times, we will assert the primacy and the indispensability; of local processes which are the only way to arrive at a solution to this question.

Mr. Deputy Chairman of Committees, I thank you for your indulgence. On behalf of the Government, I wish to say that we are certainly prepared to accept the position that inclusivity is essential. No solution is going to survive unless it has the spontaneous backing of all the people who inhabit this island.

The Hon. Sampanthan, I think, has a major responsibility at this time if he looks back on his whole political career. I say with genuine respect and with responsibility that here is a golden moment which he should not let slip through his fingers.

He owes it to his people to do that. Let us rise above elections in the Eastern Province or elections anywhere else in the country because what is at stake is of far greater importance.

Instead of resorting to the blame game and finding scapegoats for all kinds of situations which have arisen in the past, let us in a spirit of freshness serve our people.

Come into the process; work with us. If you do not like what we say, if you disagree with us, certainly express your dissent in no uncertain terms, but do not deny yourselves the opportunity of participating in that process by excluding yourselves at the threshold.

With those words, Mr. Deputy Chairman of Committees, I thank you for the opportunity that you have given me to respond to the observations that were made by my Friend, the Hon. R. Sampanthan, in proposing his Adjournment Motion to this House.

Concluded