Interference into internal affairs of a country:

United Nations breaks cardinal principle - Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake

by Uditha KUMARASINGHE

State Management Reforms Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake says the attempts made by the United Nations to interfere in Sri Lanka’s affairs is a violation of the UN charter and it should not be done in a decent society.

UN’s interference in our internal affairs really obstructs and interrupts the progressive measures undertaken by the Government to develop the country and uplift the living standards of the people in the North and the East, he said.

Following are excerpts from the interview:

Q: How do you view the attempts made by the UN to interfere in Sri Lanka’s internal affairs?

A: This is a violation of the constitution of the United Nations as well. We are a sovereign country. How can we allow another organisation to interfere into the internal affairs of our country?

This is something that we cannot accept. It will not be done in a decent society. If we want to live together as friends, one of the basic principles that we must follow is not to interfere into their internal affairs. It’s one of the accepted principles of foreign policy. Unfortunately I do not know why the United Nations Secretary General has decided to go ahead with this.

They must understand that we went through a period of terror lasting some30 odd years. Even at the time of our programs in eliminating terrorism, some of these bodies and some of these countries tried to persuade us not to go ahead with the war.

That was the climate which they wanted to create here. But of course we went along uninterrupted and we achieved this victory.

Having achieved this victory, we are trying to consolidate it. There is so much damage that has been done to this country due to terrorism. We want to repair it. At a time like this if countries and organisations try to interfere into the internal affairs of our country, it will retard our progress and push us back. Therefore it’s not a good sign at all.

They must understand our difficulties. Our difficulties are enormous. We have to rebuild the nation. So it’s an open challenge which we are having here now. When they attempt to appoint commissions and committees, that really disturbs us.

They must really give us a free hand to move towards progress. Everybody wants to live a happy life in this country.

Measures like this do really interrupt and obstruct the progressive steps which we are undertaking to develop this country on the one hand and to raise the standard of living of the people of our country on the other. That is how I look at this problem.

Q: Japanese Peace Envoy Yasushi Akashi has also said that the UN panel of inquiry on Sri Lanka should work in consultation with the Government and not interfere in its reconciliation process. Your comments?

A: The UN has not taken any note on this statement so far. So it is up to Akashi to react.

Q: How does the Government intend to deal with the EU to further retain the GSP plus facility? The EU has demanded a written commitment from the Sri Lankan Government on human rights issues?

A: It is very unfortunate that the EU is putting forward demands. For example they are asking us to do so many things including repeal the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), do away with the Emergency Regulations, send back all the IDPs and release all the LTTE cadres who are in custody.

The EU has not understood this problem. We have to rehabilitate some LTTE cadres who are in custody. One must understand that there are people even today who still believe in a separate State.

They living here as well as abroad. So this is a big problem which the EU must understand. We can’t allow that sort of thought to gain ground in this country. We have gone through 30 years of terrible war.

Our people were murdered. Our key places were attacked and our economic ventures were destroyed. We can’t afford to go through that again. Therefore we are taking all precautions to prevent such activities being committed by pro-LTTE elements.

Q: The Opposition demands the abolition of the Emergency Regulations as terrorism has been eliminated. How do you view this demand?

A: First and foremost you must be loyal to the country. You must be realistic. You must know what is taking place in this country and what took place in this country as well. Then, you will understand the gravity of the problem and will never make a rash statement like that. I am very sorry about the Opposition.

Q: How has the Government planned to strengthen the local economy and give pride of place to locally manufactured products?

A: One of our basic principles is to make our country self sufficient in all our basic food requirements and also to see that raw materials of our country are not sent abroad in the form of raw materials any longer. They must be turned into end products. Then only can we earn foreign exchange.

Those are the two principles on which we are working. If we can make our country self sufficient in all our food requirements, much of the foreign exchange which is wasted or invested to bring these food items to this country will be saved. That can be spent for the development of infrastructure and all other needs of the people.

These are the two principles on which we are working. Self sufficiency on one hand and on the other we want to see that all our raw materials go abroad as end products. That will create employment here and we will get foreign exchange as well.

Q: Should the Government enter into viable profit making business ventures?

A: I don’t agree that all business ventures undertaken by the Government should end up making profits. There are certain services which we are rendering like transport of course they should not be a liability on the treasury.

Treasury belongs to the people of our country. No losses should be there and no burden should be placed on the treasury. They do not all make profits. But certainly the Government must enter into various fields of trade because only through such intervention that can we control the prices and see that the private sector behaves in a respectable manner.

Q: What kind of management reforms are to be introduced to develop Government institutions?

A: We are having discussions with the trade unions. We will also have a series of discussions with the others concerned. It cannot be done overnight. If we try to bring some reforms overnight that can end up in disaster. We have to learn lessons from other countries like Malaysia. They have advanced in the management structures which they have laid down. So we are studying them.

In fact we are expecting experts from Malaysia to come here in about two weeks time and tell us what they did in Malaysia and how they brought about reforms without interrupting the normal day-today administration of the country. All these things have to be taken into consideration. We can’t rush through and say these are our reforms.

Q: The Opposition questions why the Government slashed import duties on luxury items instead of reducing taxes on the imports of essential items such as milk powder, canned fish and domestic gas used by the ordinary people. Your comments?

A: The question is this. The income we got through taxation came to more or less nil and so many people stoped buying luxury items and they were idling.

On that aspect a tax concession was given to the motor car industry so that it can gain ground and the tourism sector can also be developed. Tourism is one field in which a lot of investment can take place. Tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka has already increased.

There are certain obligations which we have to fulfil to meet the aspirations of those people who come here. Specially good transport, a good road network and good vehicles must be available. All these things are connected to tourism.

That is also one of the aspects which we have to consider when giving such relief. There are certain things, for an example like wheat grain we had given a Rs.10 tax concession earlier. When the harvesting season came, we thought of re-introducing that same tax.

Earlier we removed this tax when the harvesting was not on. We have to realise that we have to look after our farmers.

We can’t look after only the farmers in America. This is the harvesting season and this is the time that paddy comes into the market. As far as possible,you must try to reduce the consumption of wheat flour. We must try to encourage the people to consume rice and rice based products rather than consuming bread.

I do agree, that bread has become a normal day-today item for the ordinary people. But at the same time we must look after our farmers. If we are going to reduce everything, where is the income for the Government? The Treasury will be bankrupt.

As far as possible, concessions must be given to the people, specially where basic food items are concerned. But at the same time, one must accept the fact taht in order to run the Government, we also must have money.

Money can be collected only through taxation. We are going to intervene to import the essential food commodities. Definitely we are not going to prevent the private sector from operating.

We are encouraging the private sector also to come into the market with full strength and help the people. But at the same time if they don’t behave well, we want to intervene. That is why the Government has decided to import some basic food items.

We feel that we can give them at better rates. Even green gram is also imported which can be grown in this country.

But we think that we should be able to give it at a lower price because we have contacted countries which produce green gram. That does not mean that we must not encourage the local production. Our aim is to make our country self sufficient.

Q: How do you see the new ministerial portfolio given to you?

A: This is a challenging job. But this is nothing new to me. One time I was Minister of Public Administration. At that time I introduced some of the reforms. I was thinking about productivity and certain other things when I was the Public Administration Minister. This is connected to that particular aspect.

Although it is not new to me, I am looking at the problems with a very open mind. This cannot be turned overnight with a definite solution. Public sector has about one million employees. First and foremost we must try to make them understand that their services must be people-friendly. Their services must be efficient.

That is why I always advocate that new technology has to be utilised. At the moment we are having files and files, and we are tied down to those things. We must get away from those things and use technology in place of these files and papers.

We must get rid of unnecessary paper work. That is what has happened in Malaysia. Things must be made easy for the people. All those things are there in our program.

They must be done in stages because the public sector should not be disturbed. They should not get a feeling that they are going to lose their jobs. For example, one computer will do the work of ten clerks. But that does not mean that we must utilise it to that extent.

That fear should not come into the the public service. We are going to introduce new methods and new technology while looking after the interests of the public servants.