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| Sunday, 20 November 2005 |
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Editor, Sunday Observer. E-mail: [email protected] Snail mail : Sunday Observer, 35, D.R.Wijewardana Mawatha, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Telephone : 94 11 2429239 / 2331181 Fax : 94 11 2429230 A people's President Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse, the affable gentleman in politics has become the fifth Executive President of Sri Lanka in one of the most quiet and peaceful elections in post-independence history. The maturity and wisdom of our people in the exercise of democracy could become a role model even to the West where public apathy is accompanied by the ugly phenomenon of vote rigging. The Sunday Observer joins millions of Sri Lankans in congratulating President Mahinda Rajapakse who was sworn in yesterday. For the first time in independent Sri Lanka we have a man of the people, a commoner from deep down South as President. We are sure that the mantle of high office would not efface his geniality and love for the man in the street. A committed democrat, human rights activist and a gentleman politician he will have to wield the enormous authority of the Executive Presidency with care and humanitarianism. Let it not be said of him that power corrupts. The advent of Mahinda Rajapakse to the highest office in the land brings to an end the saga of ruling dynasties. Not that we are against dynasties but we feel more comfortable without them. It should be recorded, however, the ascension of dynastic rule in Third World democracies has also its merits and it would not have been possible without the endorsement of the people, the ultimate kingmakers. We also record with gratitude the distinguished service the dynasties rendered to the nation. Formidable challenges await the new President. He will have to unify a nation deeply divided and fractured along ethnic and political lines. He will have to eradicate bribery and corruption and ensure good governance. He will have to pursue policies that are definitely more pro-poor and development oriented to ensure justice for all, especially the marginalised and downtrodden masses in the peripheries to whom the benefits of economic development never trickle down. Law and order has to be re-established and the underworld has to be suppressed. Most daunting of all, he will have to re-activate the peace process and reach a negotiated honourable peace, a peace of the brave as the late Yasser Arafat used to call it. It was political instability and uncertainty that hampered the resumption of the dialogue between the Government and the LTTE. The President should grab in earnest the new opportunities that have arisen. A pre-condition for it is the building of a broad consensus in the south to which the new President has committed himself. Obviously this means working not only within the alliances brought together for the election but also reaching out to the Opposition, principally to the United National Party that has pledged to support the peace effort. This is easily said than done. Yet, as the saying goes if there is a will there is a way. What is most essential is to set aside age-old prejudices, dogmas and look for avenues where common interests could be promoted. Intransigence for whatever reason is the principal enemy of negotiations and dialogue. The new President has to seriously consider the meaning and the intended message behind the boycott of the Presidential poll in the North. The boycott laid bare the actual or de facto split in the Sri Lankan polity that has to be taken into account in the formulation of strategy and tactics for the solution of the National Question. This is not an issue that could be put off for the morrow. No economic development is possible without a durable peace. We have more than a million displaced due to the ethnic conflict and the tsunami. That means so many thousands without engaging in productive labour. Thousands consume the produce of others, a serious drain on the modest surplus the Sri Lankan economy produces. Mahinda Chintana has promised 8 percent economic growth. If it is to be realised we need to enhance the savings and draw in more investment. This is impossible without introducing new technology. That means big outlays in the development of human and physical capital besides investing and promoting research in areas where we could get a cutting edge. It has been proved that mere reliance on exports is not sufficient to free Third World countries from the debt trap they are entangled in and face unfair and adverse terms of trade in the world market. Yes, the challenges are daunting. We hope the new President would be equal to the task. In that noble effort he will have the support of the entire people. We wish him well. |
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