Invaluable opportunity to be
non-partisan
The
appointment of the UPFA's M.N. Abdul Majeed to the position of
Chief Minister of the Eastern Provincial Council, ends prolonged
and tense speculation as to who would be at the helm of the
Council and which party would spearhead the provincial
administration. The UPFA is a multi-communal political formation
and the support pledged by the SLMC to the provincial
administration adds to and enhances its broad-based character.
A duty is now cast on the UPFA-led provincial administration
to prove that it is above petty communal and religious
considerations. In fact, the opportunity is at hand for the
establishment of a model administration which would serve every
community in the region on the basis of equality and
non-discrimination. We hope this challenge would be successfully
met.
It was entirely in order for President Mahinda Rajapaksa to
call on the Chief Minister and his incoming ministerial team to
be guided always by the consideration that even-handed service
to the people is a prime requirement. Besides, adhering to the
highest tenets of justice, the PC administration should prove
capable of mobilizing the communities of the province to work as
one man towards the common good, the President stressed.
These are some valuable guidelines for the PC, which, we
hope, would be stringently adhered to. Rather than think in
divisive terms, and nurture grievances against each other, those
political formations which were in the election fray would do
well, from now on, to put divisions and differences behind them
and work in unity towards the general good of the Eastern
public. Those in power would be obliged to co-opt all sections
of the Eastern polity into the socio-economic development drive
in the East. The language of unity and fraternity is an
essential tool in this momentous exercise.
It could not be emphasized enough that it is a sense of
magnanimity and empathy which would be the key to reconciliation
and fraternity in the East. Hopefully, there would not be a
'winners' and 'losers' division. Those in the highest seats of
office should devise ways of winning the cooperation of those in
the opposition benches to forge ahead with developing the
region.
This scheme of things should be considered a blueprint for
progress.
The Eastern Provincial Council which would be nominally
representative of all the main communities of this country, is
replete with very interesting possibilities. It would be a
matter for regret if these possibilities are not exploited by
the main political actors of the region. Given the ethnic and
religious composition of the province and the possibilities it
offers, it is our considered opinion that the Eastern PC could
be converted into an exemplary Provincial Council, provided the
openings for social betterment are fully utilized.
If a sense of magnanimity and cooperation prevails, the
Eastern PC could be showcased as the model for ethnic harmony we
have been yearning for, as a polity. We call on the TNA, in
particular, to give of its best towards the smooth functioning
of the PC by contributing constructively towards the development
and other initiatives that would be ushered.
It should be also the aim of the Eastern PC to prove that it
is not yet another huge drain on the public purse.
The UPFA governing coalition should be out to prove that it
has not been seeking power for its own sake. Power is the means
to development, and this needs to be a principal axiom of
governance.
If the Eastern PC could rise above petty considerations and
usher in socio-economic equity, we would have the clinching
evidence that the communities of this country could work in
unity towards development of one and all on a sustained basis.
This is a priceless opportunity which should not be squandered. |