Lifting of Emergency Regulations hailed

by Manjula FERNANDO, Ranil WIJAYAPALA, Uditha KUMARASINGHE and P. Krishnasamy

The Sunday Observer spoke to a cross section of politicians, religious leaders and civil society on the lifting of Emergency Regulations by the Government. They commended the Government for its decision, saying it will boost democracy and human rights. The Government's move, announced by President Mahinda Rajapaksa in Parliament, was widely praised locally and internationally.

Here are excerpts from the interviews:

UPFA General Secretary and Petroleum Industries Minister Susil Premajayantha:

The Government through the decision taken to lift the Emergency Regulations has shown its genuine willingness to give peace dividends to the people.

This is the first time that steps were taken by a Government to lift the emergency regulations in recent times. Our people are always committed to respect to the normal law of the country.

Due to the conduct of public gatherings or any other demonstrations were not allowed without prior permission. Under the emergency regulations, the Police had also powers to arrest a person with a warrant issued by a court.

At present all these clauses have been removed paving the way to restore democracy within the country. Since the incidents of Black July in 1983, the Governments in power had to impose emergency from time to time up to 2005.

Senior Minister for Human Resources D.E.W. Gunasekera:

Lifting the Emergency would strengthen the democratic process and the confidence of the people.

The Minister said even though the emergency was implemented during the past few years, except to combat terrorism, the Government never used for it for any other purpose. The Government always implemented the emergency with a lot of responsibility. The emergency was needed to eradicate terrorism as the normal law was not adequate to fulfil that task. The Government had to introduce emergency from time to time as the terrorism prevailed in the country during the past three decades.

However, after the military operations against terrorism were completed, the Government relaxed the clauses of the emergency regulations one by one. Several draconian laws of the emergency were removed last month as well. The President is satisfied there is no need to extend the emergency. Earlier the Armed Forces had to fulfil their duties the under the emergency law. Now they should also resort to the normal law as the emergency has been lifted.

The Government has also gained praise from the international community due for its decision to lift the emergency. Government would govern the country under the normal law and further strengthen the country's democratic process, the Minister said.

Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development Minister Dr. Rajitha Senaratne:

The lifting of the Emergency is a historic decision taken by the Government. Today people can be relieved as there is no emergency.

According to the present normal law of the country, a person can only be arrested by the Police and the Armed Forces have no powers to do so. The decision taken by the Government to lift the emergency has enhanced the civil society.

That is why the US Government has commended this decision taken by the Government. At present the Government has been able to bring normality to the country and lead the country towards democracy.

Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe has appreciated the move taken by the Government. Therefore everybody should commit to use the normal law with responsibility.

Construction and Engineering Services Minister Wimal Weerawansa:

The decision taken to lift the emergency has proved that Sri Lanka is a peaceful country which has ensured the democratic rights of the civil society.

However, the normal law in the country should be operated properly without giving any room to the terrorist elements to raise their ugly head.

The Minister said the intention of the Government was to lift the emergency and bring the country under the normal law once the terrorism was eradicated from the country.

But the Government had to systematically relax the clauses of the emergency regulations due the prevailing situation of the country at that time. The Government has been able to completely lift the emergency as the country has returned to the normality. This is another most welcome step taken by the Government.

Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) General Secretary, M. T. Hassan Ali MP:

That this is a very welcome move. The war is over and the people are living in peace and the President has taken the right decision at the right moment. What is most important now is that the people should feel the change.

The police and the Security Forces should be given clear instructions to make sure that the people feel the change after decades of tension and fear.

For the first time in several years elections are to be held with no Emergency in force. So the people's enthusiasm to take part in the democratic process should be reflected at the polls and it is up to the Police and the Security Forces to make sure that this happens.

President of the Ceylon Workers' Congress (CWC) and Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs Muthu Sivalingam:

The lifting of the Emergency is a great relief to the plantation community. The President has done what he said he would do at the right moment. The plantation community was also greatly affected during the Emergency period.

Many estate youth who went to the cities for jobs were detained because they did not possess documents to prove their identity. They also encountered problems while travelling to Colombo and other cities to attend to important matters.

All this is now over and we delightfully welcome the President's decision. We believe that the plantation youths who were arrested on suspicion during the prevalence of the Emergency and in detention will be considered for release soon, he said.

Eelam People's Democratic Party leader and Traditional Industries and Small Enterprise Development Minister Douglas Devananda:

It is the responsibility of all citizens in the country to protect the peaceful environment which was created enabling the government to lift Emergency Regulations since it is a move which can please both the law-abiding citizen and those who value democracy.

Due to the war situation that prevailed in the country the Government decided to enact the Emergency Regulations to maintain law and order. Even amidst that situation the government implemented laws protecting the rights of the ordinary citizen.

The Emergency Regulations restricted the democratic rights of the people to a certain extent and we express our gratitude to President Mahinda Rajapaksa for lifting Emergency Regulations fully.

The Lifting of Emergency Regulations is one of the long-standing hopes of the Tamil community. At the same time it is the responsibility of the Tamil community not to create an environment again in the country to reinforce Emergency Regulations by protecting the peaceful situation and resorting to peaceful means to seek a political solution and solutions for other problems faced by them. That is the responsibility of all citizens in the country.

Secretary of the Democratic Left front and National Language and Social Integration Minister Vasudeva Nananyakkara:

With the move by the president to lift emergency laws those who oppose the Government will lose yet another trump card and on the other hand , the vociferous uproar by imperialist forces that the current regime is undemocratic will become baseless.

It is anticipated that the 'Grease Devils' as well as other devils who terrified the people of the North and East will vanish with the decision to to lift Emergency Regulations fully. Emergency Law is the suspension of the ordinary law. A large number of regulations could be enforced or removed from time to time under the emergency law. Since the Emergency Regulations which are enforced are published in ordinary gazette notifications, it is very difficult for the public to find them out.

However, what is important is that administrative functions could take place under the ordinary law from today.

This means that there will be opportunities for the exercise of a large number of civil rights of the general public.

However, one could argue that the Prevention of Terrorism Act is still in force. In any case the Prevention of Terrorism Act, unlike emergency law, is more specific and more limited.

It is also subject to the supervision of the judiciary. The most significant result of lifting the emergency law is the opportunity it will provide to a group of detainees amounting to 6000 in camps to get their release, the Minister said.

All those who value democracy feel satisfied with this situation. Those who oppose the Government will lose yet another trump card. On the other hand , the vociferous uproar made by the imperialist forces that the current regime is undemocratic will become baseless.

This could be regarded as yet another measure taken by President Mahinda Rajapaksa to fulfil the promise to bring prosperity to the people by defeating terrorism and ensuring freedom and democracy.

Therefore, it is our firm belief that positive measures based on democracy will be taken by the President as well as UPFA government.

Senior Minister Prof. Tissa Vitharana:

I personally and the Lanka Sama Samaja Party is very happy that the state of Emergency has been lifted. I wish to express our gratitude to the President for having done so.

The need for the emergency arose with the assassination of Foreign Minsiter Lakshman Kadirgamar in 2005 and it was certainly necessary during the period of the war but with the ending of the war and progressive return of the country to peaceful environment free of terrorism, it is no longer necessary.

This is going to be very useful for the future in the sense that it will dissuade people who have been making use of the emergency power situation to abuse power in various ways which has had an impact on human rights as well as democratic rights. This will strengthen human rights and democratic rights.

The other point I would like to make is, as we know there have been continuous attacks on the country and the Government by foreign forces still influenced by the LTTE ideology and there are the opponents of the country who have vested interests both economically and politically and they have been using the fact that there is an emergency to attack the Government, especially on matters of Human rights and democratic rights. That weapon is now taken away from their hand.

The other point I would like to make is, with regard to building unity in our country, as we know a select committee of parliament is being formed to work out a political solution, the removal of the emergency will have a salutary effect on that process. Those who participate especially the Tamil and Muslim representatives as well as the opposition, the UNP, will have a better environment in which to proceed with the discussions. So I think the lifting of the emergency is an extremely good step and I commend it.

National Director for Social Communication Centre, Father Benedict Joseph:

The lifting of the Emergency is a welcome decision. The People were awaiting this for a long period. When the emergency regulations are in force citizens of the country cannot take full benefit of the law and lead a normal life. It was a timely decision as well.

The governments had to impose the emergency laws because of the conflict situation in the North and the East and also dangerous actions of the LTTE. At the same time there were also a lot of conflicts among the youth in the South. In that sense it was necessary.

Two years have passed since the conflict ended. We see the difference now. People can move freely according to their wish.

They now enjoy the freedom of a free country.

The Opposition in particular was demanding the lifting of emergency laws. With this we must seriously think about letting people enjoy the full benefits of the democratic process.

The Government has a duty to ensure that the law of the country be given full force in solving the various problems that could crop up within the country in the future.