UNP's so-called international safety net

When the present Leader of the Opposition, Ranil Wickremesinghe was the Prime Minister from 2001 - 2004, he often waxed eloquent on an 'international safety net', depending heavily on the West. Having signed a controversial Ceasefire Agreement (CFA) with the LTTE terrorists, Wickremesinghe was under an illusion that the Western superpowers would come to his rescue at any given time.

Wickremesinghe signed the CFA without the consent of his Cabinet of Ministers. Even the then Head of State - President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga - was kept in the dark as Wickremesinghe and terrorist leader Velupillai Prabhakaran put their signatures to the Norwegian-brokered CFA at two different locations.

In doing so, the CFA gave equal status to an unlawful terrorist outfit which had a proven track record of mass scale massacre of innocent civilians, but also officially accepted the territory ruled by a terror outfit. Perhaps Wickremesinghe's extraordinary loyalty to the West influenced him to put his signature on the CFA without evaluating the gravity of it and the repercussions of such a controversial and illegitimate document.

However, when the Tigers violated the CFA over thousands of times, his so-called friends in the West were reticent. The UNP leader's 'international safety net' only attracted statements asking the two parties to abide by the CFA. These were the international relations the UNP leader enjoyed.

Overjoyed by the CFA, the UNP crowed that the UPFA has poor international relations compared to Wickremesinghe. Even during the 2005 Presidential Election campaign, the UNP painted a gloomy picture on Sri Lanka's international relations in the event the UPFA candidate - the then Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, emerges victorious.

Ever since President Mahinda Rajapaksa was elected the First Citizen on November 18, 2005, Sri Lanka's international relations have been fortified.

Simultaneously, Sri Lanka took many courageous decisions to safeguard the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

There were many interested parties, certain countries and international organisations which did their utmost to exert pressure on the Government to bring a premature end to Sri Lanka's recent battle against terrorism. Due to the far-sightedness of President Rajapaksa, the Government had the courage to stand tall and beat all overwhelming odds. Certain cases were referred to the UN Security Council but our friendly countries stood by Sri Lanka and President Rajapaksa to defeat all such sinister moves. That was the marked difference between the foreign policies of Wickremesinghe and President Rajapaksa.

Sri Lanka's friendly ties with the international community are today stronger than ever before, and the Government would spare no pains towards strengthening the existing relations. The President will never betray the country and bow down to unreasonable conditions or pressure exerted by outside forces.

Though Sri Lanka has steadfast and friendly relations with other nations, neither President Rajapaksa nor his Government would bow down to injustice and unreasonable conditions. The President will never betray the motherland, as the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity are his top priorities. Interested parties have attempted to level war crime charges against the Sri Lanka Government and its Security Forces, but none could charge the military with any crime as they had engaged in a humanitarian operation in a professional manner. Some internal forces too were trying to charge Sri Lanka with war crimes to cover their shortcomings and to denigrate the hard-earned military victory. But as long as there are patriotic people, these forces would not achieve their 'ignoble' missions.

As the President has rightly pointed out, the victory over the LTTE, after three decades, was not handed over to us on a platter. It was not a mere victory, but a victory that showed the world the humanity of our brave soldiers. The soldiers carried guns in one hand and the Human Rights Convention in the other. At the same time their hearts were full of love for their fellow human beings.

It is tragic that some of our countrymen who seek personal glory at the expense of the motherland are engaged in a malicious campaign to discredit the Government and the war heroes to achieve their ulterior motives. Some bankrupt Opposition politicians who have been rejected by the masses at successive elections have joined the bandwagon. Their ultimate objective is to capture power at any cost.

The same Opposition politicians made regular tours to Europe to campaign against Sri Lanka, lobbying to remove the GSP plus concession given to Sri Lankan products by the European Union. Double-faced politicians, such as Wickremesinghe, tell one thing to the international community and another to locals to woo votes. Although the USD 150 million contribution of the GSP plus duty concession is vital to the country's economy, the Government will by no means succumb to unwarranted conditions to secure it.

The masses are acutely aware of the gigantic development projects undertaken by the Government at a time it had to spend billions of rupees on national security, to protect the country and its people from the clutches of LTTE terror. In spite of the Government being engaged in a relentless battle against terrorism, it did not neglect the development of the country and launched many mega development projects - ports, reservoirs, international airport, road networks, super highways and other infrastructure development projects.

The Government has spent billions of rupees to construct and develop thousands of kilometres of highways, by roads, inter-provincial roads and rural roads. Construction work on major expressways is in progress with some of them nearing completion. The Government has found effective solutions to the power crisis by setting up several power plants at Kerawalapitiya, Norochcholai, Upper Kotmale, Uma Oya and Trincomalee.

The Colombo stock market became the best performing stock market as a result of the peaceful conditions prevailing in the country after terrorism was eradicated.

It is the duty of all peace-loving and patriotic citizens to sink petty political differences and work towards the country's economic prosperity.