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By Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse

Great men have changed the destiny of nations through courageous leadership given to the struggles of people to liberate themselves from deprivation, subjugation and bondage. In Sri Lanka, the late S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike who became Prime Minister in 1956, gave such leadership to the first-ever democratic struggle for the social and political emancipation of the people of Sri Lanka. The background to this epoch making change was marked by his resignation from the UNP Government in 1951 on the ground that it had failed to meet the national aspirations of the people by having a clear break with the colonial pattern of development and political power that was distanced from the large mass of people.

It was the first step in a long march of a political movement to liberate the people of the country from the remaining vestiges of its colonial past. It is worth mentioning here with much humility, that the Late D.A.Rajapakse, my father, joined Mr. Bandaranaike in the House of Representatives when he took this far reaching step. The step taken by him actually laid the foundation for the eventual change of the destiny of our people and the country in moving forward progressively to fulfil the national aspirations and peoples needs in an egalitarian manner after the victory at the 1956 general elections. The formation of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party which became the bulwark of the Fivefold Forces or Pancha Maha Balavegaya , comprising priests, ayurvedic physicians, teachers, peasants and workers that spearheaded the 1956 change, can be considered as a landmark. Mr. Bandaranaike's incisive mind and skills of mobilising the populace under one banner helped the SLFP to widen its support base and make significant inroads to the traditional strongholds of the United National Party identified at that time as a party dominated by the privileged class. We are today engaged in a similar exercise but working within a more complex situation on the eve of the Presidential Elections.

The 1956 change for which Mr. Bnadaranaike gave leadership came about as a result of the contradictions that developed within the political system, the society and the economy prevalent in the latter 1940s and early 1950s. They were the results of the failure to recognise national aspirations and take effective steps to reduce the excessive dependence on former colonial links, through strategies to strengthen the national economy. We can learn many lessons from our Late Leader Mr. Bandaranaike, in bringing together diverse groups and parties to achieve a common goal of winning power through the ballot to bring about a social revolution of unprecedented dimension. He had to think about the most crucial national issues relating to the system of power as well as the burning problems affecting the large majority of the common people who were suffering due to the burdens imposed by the economic problems endemic to a dependent economy. Like all leaders who are concerned about the common people, Mr. Bandaranaike had tremendous love and faith as well as respect for them and devised programmes and schemes to provide benefits to them.

He restored the honour and social status of the common man and was always a friend to them. This is an approach I have diligently followed throughout my political career, thanks to the inspiration received from the knowledge gained by looking deeply at the way our Late Leader amassed and sustained public support. I am happy and proud to have been actively involved in the activities of the Bandaranaike Commemoration Committee to disseminate his ideas through a variety of means. His thinking and strategies are still valuable and useful to face the challenges posed by the Second Wave of Economic Dependency ushered in through neo-liberal reforms in 1978. New ways of co-existence with private sector and foreign investments have to be found while strengthening the national economic capacity particularly in agriculture and industry where the economic standing of farmers and small and medium entrepreneurs has to be enhanced.

The situation today though different in terms of the form and level of dependence, and intensity of the social impact when compared with 1956, it obviously demands a basic transformation in our policies and strategies in the political, social and economic spheres to meet the demands, needs and aspirations of the people. We are on the eve of a Presidential Election. This election is as important as the 1956 general election won by Mr. Bandaranaike, for the future of the country and the nation to ensure a just and equitable social and economic order. A new challenge is the serious threat to the country's national and territorial integrity which can be averted only by ensuring a victory for the peoples'camp. As much as we have to bring together similar forces that provided the motive power for the epoch making changes in 1956 by mobilising, the second, third and fourth generations of that social revolution who are affectionately called the 'the Children of the 1956 Social Revolution', it is necessary to mobilise other emerging groups.

For this purpose the national entrepreneurs and students have to be brought in so that the Pancha Maha Balavegaya becomes a Sath Maha Balawegaya to obtain a mandate for a People's President to carry through a Second Democratic Emancipation of our society from the rigours of unbridled neo-liberal economic change, that had made an increasing number of our people in the rural as well as urban areas poorer than before. Such a democratic revolution of the people is required to avert further aggravation of the plight of all sections of our society, other than a select minority of the super rich through enhanced economic reforms aimed at establishing a new form of highly dependent economic and social order which will eventually destroy our national economic and cultural base. This does not in anyway mean that we should sever relations with donors or related agencies, but the adoption of more people friendly reforms without sacrificing the need for economic stability.

The greatest tribute that we can pay to a great statesmen, a visionary, and a people's leader and Prime Minister, the Late Mr. S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike is to prevent the country falling into the hands of those who pay lip-service to the needs and aspirations of the people of the country, while carrying through agendas determined by their mentors outside the country and submitting to the pressures of those who are bent on dividing our country territorially.

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