Sri Lanka will resolve its issues with foresight – President

*Join hands to build a great country

*Govt will not compromise national security

*Sri Lanka has the strength to resolve its issues

*Govt won’t abandon its responsibilities

*Have patience to consolidate the victory achieved

*LLRC Report should not be used to create division

Sri Lanka has the strength to resolve its own issues and will act with foresight and a good understanding of the future in undertaking this task, President Mahinda Rajapaksa said yesterday.

The President told the Nation at the Victory Parade at the Galle Face Green to mark the third anniversary of the defeat of terrorism, that the country was now free from all restrictions and obstacles that arose as a result of terror.

“After 30 years there is a dawn that will take us to a golden age of the future. The Government is protecting and developing the Sri Lankan nation that was won through the heroic Security Forces’ sacrifice,” the President said.

“We must have patience to consolidate the victory we have achieved. This cannot be done in haste or through fear. We cannot rush into decisions on such matters. Let us join hands and work together, abandoning narrow expectations. Let us build a peaceful, developed and a great country where everyone can live without fear and mistrust,” the President said.

Referring to the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), the President said the Government was already carrying out what it can agree to and can implement among the recommendations of the LLRC. “This is not due to any pressure from anyone. We will not abandon our responsibilities. I believe the international community should understand this when they see the services we have rendered in three years to the Tamils of the North, whose freedom we have restored.”

He warned against certain attempts to use the LLRC report to create division among people.

“We cannot allow the Commission Report to be used to create division.”

He called upon the international community to cooperate with the Government to develop the country, adding that it has not forgotten the assistance given by its neighbours and other countries to defeat terrorism.

“You will recall how terrorism forced us to live in the midst of restrictions and obstructions, through 30 years. It is three years since terrorism was defeated.

Today, the country that faced such restrictions has returned to normalcy.

We have systematically dispelled from our vocabulary the references to refugee camps, landmines and villages under threat. There is no state of emergency today. There are no High Security Zones,” he said.

The President rejected calls to remove Security Forces camps from the North, adding that the Government was not willing to compromise national security as the very forces who were behind the LTTE were still operating abroad in different guises and other means.

He said that the Security Forces do not participate in the administration of the North or the East. These regions are administered by the public service and the police.

“There are those who clamour that the Security Forces camps in these areas should be removed. It is necessary to ask whether the ‘Diaspora’ and Eelamists have stopped their work although the country has returned to normalcy. It is no secret that those who conscripted children to war, and other war criminals who are leaders of the LTTE, are acting, freely in foreign countries. Just as much as their work, their demands also remain the same; they seek the same ends through different means. Therefore, we must ask if we are in a position to remove the Security Forces camps in the North and curtail our attention to national security. That is not possible.”

He expressed his gratitude to all members of the Security Forces, Police and Civil Defence Force for the victory that “restored the honourable peace our country had preserved through many generations”.