Victory at Uva polls, a certainty - Minister Dullas Alahapperuma

By Uditha Kumarasinghe

Youth Affairs and Skills Development Minister Dullas Alahapperuma said it was obvious that those clamouring to abolish the Executive Presidency were not doing it with an honest motive. The slogan to abolish the Executive Presidency is used by anti-Mahinda Rajapaksa segments as a platform to rally round. The Minister in an interview with the Sunday Observer said that “Our dialogue should not only be centred on the Executive Presidency, attention should also be focused on the preferential electoral system as well. The UPFA is ready to join this dialogue”.

The UPFA is of the view that a Parliamentary Select Committee should discuss the negative and positive aspects of the Constitution on the country's future.

Minister Alahapperuma said at present the West has invoked the question of human rights violations, to punish Third World countries which do not kowtow to their dictates. This is a tragedy. The world is aware of the massacre of thousands of civilians and grave human rights violations in the Gaza Strip and some other pro-West countries. Amidst these grave human rights violations, these international organisations and some Western countries turn a deaf-ear to these. It is regrettable that even some of the institutions which come under the purview of the UN system are utilised for their geopolitical interests.

Q: The main Opposition, the UNP and even some Government constituent partners and a large number of civil society organisations and pressure groups are of the opinion that the Executive Presidency should be abolished for better governance. In such an eventuality, what would be the UPFA's stand on this issue?

A: The Mahinda Chinthana vision for the future' has clearly enunciated the UPFA's stand on the Executive Presidency. We should not forget that the Executive Presidency was one of the dominant reasons which paved the way to defeat LTTE separatism in Sri Lanka. Funds from some Western countries were used within the Parliament system to weaken the Government and strengthen the hands of the LTTE. Therefore, the Executive Presidency has a positive and negative side. Our dialogue should not only be centred around the Executive Presidency.

We should focus attention on the preferential electoral system as well. This is a big package. At present slogan to abolish the Executive Presidency is used by anti-Mahinda Rajapaksa segments as a platform to rally round. Former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga who even fixed deadlines and withdrew even the Presidential candidate has also joined the forum. It is obvious that they are not clamouring to abolish the Executive Presidency with honest intentions.

Of the parliamentarians who voted in favour of the new Constitution and the Executive Presidency, only four are remaining in today's Parliament. Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe is one of them.

The others are UNP MPs Gamini Jayawickrama Perera, Joseph Michael Perera and John Amaratunga. Have they ever said that they have made a mistake? These statements made regarding the abolition of the Executive Presidency are not fair. It is not the UPFA's stand to just say there are shortcomings in the Executive Presidency. The UPFA is also ready to join the dialogue. It of the view that the negative and positive aspects of the present Constitution should be discussed within the forum of a Parliamentary Select Committee.

Q: It is the belief of some political parties and civil outfits that a common candidate should be fielded at the next Presidential Election and negotiations are already under way among many political parties including the UNP. If a common candidate comes forward, will he or she pose a threat to the incumbent President?

A: I think there is no validity of this idea put forward by the Opposition. President Mahinda Rajapaksa is the only common candidate in Sri Lanka. Only three political parties represented in Parliament are among those who put forward this idea of a common candidate. But 13 political parties represented in Parliament are with President Mahinda Rajapaksa. It is clear that the President is the only common candidate. I think they are looking for a common candidate for the Opposition. Otherwise, common candidate can only be applied to President Mahinda Rajapaksa. We should not misinterpret that word.

Q: Some UPFA partners have expressed displeasure over the recent appointment of international experts to the Commission on Missing Persons, claiming that the Government had invited international intervention on this crucial domestic issue. What have you got to say about this?

A: Similar views were expressed when the LLRC was appointed. When the LLRC was appointed, the Darusman Report was the ongoing debate on Sri Lanka in the world. In a situation where a series of baseless allegations were levelled to tarnish the country's image based on the Darusman Report, the LLRC was appointed by the President. One month later after the appointment of the LLRC, even the UN stopped talking about the Darusman report. Today nobody talks about it. At present the UN and the US State Department quote the LLRC report. We should not panic. We should not forget that the Darusman report targeted President and the Defence Secretary. The President and the Defence Secretary would not resort to moves which would have any adverse impact on our country.

The President has appointed a retired Supreme Court Judge as the chairman to the Commission on Missing Persons. These three experts have been appointed to give necessary advise to the chairman.

Q: According to Central Bank statistics, Sri Lanka's economy achieved over 7.3 percent economic growth last year while most of other countries in the region suffer economic setbacks. What is the miracle behind this success?

A:The development of the country's infrastructure facilities is a dominant factor. There are a few major facts which leads to economic development of a country. One is political stability. Anybody in the world is aware that there is political stability in Sri Lanka. We also have a full-fledged leader who is accepted by the vast majority of the people.

If there are doubts or flexibility on the incumbent Leader, economic stability cannot be built. The other most important fact is the security guaranteed within the country. The significant development made in these four major areas is reflected as a miracle in the Sri Lankan economy.

Q: A large number of civilians was killed including women and children and an equal number was left maimed due to the Israeli attacks on the Gaza strip in the recent past. Why doesn't the UNHRC intervene and mete out justice to the aggrieved parties?

A: At present the West has invoked the violation of human rights to punish Third World countries which do not kowtow to their dictates. This is a tragedy. The world can see the massacre of thousands of civilians and grave human rights violations taking place in the Gaza strip and some other pro-West countries. Amidst these grave human rights violations, these international organisations and some Western countries turn a blind eye to them. It is regrettable to note even some of the institutions which come under the purview of the UN system also utilising the situation to serve their geopolitical interests. We should tell the world as well as the UN that no room should be given whatsoever to use human rights as a tool to make a regime change in a country.

Q: The US State Department has issued a statement alleging that the Sri Lankan Government works in close coordination with the Bodu Bala Sena to suppress the rights of the people of other faiths. How do you counter this allegation?

A: This is a statement made by the US State Department due to lack of understanding. If the Government has any involvement with the Bodu Bala Sena, I don't think they will invite Buddhist monks of that organisation to visit America.

Q: What are the prospects for good Indo-Lanka relations when there is a stable Indian Government unlike in the past?

A: The formation of a stable Government in our neighbouring state is a positive development.

It's a progressive sign.

Q: What are the positive steps and remedial measures taken by the Government to avert the unfortunate situations which occurred in Aluthgama and Beruwala? Will it have a negative bearing on the UPFA's vote base at future elections?

A: That incident was on June 12. Nearly two months have lapsed. Similar incidents did not occur after June 12. This is testimony to the initiatives taken by the Government to avert such situations.

This type of incident may occur anywhere in the world. Similar incidents have occurred in Britain and France in recent times. After that incident, progressive and positive development has taken place in our country. But nobody talks about the positive developments.

When an ordination ceremony of the Ramanna Nikaya was held in Matara, Muslim religious place was decorated with Buddhist flags by the Muslims there. They also stopped their prayers at that time. But the media nor political authorities didn't spoke about it. This is a clear indication that it is not easy to create religious disharmony among communities in Sri Lanka, because the majority of the people are not racists. There are no racist sentiments within the UPFA Government as well. But we should not forget the fact that there may be racist or extremist elements within the society of any country. There may be Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim extremists in the world. Extremism raises its head in various forms.

During our lifetime, state sponsored terrorism was first witnessed in July, 1983. Certain elements attempt to compare the Aluthgama and Beruwala incident as being of the same magnitude and refer to it as 'Black June'. They are the architects of the 1983 Black July riots.

These riots were the only occasion which I saw during my lifetime where state terrorism was utilised from July 24 up to the first week of August. Police was asked to turn a blind eye and over 200 to 300 innocent Tamil people were killed and factories were razed to the ground.

Political parties which opposed those atrocities were banned. Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe and others who were in that Government endorsed that arbitrary decision taken. As a result the JVP, the Communist Party and the Lanka Sama Samaja Party were banned. For the first time in our history, prisoners numbering 32 and 17 were killed inside the prison on two consecutive days. Those incidents took place with state patronage. The Aluthgama incident was an isolated one. There was no state patronage. That is why even a trivial issue didn't come up after that incident. The '83 state terrorism still haunts. They may look at the Aluthgama incident from that perspective.

Q: Years ago, the pride of the Sri Lanka Foreign Service was its career diplomats. The Opposition today charges that political appointments have wrecked the foreign service. Your comments?

A: I don't admit that our foreign service has collapsed as claimed by the Opposition. Since the inception of our diplomatic service, there is a way for distinguished persons who are not career diplomats to enter. Erudite, scholar Malalasekera and veteran film director Sumithra Peiris were not career diplomats. Most appointments are made from within the foreign service itself. Distinguished personalities outside the foreign service can also be appointed. Allegations levelled by the Opposition is a reflection of the nature of politics in Third World countries.

When a coordinating secretary of the Prime Minister had issued some letter to release a container, various baseless allegations were levelled against the Prime Minister to tarnish his image. When a relative of a Minister was a suspect of some Ethanol scam, the entire Cabinet was branded as being involved in that scam. But when a sister of an Opposition politician was caught having forged currenciy, the Government didn't sling mud at her. This is the political culture of various politicians.

Q: The UNP has launched an aggressive election campaign fielding a vociferous young parliamentarian as its Chief Ministerial candidate. Do you think that he would pose a challenge to the ruling UPFA?

A: I don't think so. The UNP Chief Ministerial candidate can make use of his Provincial Council Election campaign as a platform for the next parliamentary election. Political decisions taken by him are mature compared to other senior UNP parliamentarians. He does not want to plan his general election campaign as he can do the groundwork at this provincial election campaign. He is well aware of the outcome of the Uva Provincial Council Election.

Q: The NFF, a constituent partner of the UPFA has decided to contest the Uva PC polls alone. Will it affect the final results of the UPFA?

A: This is not a new phenomenon. The NFF jointly contested with the UPFA for the Moneragala district and they contest separately for the Badulla district. That happened in the Eastern Provincial Council Election as well. The NFF contested with us for the Ampara district and they contested alone for the Trincomalee district. The SLMC also contested separately for the Eastern Provincial Council. This won't have any impact on the UPFA's vote base.

Q: What are the Government'S strategies to win the highly-contested Uva Provincial Council Election?

A: Nine political parties are contesting the Uva Provincial Council Election under the UPFA banner. Last time, THE Uva PC election was held soon after the eradication of LTTE terrorism and the UPFA mustered nearly 82 percent of votes. It is not correct to think that the Government would achieve the same election results this time as well. However, the Government will achieve a resounding victory at the Uva PC elections.

The Government also conducts countrywide seminars at electoral level under its campaign “Rata rakina nil paura surakimu”. The 'Nil Balakaya' under the leadership of UPFA Parliamentarian Namal Rajapaksa has already conducted over 200 meetings countrywide.

The SLFP Women's Organisation also conducts meetings at electoral level and have already completed over 40 meetings. At present, the SLFP as a national project has strengthened its Youth organisations and Women's organisations at electoral and village level.

Q: What does the Seven Years Skills Development Plan anticipate? Are there any set targets?

A: During the rule of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, five major decisions have been implemented in skills development. One is that seven levels of National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) system was formed. It has paved the way to standardise vocational education at national level. As a second step, the first batch of graduates were produced in 2012. The University of Vocational Technology (UNIVOTEC) has been set up. The main obstacle in technical and vocational education is that there is no bridge between secondary and tertiary education. That gap is also sorted out.

A technology stream has been introduced for the G.C.E. Advanced Level. A bridge has been built between the school system and the workplace. This is an important initiative.

ADB experts told me that this change should have been made in Sri Lanka 50 years ago. Steps were also taken to set up University Colleges. Of 20 University Colleges, three were functioning now. Another three colleges will commence in November this year. These University Colleges have been set up as the next step to provide higher education opportunities for youth who study at Vocational Training Centres.

The Sri Lankan Qualification Framework (SLQF) will also be formulated. It will match any Sri Lankan Degree with the training courses conducted in the vocational education sector. It will go up to NVQ level 10. Avenues will be created for children who study at the Vocational Training Authority (VTA), technical colleges and Ceylon German Technical Training Institute to doctorate level.

All these key decisions are taken during President Mahinda Rajapaksa's tenure.

According to statistics, annually only 60,000 youth obtained vocational training in 2005. Vocational training opportunities have been given to 132,000 youth this year which is a two- fold increase. We should provide vocational training for 200,000 youth per year. This includes youth who do not qualify for university admission and G.C.E. Ordinary Level dropouts.

We could reach the 200,000 target by 2016.

There are masons, carpenters and plumbers who have no formal training in their trades. We have introduced a system titled Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) for those who have engaged in such trades and issue them with NVQ certificate. The Ministry in collaboration with the North Western Provincial Council issued such NVQ certificates to 500 people in Kurunegala on August 11. An awareness has arisen with regard to vocational education. For the first time, we have introduced a Nation Youth Policy.

For the first in Asia's history, the World Conference on Youth (WCY)2014 was held in Sri Lanka with the participation of youth from 168 countries. As the final outcome, the Colombo Declaration was launched.

Since the inception of the first WCY in Switzerland in 1936 up to 2010, the WCY was held in Mexico, the United Nations attempted to release one outcome document in collaboration with policy makers and youth leaders. But their attempt failed. The Colombo Declaration was launched at the conclusion of WCY 2014 as a joint statement of policy makers and youth leaders. This is a victory achieved at international level.