President committed to build vibrant Opposition - Deputy Minister Dilan Perera

By Uditha KUMARASINGHE

Public Administration and Home Affairs Deputy Minister Dilan Perera said as President Mahinda Rajapaksa has built a stable Government, he has taken the task of building a vibrant Opposition.

The Deputy Minister in an exclusive interview with the Sunday Observer said the President wants to hold a series of discussions with the Opposition based on the principle of inclusivity. The President firmly believes the new constitution or the amendments to the constitution should be based on the principle of inclusivity.

Q: Two more Opposition members have joined the Government. If you count MP Abdul Cader who generally votes with the Government, the Government is only four short of a two-third majority. Are more Opposition members going to join the Government soon?

A: It seems like there are so many Opposition members in the queue to join the Government. Even though they contested from the UNP lists, two Opposition members who joined the Government are not UNP members. P. Digambaram is the Leader of his own party and Prabha Ganeshan is also from a different party. Nobody can point a finger at the Government and say that we have taken UNP members while the talks with Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe are going on.

The talks are between the SLFP and the UNP, not between the Government and the Opposition parties. The Opposition consists of various political parties. There are so many Opposition members in the UNP itself. So the talks between the SLFP and the UNP are going on. I am sure while the talks between the SLFP and the UNP are going on the conditions agreed upon between the SLFP and the UNP will not be violated. But here the two members who joined the Government are not from the UNP.

They are from the UNF but not from the UNP. I don’t think these two members joining will effect the ongoing talks between the SLFP and the UNP. Coming back to your question, UNP MP Abdul Cader has not joined the Government. But while being in the UNP he has said that he will support the Government on issues which he thinks are vital for the country and the Government. There may be many members in the UNP who are keen to support the Government when they feel that the steps taken by the Government are good for the development of the country.

Q: Even if the Government achieves a two-third majority, will it still continue to talk with the Opposition on constitutional reforms?

A: To be very frank, we don’t need to start talks with anybody to get two-thirds. Getting two-third in Parliament is very easy now. There is no problem in getting two thirds at all. We don’t need to get support from anybody for that. After the elections we got 144 seats. We were six short after the elections. With Digambaram and Prabha Ganeshan crossing over, it became 146. There are so many in the UNP whom we meet in the Parliament lobby who say they will always support the Government when it takes the right steps.

I don’t think there is any connection between getting two thirds and the constitutional talks. The talks on the constitutional reforms and various other issues has no connection with getting two thirds. The Government can get two thirds without any talks with anybody. But President Mahinda Rajapaksa has been good enough to talk to the Opposition also even though the Opposition is very weak. At present the Opposition has also split into so many groups.

I saw a newspaper report that somebody had found a tortoise with two heads from Rajagiriya and he handed over it to the Dehiwala Zoo. Today the UNP looks like a tortoise with three heads. One head is Ranil Wickremesinghe and the other head is Sajith Premadasa. Now they are trying to say that the interim solution is not Ranil or Sajith but Karu Jayasuriya. So Karu Jayasuriya is the third head. Therefore, now there is a tortoise with three heads in the UNP. At present the UNP has divided into sections.

The DNA which only has seven members are also now trying to divide. The TNA and the SLMC are also divided. So the week Opposition is also divided. Because of that the President does not want to talk with anybody to get two thirds. As the President of the country he wants to have a series of discussions with the Opposition based on the principle of inclusivity. This is a principle that Nelson Mendela adopted when he became the President. Mendela also got a landslide victory when he became the President. After his victory Mendela said just because I got a landslide victory, I am not going to leave out other parties in making a new constitution.

He had a lot of discussions with the people in making a new constitution. When the Sunday Observer interviewed me three years ago, I told President Rajapaksa is going to be the Mendela of Sri Lanka. Today he has become the Mendela of Sri Lanka. He has won the war against terrorists. After defeating terrorism, the President has got a historical mandate by the people. Even with the historical mandate, he is talking to all the parties. He thinks that the new constitution or the amendments to the constitution should be based on the principle of inclusivity. That is to talk with everybody and include as much as possible views of various other parties in formulating the new constitution.

Q:Has the Government come to an understanding with it and with the Opposition to abolish the Executive Presidency?

A:There is no understanding on any of these issues. But there is an understanding to talk with each other. There is an understanding to agree to disagree and move forward in talking. We might disagree. We agree to disagree. But we still talk on the issue where we can agree upon. We must realise one thing. I might have a view different to you. But we must follow the mandate given by the people of this country. In making a new constitution, the last verdict is given by the people not by the SLFP, UNP, JVP or the TNA. What did the people say?

At the last Presidential Election, Sarath Fonseka’s campaign was based on the principle of abolishing the Executive Presidency. President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s campaign was not based on the abolition of the Executive Presidency. It was based on making changes to the Executive Presidency. We said we will abolish the preferential voting system of the present electoral system.

This preferential voting system has to be abolished because the people gave a mandate and said to abolish this preferential system and bring a new system. Sometimes it can be the PR system coupled with the First Past the Post System. But on the Presidential system, the debate was whether to abolish it that was what Fonseka said whether to make changes to it that was what President Mahinda Rajapaksa said. The people said make changes. The mandate given by the people to the President over Sarath Fonseka was 1.8 million. The President Rajapaksa won with a majority of 1.8 million votes.

He got 58 percent of votes. Those voters said we have no problem with the Executive Presidential system. But some changes have to be made. The people’s verdict was don’t abolish the system and make necessary changes in the system.

If you are going to follow what the people said then it is very easy. We have to make necessary changes in the Executive Presidential system not to abolish it.

Q:There should be a vibrant Opposition for democracy. But the UNP is in disarray and the JVP is no better. What is your comment about the UNP’s leadership crisis and the present incoherent state of the Opposition?

A: Today President Rajapaksa is building a vibrant Opposition as well. We need a vibrant Opposition to have a good democracy going on. As the Opposition is very weak, it is President Rajapaksa who is building a vibrant Opposition as well.

When the Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe is in trouble, the President speaks to him. Whenever the Opposition members are in trouble, they run to President Rajapaksa to get help. As the President has built a very stable Government, today he has taken the task of building a vibrant Opposition as well. President Rajapaksa’s role today has now changed the situation where he has been entrusted upon with the task of building a vibrant Opposition as well.

Because there are so many Opposition members who want to join the Government. If the President takes all these people into the Government there won’t be a Opposition. Because of that the President is careful in taking people in.

That is why he decided to take Party Leaders of the UNP other than taking the UNP people in. We need a vibrant Opposition to have a good democracy.

Since the Opposition is not vibrant enough, the President is also helping the Opposition to make it vibrant.

Q: The Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission has commenced sittings. Do you view this commission as a major initiative on the path to reconciliation?

A: Of course. I think it is a very historical commission. I am sure looking at the individuals who are members of the commission, we can expect the commission to deliver a very good report. I see this commission as a beacon of light on the path for others to follow.

Q:There are allegations from certain Western countries and organisations that the Government is not honest about reconciliation and a political solution. What is your comment?

A: Everything is comparative. We have to compare the post conflict situations in other countries to the post conflict situation in Sri Lanka to judge whether we are genuine or not.

If you take the post conflict situation in Iraq, it is much worse than Sri Lanka. Situation in Afghanistan is much worse than Sri Lanka.

UN Secretary General Banki Moon has to consult his members before taking a decision. Sri Lanka is a member of the UN. The Secretary General must remember that Sri Lanka supported him when he became the UN Secretary General.

The UN does not belong to one country. There is a procedure to be followed when appointing committees. The appointment of these committees are not legal. We should not worry too much about those committees. That does not mean we are against the UN.

I feel the approach of the SLFP in dealing with what Banki-Moon did diplomatically is the right way to address issues. I don’t agree with other dramas on the road to respond to a situation like this.

Q: Sri Lanka is being criticised for human rights issues. What is the Government doing to enhance the protection of human rights?

A: The Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission that has been formed is a good move to address the issue of human rights in the post conflict Sri Lanka. If we are talking about human rights, I am wondering what about the Wikileaks report that came out very recently about what happened in Afghanistan.

According to that report,there has been so many human rights violations by the outside forces in Afghanistan. What is Banki-Moon saying to that? Is he saying that it is ok for the outside forces in Afghanistan to violate human rights? Because they are super powers. Banki-Moon must also appoint a committee to go into the Vickey Leaks report and see what happen there as well.

To be very frank, in a war situation, the human rights violations cannot be addressed like in a normal situation. In a war situation, I think Sri Lanka managed to minimise their human rights violations compared to Iraq, Afghanistan or civil wars that took place all over the world.

Q: What steps have you taken to enhance the Government service and to make it more efficient?

A: We are doing a lot of new things in the Public Administration Ministry to make the entire public service more efficient. We have decided to introduce a new scheme of result orientated and performance based way of appreciation.

At present the promotions and salary increments in the public service are based on seniority. The person who works and those who do not are promoted when they complete certain number of years in service. From next year, we are trying set targets. We are trying to make it a target orientated performance based scheme for promotions. We will give a target and a time limit. Those targets must be achieved within that time limit. We also try to appoint Citizens’ Committees at all Divisional Secretariat levels to supervise the citizens’ charter in those areas.

These Citizens Committees will have about 10 people who will be selected from various fields. They will form into volunteer groups of Citizens’ Committees, appointed by the Ministry. The Divisional Secretary will be the Chairman of that Citizens’ Committee. That committee will see how efficient the Divisional Secretary’s office and the public service are working on those areas.

We are trying to introduce the concept of ‘clean hands’ to the public sector. We want the people in the public sector become the members of this organisation so that public servants will help wipe out corruption.

We are also trying to upgrade the AGAs’ divisions in the North and the East to the level of divisional secretaries. New divisional secretaries divisions will also be created in the other parts of the island. We have also made arrangements to computerise all the divisional secretaries to expedite work.

Q: Action was taken against a Deputy Minister over his conduct recently. Is this an indication that the Government is strict about discipline and the maintenance of law and order regardless of the stature of the people involved?

A: Disciplinary action was taken against a friend of mine but it is necessary to maintain law and order in the country. This is an eye opener for all politicians and also the people in the public service to say that the President will not tolerate anyone who goes against the country’s law.

Q: The Hambantota Port, the Mattala airport, express high ways etc point to the Government’s commitment to development. How can the Government ensure that the dividends of development will reach everyone in society?

A: There are certain basic things that we look at when we talk about the development. One thing is the economic growth of a country. After 1948, it is under President Rajapaksa that Sri Lanka gain an economic growth of over 6 percent continuously from 2005 to 2008. The entire world had to face severe economic problems last year. In such a situation when the countries like US and Japan were recording minus economic growth, Sri Lanka recorded a positive economic growth.

The development that was centred around the Western Province is now being taken to other provinces. That is why the Hambantota port and Mattala airport are coming up. With the development being taken to provinces the economic growth and the per capita income have increased.