President Rajapaksa never cowed down to international pressure

by Uditha Kumarasinghe

Since the eradication of LTTE terrorism from Sri Lankan soil under the visionary leadership of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, a massive transformation has taken place in the socio-economic fabric of Sri Lanka bringing tangible benefits to the people over the past five years.

On the directive of President Rajapaksa, the Sri Lankan security forces conducted one of the largest humanitarian operations in the modern history of the world to rescue the country from the clutches of terrorism.

The 'home-grown theory' adopted by the President to defeat the most ruthless terrorist outfit, the LTTE surprised the international community and set a new approach as to how terrorism could be defeated. President Rajapaksa would go down in the annals of Sri Lankan history as the leader who ended three decade-old terrorism and unified the nation under one flag and created a political ideology aimed at development and reconciliation to build a new Sri Lankan nation.

Defeating terrorism under President's broad-based political vision has paved the way to restore political stability in the country and this has helped achieve a sound economic growth over the past few years. Sri Lanka achieved 7.3 economic growth last year which is remarkable when compared to other countries in the region. After defeating terrorism, the SLFP-led coalition Government under the leadership of President Rajapaksa could secure a two-third majority in Parliament.

The President in his Mahinda Chinthana pledged to defeat terrorism and restore democracy. He showed his utmost commitment to a negotiated settlement to the longstanding problem.

Parliamentary elections held over two months after being elected for a second term of office by the President, was a clear testimony to the confidence reposed in him by the vast majority of people as the only leader who liberated the country from the clutches of terrorism and led the country to peace and reconciliation. People exercised their franchise freely at this election due to the landmark decision by President Rajapaksa to eradicate LTTE terrorism from Sri Lankan soil. After over two decades, the opportunity was provided to the people in the North to elect their own representatives at the Local Government and Provincial Council polls.

To the international pressure mounted from the day the military operations were launched against the terrorists, President did never bow down. The President's dynamic leadership helped achieve the ultimate goal of bringing a lasting peace to the country. There was much pressure from all quarters specially from the Western super powers. The President, however strongly believed in the people's power rather than the superpowers.

The President stood firmly without giving into international pressure and this immensely helped him to eradicate terrorism through his own home grown theory.

It was more or less a divided country when President Rajapaksa assumed office. Even the superpowers believed that we were dealing with the most ruthless terrorist outfit in the world and as such they pressurised the President to negotiate with the terrorists. However, the President as the Commander in Chief together with the valiant soldiers militarily crushed the LTTE. This indeed was a remarkable achievement during the first term of office of the President. Therefore, the entire nation should be grateful to the President for rescuing the nation from the jaws of terrorism. The resettlement and looking after the welfare of nearly 300,000 IDPs who were held as a human shield by the LTTE terrorists, was another challenging task accomplished by the Government within a short span of three to four years. The rehabilitation of nearly 12,000 ex-LTTE combatants was another feat of the Government effected through a well-planned out strategy. The Government took the lead to reconstruct the infrastructure facilities destroyed by the LTTE terrorists over the past 30 years.

Having been rid of the 30 year-long scourge of terrorism, Sri Lanka is now geared to harness its human resources. The Government has restored normalcy and rebuilt the lives of those affected by the terrorist war. At present, the per capita income has increased considerably and most of our economic indicators are very positive. The people irrespective of political differences recognise the UPFA era symbolised by President Rajapaksa as the most developed in the post-Independence history.

The people witness new roads, highways, international airports, ports, power projects being launched with other infrastructure facilities such as health, education and water being developed.

The Southern express way, Colombo-Katunayake Expressway, Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport, Magampura Mahinda Rajapaksa Port and Nelum Pokuna Mahinda Rajapaksa Theatre would go down in history as mega development projects launched during the post conflict era.

The Government also opened Norochcholai, Upper Kothmale, Kerawalapitiya and various other power sector projects and created many employment opportunities and developed the economy while providing Samurdhi and fertiliser subsidies.

The Government has also mobilised the natural resources and other assets in the country for the future generation without privatising them.

Even international organisations such as the European Union (EU) is impressed by the economic progress Sri Lanka has made after 2009.Another significant benefit gained by Sri Lanka was the increased Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) inflow after the eradication of the LTTE terrorism in 2009. According to the statistics, the total FDI received from 2010 to 2013 was US$ 4,311 million, a 52 percent increase compared to the US$ 2,829 million from 2006 to 2009. In addition, the peace and political stability in the country has attracted US$ 1.3 billion FDIs last year.

The FDI inflow in the first quarter of this year has also recorded a 20 percent increase compared to the FDI inflows of the first quarter of 2013. After the end of terrorism, the FDI Per Capita has made a significant improvement compared to other countries in the region. The FDI Per Capita in 2012 had increased by 350 percent compared to 14.6 percent FDI Per Capita in 2005.

Sri Lanka is one of the founder members of the Commonwealth since it gained independence in 1948. Sri Lanka was selected as the venue to host the CHOGM 2013.

This was yet another historic opportunity gained by Sri Lanka to showcase its remarkable progress especially after LTTE terrorism was defeated.

Sri Lanka was privileged to hold CHOGM last year as it was the first time CHOGM was held in an Asian country after a lapse of 24 years.

That prestigious event provided a valuable opportunity to promote and reposition Sri Lanka as a strategically important economic centre of the world.

In addition, the recently concluded World Conference on Youth also helped project Sri Lanka's image globally and enabled the worldwide youth who participated in the Conference to see for themselves the ground situation in Sri Lanka.