Ranil pushed Vienna delegates up the 'gum tree'

by Deepal Warnakulasuriya

'World Press Freedom Day' was celebrated all over the world. Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe was in Vienna on an invitation by the International Press Institute (IPI) to celebrate the Day. His remarks on the Sri Lankan media behaviour at a press briefing soon after the celebrations was the talk of the town last week as it was enough controversial.

No doubt, everyone will agree with the Opposition Leader's remark on media freedom which is a basic feature in a democratic society. But his complaint to the World that `media freedom in Sri Lanka has been crushed with the intention of destroying democracy' can not be accepted. At the same time his remarks were too political and not for a politician like Ranil Wickremesinghe as he is a person of sound academic background.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa had to condemn the Opposition Leader's effort in voicing out to the outer world about the country's internal issues whether those were false or not.

The President reiterated the importance of finding solutions for any issue within the country. Anyway, the Opposition Leader's briefing at Vienna was taken as a political speech done at on a wrong platform. The reason was Wickremesinghe also had mentioned that no any operation could save the country, to secure democracy or media freedom, rather than struggle to strengthen the might of one family.

This was an illogical statement and it appears to have completely forgotten the recent major incidents that took place in the country. Why did the LTTE ultimately decide on air attacks? As the Opposition Leader said, "Rajapaksa family had done something to do that; No! but, they were correctly tackling the North and East problem with a clear intention of safeguarding the country's sovereignty.

Properly guided operations as well as well planned humanitarian efforts for civilians in the war torn areas, were the reasons for the LTTE to go for something different. It is matter of surprise if anybody says that all that was to secure one family.

Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa narrowly escaped death. Why did the LTTE target him? Is it a personal matter? The Opposition Leader did not think much on this issue but had taken Vienna press briefing as an election campaign stage to sling mud at his one-time for rival for the post of President!

IPI Director Yohan Freets who introduced the Opposition Leader to the Vienna journalists had said that Mr. Wickremesinghe's act is praiseworthy to protect human rights and the freedom of expression in the country. He had also mentioned about some "positive steps on media freedom" taken by Mr. Wickremesinghe during his reign as the Prime Minister of the country.

IPI is an international non-governmental organisation with a global network of editors, media executives and leading journalists. In October last year they had also sent here a delegation to assess the country's media situation. Surprisingly, they had missed some important incidents that took place during 2001-2003 governance of the UNF.

When Mr. Wickremesinghe was the Prime Minister his government's Media Minister had been completely powerless. The poor minister who was waiting to receive the Lands Ministry portfolio was given the Media Ministry, with all powers vested with the PM and a small team.

The Media Minister was unable to take a trivial decision during his period. Unfortunately, IPI delegation had not noticed such kind of major steps taken by him and that the only example enough to judge the "positive steps on media freedom" by the former Prime Minister.

On the other hand, President Rajapaksa is a good friend of the media despite political differences. The Opposition Leader has even failed in that aspect. It is obvious that most conflicts what we experience today are due to the communication breakdowns.

Therefore, this kind of negligent communicative efforts should be identified and rectified soon. By now, the country is in several "mediation" problems, namely "Norwegian's role of facilitator" and the "British Parliament debate on Sri Lankan situation" being the recent major issues.

You are of course welcome to express your own views and it is a fundamental right. But, when you represent your country, you are asked to scale the weight of your words.