Close rapport with all political parties By Jaliya Wijeyekoon Sri Lanka’s recorded history talks about a large number of kings and a few queens who ruled the country prior to it becoming a colony of the British Empire in 1815. Some of those kings had ruled the country quite successfully for long periods, making the island very prosperous in every aspect. They had focused attention on developing the country socially, economically, culturally and spiritually. Some of the kings had not been able to leave any impression in the annals of history and were considered as weak rulers with most of their reigns, being relatively short. The country was invaded by three foreign nations in the distant past, in 1505 by Portuguese, in 1656 by the Dutch and in 1796 by the British. Finally, in 1815, Ceylon became a colony of the British Empire. British rule completely changed the country’s landscape, mainly the administrative and political structure. President Mahinda Rajapaksa cheerfully receives the Leader of the Opposition Ranil Wickremesinghe Sri Lanka remained under British rule for a long-time and the patriotic leaders of yesteryear felt the necessity of independence from the English and started agitating against the colonial rulers, clamouring for self-autonomy. After 133 years of English rule, Sri Lanka received independence in 1948, thanks to our patriotic leaders who worked tirelessly to achieve freedom. The Westminster system of governance was introduced in the country under the Soulbury Constitution and parliamentary democracy was enacted by the leaders. Since then, we had a number of National Leaders who ruled the country based on their party policies. Mahinda Rajapaksa is the 11th national leader elected by the popular vote of the people. Constitutional changes were effected in 1972 under Sirimavo Bandaranaike’s premiership and in 1978, under J.R. Jayewardene’s leadership. Vast changes were made in the fabric of administration under 1978 Constitutional reforms and the Executive President became all powerful, replacing the premier in Parliament. Starting with D.S. Senanayake, all previous leaders of the country worked tirelessly and with commitment and dedication for the betterment of their countrymen, initiating a large number of development projects for the socio-economic enhancement of the country. Almost all these leaders had to face different types of political, social and economic problems during their tenures of office, but managed to overcome them amidst objections from various quarters. Some leaders became unpopular with certain measures they had taken and lost power at the next election. The North and East problem had been in existence for a long time though not violent. It turned out to be a military movement with the assassination of Jaffna mayor Alfred Duraiappah in 1976. Sri Lanka’s former national leaders such as J. R. Jayewardene, Ranasinghe Premadasa, Chandrika Kumarathunga and Ranil Wickremesinghe tried to bring some solution to this vital problem through negotiations, but their efforts proved futile. Mahinda Rajapaksa became President of the country in 2005 and he too tried, at the beginning, to solve the problem through negotiations with the participation of overseas mediators. He soon realised that the terrorists were not willing to co-operate and resorted to full military action with the able guidance provided by Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa. President Rajapaksa managed to fully eradicate terrorism and liberate the North and East Provinces from terrorist clutches even before completing the first term of office, as the Head of State. He was concerned about the well-being and welfare of all Tamil civilians and other party politicians in North and the East during the humanitarian operation and gave clear instructions not to antagonise or harm them at any cost. All Tamil civilians who were badly affected by the protracted problem, one time terrorist sympathisers and even active members of the terrorist movement endorsed the vision, mission and progressive programs of the Mahinda Rajapaksa Government. It was mainly due to the manner in which President Rajapaksa handeld the Tamil community, that people such as Karuna Amman and Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan entered mainstream politics and joined the Government with their supporters and won the subsequent elections for the UPFA, representing their community. It is quite admirable to see how President Rajapaksa co-ordinates with leaders of other Tamil political parties in the North and East. Under the Executive Presidential system, the two previous Presidents who contested for their second term didn’t poll as many votes as they polled during their first attempts. In other words, their popularity had declined to some extent after completing the first term although they managed to get re-elected. Contrary to this, President Rajapaksa won his second term with a huge majority of well over 1.8 million votes. According to political analysts, the main reason for his increased popularity is the affable and cordial manner in which he interacts with his political opponents, leaving aside personal and party policies and agendas. The UPFA consists of a number of political parties and President Rajapaksa keeps them under his wings diplomatically and tactfully, consolidating the UPFA’s strength. Even with the main Opposition, the United National Party, the President maintains a cordial relationship unlike in the past when political opponents were at loggerheads with each other. The Government’s good relations with the United National Party was quite evident when the UNP-led Colombo Municipal Council unanimously passed a resolution praising and appreciating the services rendered by Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa in helping the beautification of the CMC area.