President Rajapaksa has excellent leadership qualities By Premasara Epasinghe The greatness of a man is judged by the powerful and pervasive influence he exercises for the good of his generation and by the certainty of his influence on the generations yet unborn. Such people are national leaders. To achieve this, they must be blessed with leadership qualities. Leadership is one of the most demanding enduring human responsibilities. Leaders must take their ability to craft a vision, inspire action and empower others. We must have leaders who are credible. As Bill Bradley said “Leadership is unlocking people’s potential to become better. Glancing through our proud history, we see our country produced periodically the Person of the era. Who is a Person of an era? The world renowned historian E.H. Carr, picked a statement from German Philosopher Hegal and said. “Person of the era is the one who is able to translate the expectations of the era into words, who can explain to others what the expectation is and has the ability to bring that expectation to reality.” I consider President Mahinda Rajapaksa as the “Person of the era Yuga Purusha in the Post Independence era.” Without doubt, he is the most charismatic leader who emerged since Sri Lanka’s Independence. Every state leader before President Rajapaksa was from Colombo, primarily Colombo-oriented. Hailing from down South, Medamulana, Giruwapattuwa in Hambantota district, young Mahinda Rajapaksa knew the pulse of the rural folk, shared their joys, as well as sorrows. My association with him goes back to the mid 1960s, when I was an undergraduate at the University of Vidyodaya, the present Sri Jayawardanepura University. Even in those early days, he was a dynamic youth, bubbling with enthusiasm, and showed much promise and leadership qualities. Thrilled In the 1980s, when the South was enveloped with terrorist activity, my family and I were travelling to Kataragama. I met him at Tissamaharama Chetiye premises. He was seated with a gathering of villagers – some parents whose children were missing. He was thrilled to see me after many years and exchanged pleasantries. “Premasara, I am doing my best to help these parents to find their family members.” His legal background as a leading lawyer, probably would have helped him in his “Rescue Mission”. He moved with the villagers as well as with royalty. His pleasing personality can be described as “Magic”. A greatest talent a politician can have is the ability to convey sincerity. He was a visionary and a democrat. His philosophy and dream is One Country – One Nation. Mahinda Rajapaksa intelligently took decisions as the Commander-in-Chief and defeated the bloody, ruthless LTTE terrorist with the assistance of his defence forces. It was a team effort. President Rajapaksa was humane enough to treat thousands of LTTE cadres and their supporters with sincere sympathy and concern. He is the only leader in Sri Lanka, who could address the people in all three languages – Sinhala, Tamil and English. Also, he was the only leader to address the United Nations Assembly in all three languages and thus created history. President Rajapaksa is intelligent and is able to grasp a situation quickly. He possesses sound judgement and intuition. Once Mahatma Gandhi said: “In time to come, the people will not judge us by the creed we profess or label we wear or the slogans we shout, but by our work, commitment, dedication to our motherland, sacrifices, honesty and purity of character.” President Rajapaksa followed these noble principles. (Hiru Dutu Kadopaniyan). His sense of humour is inexhaustible. He is a good listener. His speeches are never boring. Fragments of his speeches are still embedded in my memory. As the presidential candidate, he presented the “Mahinda Chintanaya,” a valuable document explaining his future plans for the country. The Humanitarian Operation, Northern Development Plan - “Uturuvasanthaya”, Road Development (Maga Neguma), Village Development Programs (Gama Neguma), Hambantota Harbour, Mattala Airport, playgrounds, Sagara Visva Vidyalaya, Marine Technology, University are some of the articulated visions of this great leader. He entered Parliament from Beliatta as the youngest Parliamentarian at the age of 26. In his career, he served as a Minister of Labour, Fisheries, Leader of the Opposition, Prime Minister and President. It was not a journey full of roses. On May 19, 1983, he married Shiranthi Wickramasinghe. She is the wind beneath his sails. As parents they brought up their children in an exemplary manner. They have three sons – Namal is a Parliamentarian and an attorney-at-Law like the father. The other two are Yoshita and Rohita. They attended S. Thomas’ College, Mount Lavinia and captainined the College First Fifteen in Rugby-Football. Yoshita won Sri Lanka Rugby colours too. President Rajapaksa and Lady Rajapaksa are role models for all parents. Sabbava Mangala Mupaddava Dunni-Mittam Sabbiti roga Gahadosa Masesa Ninda Sabbantaraya Bhaya Dussupinam Akantam Buddhanu, Dhammanu, Sanghanu Bhavena Pavarena Payata Nasam.