A leader with a big heart

by Prime Minister D.M. Jayaratne

The year was 1994. It was the year when the People's Alliance (PA) Government was formed after 17 years of sinister rule of the UNP regime. The victory ushered in an era free of post-election violence, full of joy and happiness, enabling the entire population of the country to breathe a sigh of relief.

As the General Secretary of the party, I worked relentlessly, encountering numerous hardships on some occasions, even foregoing meals and being satisfied with just a glass of water.

As a result of the dedication, hard work, untiring efforts, and courage of all SLFPers and sympathisers, Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga became the President of the country. This election had left an indelible memory of a very special incident in my mind and that incident prompted me to write this article.

There came the time of selecting members for the Cabinet of Ministers. It was after several rounds of discussions that Mahinda Rajapaksa, the people-friendly politician, was named for the post of Minister of Labour and Vocational Training. The Government began its work and even before an year had passed, Minister Rajapaksa started delivering the goods.

To everybody’s astonishment, he launched a massive program to bring about sustainable solutions to the burning problems of the working class. Many labour issues that received only lip-service from many successive ministers were solved by him and he sometimes unhesitatingly engaged in hot arguments even with the President for the benefit of the working class. His was the ‘voice of the people’ in the Cabinet.

A most challenging job for Mahinda as the Minister of Labour and Vocational Training was to draft the Labour Convention for the benefit of the labour force of the country. The Minister managed to complete this task by the end of 1995.

Another important Bill enacted by Parliament during his tenure as the Minister of Labour and Vocational Training was the Vocational Training Authority Act. Even after 15 years, I am of the view that this Act serves as an important piece of legislation as future prospects of the children who do not get selected to universities to pursue higher education is concerned.

Interesting incident

An interesting incident about Mahinda as the Minister of Labour and Vocational Training, which I learnt from a reliable source, is worth mentioning here as it will add more credibility to our leader. One morning in 1996, a person had stepped into Minister Rajapaksa's office room in his then residence at Wijerama Road. At the time, the Minister had been discussing his program for the day with his Private Secretary. The visitor had requested the Minister's assistance to sell a property he owned at Bristol Street in the Fort, to the Employees’ Trust Fund, and had promised to pay the Minister a gratification of Rs. 80 million.

This had been the first nasty experience of this nature during the political and private life of Mahinda and made him spring from the chair furiously. Maybe realising the consequences, the visitor had vanished forthwith from the Minister’s residence. It had taken several minutes for the Minister to settle down from his anger. This information made my respect and liking for Mahinda increase by unprecedented proportions.

Among his many special qualities, the most outstanding was that he was not representing the urban bourgeois. This resulted in scant admiration of Mahinda Rajapaksa by the Capitalist Class. The news that Mahinda was to become the President of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party caused bewilderment among the right wing capitalist class of the country.

This leader who emerged from an agriculture background could formulate his own method of governance hitherto not tried by any leader of this country. Through this novel approach, he could register himself in the minds and hearts of the people as ‘The Great Leader Who Saved the Country'. It is none other than Mahinda Rajapaksa who had the courage and bravery to unite the country and prove his mettle as a forthright leader from the village.

It is a false allegation levelled by many that the concept of ‘Wonderful Sri Lanka’ is limited to billboards. This concept had been conceived in the mind of Mahinda Rajapaksa when he first became a Member of Parliament and was the youngest Member of the then Parliament. Infrastructure development, modernisation of rural roads, flyovers, airports, ports and harbours took pride of place in his construction plans for the country’s development. He dedicated his time for development activities, even during the time when fierce fighting was impeding the forward march of the country.

The decision taken by him, as the Commander of the three Armed Forces, to completely eradicate the LTTE by a Humanitarian Operation, is ample testimony to his forthrightness and bold decision-making.

Historic decision

This historic decision holds testimony to his bravery, straight-forwardness and statesmanship, which no other leader of Sri Lanka had ever demonstrated. Not only our former leaders, but most powerful nations of the world had over-estimated the strength of the LTTE as an invincible terrorist organisation. Instead of helping defeat LTTE terrorism, the nations of the Western world constantly tried to persuade the Sri Lankan Government to arrive at a negotiated settlement with the LTTE instead of militarily defeating Prabhakaran, for which the LTTE leaders had never prepared. Mahinda’s was a different standing. He knew that there will be pressure from within the country and internationally as well.

However, none of these pressures could change his decision. His genuine need was to completely eradicate the separatist activities which for some politicians served as a money-spinner. This genuine need and commitment gave him the strength and courage to defeat all criticism against the humanitarian operation both within his Government and outside.

No country ever had perfect leaders. All great leaders have had their weaknesses. Through my own experience, I could guarantee that Mahinda is the very-near-perfect leader I have ever met.

Only a full-fledged government service could strengthen the hand of the ruler of a country. It is regretted that in Sri Lanka the government service has not reached the expected level of efficiency and quality. If the members of the government service, who were in the forefront to bring Mahinda into power want to respect him, they should perform their duty with responsibility and efficiency.

Mahinda Rajapaksa’s other special characteristic is that he has a big heart for the people of the country. It is his sensitivity that, on some occasions causes him difficulties, I believe, as some people around him try to abuse this noble quality for their advantage. It is time that the President became more cautious when selecting his trusted lieutenants. This is the era when the acumen of our beloved leader will be put to rigorous test. I am confident that he has every strength to withstand it successfully.