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| Sunday, 21 March 2004 |
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April election, chance for change - Prof. Laksiri Fernando by karel Roberts Ratnaweera 'This election, is offering an opportunity for change in the existing situation,'Prof. Laksiri Fernando of the University of Colombo told the Sunday Observer in an interview. 'The JVP will have a very positive role to play in the future,' he said, on the question of how the SLFP and the Party it did not quite see eye-to-eye with at one time would pull on together this time. Prof. Fernando said that the JVP should not be seen as some sort of law enforcement organisation but a major Party to contend with,holding high government position alongside its ally. The JVP, he said, are young and enthusiastic. Prof. Fernando said that this election will be decisive.Past major political actors in the country didn't realise how the country should handle the LTTE and what kind of solution to look for first. "As we have seen in the past couple of months,the present Constitution is at an impasse, with lots of contradictions. We should use the same Constitution or change it to face a democratic direction,' Prof. Fernando said. Prof. Fernando said that everyone seems to agree to an open economy geared by the private sector. He said that the question of what extent to give responsibility to the private sector is also there. 'People here value freedom,' he said. They do not like interference in their rights. Prof. Fernando said that he was pleased that the JVP has softened its stance - (not his words) - on investment. Under the last UNP government our economy was caught in a middle path between two extreme forces. Prof. Fernando said that there has to be a balance between the State and private sector and between local and foreign investment. He says that we have to generate capital and set up larger industries and what international linkages there should be.Dismantling of the whole private sector would liquidate our economic system. He thinks that there should be general agreement between major political parties, as to whether there should be economic safeguards or not, he said that the past two years have shown that there should be. He said that the direction of the economy is the third most important factor in running the country. On the subject of Higher Education, Prof. Fernando said he thought there were no differences between the UNP and the SLFP. After 1994 there have been no major disagreements or differences between the two. Government policy, Prof. Fernando said,has not been very clear on a political solution to the ethnic problem. Only the ceasefire was clear.He said that there has been some sort of a negative peace and this was not strong enough to resolve the political situation. There have been no demarcating areas and so people had no sense of belonging. People live in a cultural setting. Tamil and Muslim grievances such as language opportunities in the public services. They had no sense of recognisable identity. It was only among the Tamil upper classes that there was a sense of equality with the Sinhalese, Prof. Fernando said. Democratic society should be firm, militarily. He said that the UNP has not been clear while the SLFP has. The UNP was vacillating and not - open-minded on policy pursuing. It wanted a deal with the LTTE that was bi-lateral, not multi-lateral. In answer to my question on the JVP phobia that people in general and the private sector in particular still have after so many years,he said that the JVP will have to prove by their actions that they are not what they were. He sees the SLFP-JVP tie-up as 'problematic' especially when it comes to the question of governance. He says that the JVP may have to soften its policies (referred to here earlier as well),not only towards businesses but professions as well. |
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