Address by Hon. Mangala Samaraweera, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka at the International Institute for Middle-East and Balkan Studies (IFIMES), Slovenia, 7 September 2016
Prof. Dr. Ernest Petrič
Vice President of the Advisory Board of the International Institute for
Middle-East and Balkan Studies, and Members of the Institute
Honorary Consul of Sri Lanka in Slovenia,
Excellencies,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It
is an honour for me to be here today, at the invitation of the
International Institute for Middle-East and Balkan Studies, to speak to
you about the changes that are taking place in my country.
Although
Sri Lanka is situated far away from where we stand here this afternoon
in geographical terms, this region of the Balkans and the region where
we are situated in South Asia, are both inheritors of ancient
civilisations and rich histories.
In
classical times, the Balkans lay at the heart of the Greco-Roman
civilisation, and was also influenced by Christianity and Islam. Today,
this region is home to a diverse ethno-linguistic people, not very
different from the region of South Asia that constitutes one-fifth of
the world’s population comprising diverse ethnic, religious and
linguistic groups. Today, South Asia is a mix of the ancient and the
modern – with the influence of western colonisation having left its mark
as well, on language, religion, attire, food, architecture, culture,
literature and every conceivable aspect of social life.
Each
of the nations in South Asia, including Sri Lanka, continues to grapple
with issues of nation building in the post-independent modern era while
adjusting to the rapidly evolving modern technological advancements,
globalisation, and dealing with challenges posed by climate change,
migration, urbanisation, terrorism and violent extremism, and taking
steps to achieve equitable and sustainable development, and economic
growth.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
My
country, Sri Lanka, has an ancient history steeped in myth and legend,
influenced by beliefs and folklore, which is no different to this
region. We also have a recorded history dating back over two thousand
years. Vast ruins of ancient kingdoms, temples, irrigation tanks and
engineering feats are still visible today, indicating that Sri Lanka was
the seat of one of the small but important historical civilisations of
Asia at the time.
The
geographic location of Sri Lanka, in the Indian Ocean, midway between
East and West, and just 48 km away from India, made Sri Lanka a
significant part of the maritime history of the pre-colonial and ancient
world; providing ports for the exchange of goods between East and West;
and a contact point between two great regions.
At
the time of Independence in 1948, after 150 years of British rule, Sri
Lanka, then Ceylon, was placed in a unique position among the countries
in the developing world. We started practicing universal adult franchise
as early as 1931. We were considered a model Commonwealth country,
carefully prepared for Independence, with a relatively good standard of
education, two universities of high quality, a civil service largely
consisting of trained locals, and with experience in representative
government.
The
different communities in the country showed promise of being able to
live and work towards common national goals in peace, harmony and unity.
They had worked together to gain independence from the British despite
the fact that they followed different faiths, spokes different languages
and followed different customs.
However,
our nation faltered. Successive leaders of our peoples, since
Independence, made mistakes which saw our country plunge into torment
and conflict for well over three decades.
Our
country experienced the trauma of two youth insurrections in the South
(in 1971 and in the late 1980s to early 90s); a separatist movement
which manifested in terrorism in the North and the East of the country
for over two decades; and death and devastation caused by the December
2004 tsunami.
After all this, when our country saw the end of violence unleashed by terrorism on the 19th of May 2009, everyone belonging to every community heaved a sigh of relief.
It
was our fervent hope that Sri Lanka could at last resume her long
suspended dream for a better, peaceful, united future. The future that a
newspaper in London had predicted for us at the time of Independence
way back in 1948 – that Sri Lanka, in time to come, would no doubt
become the ‘Switzerland of the East’. However, this was not to be. We failed to seize the opportunity to achieve meaningful reconciliation and consolidate peace.
The
6 years or so since May 2009 saw Sri Lanka take an unfortunate journey
on an autocratic path. Civil liberties were curtailed, independence of
institutions including the judiciary was compromised, democracy was
weakened, the rule of law was undermined, and good governance practices
and human rights were violated with impunity.
We
failed to address the causes of conflict in a manner that would
guarantee durable peace, meaningful reconciliation and non-recurrence.
Divisions in society were becoming deeper along religious and ethnic
lines, freedom of speech and expression were curtailed, and fear and
intimidation pervaded society.
Our
nation which had been a prominent and respected member of the
international community since Independence, including in the United
Nations, abandoned her natural foreign policy of engagement, and chose
instead, to follow a policy of antagonising traditional friends and
partners, and isolated itself from the world community.
It was against this backdrop of a sense of total despair, that several parties in Opposition, which I like to call the ‘Rainbow Coalition’
joined forces. We came together to field a common opposition candidate,
Mr. Maithripala Sirisena, at the Presidential election in January 2015,
in response to the call by a large section of people in Sri Lanka who
were yearning for change.
Despite
an election campaign which was deeply flawed and one-sided, the rainbow
coalition of the opposition scored a decisive victory on the 8th
of January, on a platform promising far reaching democratic and
constitutional reforms. The people of Sri Lanka reasserted their
commitment to democracy by dislodging an emerging dictatorship through
non-violence.
Not stopping
at that, the people voted once again at the Parliamentary Election in
August last year to uphold the same values and norms. Most importantly,
for the first time in Sri Lanka’s history, with the support of the
people we have formed a National Unity Government, bringing together the
two main rival political parties in the country, the Sri Lanka Freedom
Party led by President Maithripala Sirisena, and the United National
Party led by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.
This unprecedented move has heralded a new
culture of consensual politics, providing the much needed political and
policy stability in our country to undertake far reaching reform and
important decisions in the long-term interest of our nation.
Addressing the inaugural session of Parliament on 1 September last
year, following the Parliamentary Election in August, the President
explained that the formation of a National Unity Government is essential
to obtain the bipartisan consensus that is necessary to face the
important challenges before our nation, which include reconciliation and
peacebuilding.
Today
therefore, for the first time since Independence, the myopia that
plagued our nation has been set aside. The temptation of political
parties to follow
a path of confrontation in order to achieve short-term political gains
over the long-term interests of the people is now over, and we have in
our Leader of Opposition, Hon. R. Sampanthan, a wise, committed and
respected politician with the resolve to work together to ensure that we
do not let our country lose yet another opportunity.
Fortunately,
today, with the demise of the LTTE, no one in our country believes that
violence is a solution to our problems. The desire for peace, the
desire to ensure non-recurrence is clear. The people of our country, in
every walk of life, the rich and the poor, those living in the North,
South, East, West and Centre, desperately want peace to last. They have
all suffered too much bloodshed and unimaginable agony.
The
National Unity Government therefore, is focused on fostering a national
consensus around the “never again” principle which everyone in our
country relates to.
We have set our nation on a historic journey. Our vision, very briefly, is to build a Sri Lanka that,
-safeguards, promotes and protects the rights and dignity of all, and equality of all;
-respects and celebrates the multi-ethnic, multi-lingual, multi-religious nature of our society;
-empowers our youth and our women;
-upholds the rule of law; respects democracy and fundamental freedoms including the freedom of the media;
-preserves our environment while taking steps to ensure integrated and sustainable development;
-gives
priority to securing the best education possible for our children and
youth, including the skills they require to meet the demands of the
global value chain; and securing the best health facilities possible;
-focuses on infrastructure development, and equitable economic growth required for the prosperity of all our people;
-enhances
and encourages understanding and preservation of culture, respect for
each other’s traditions and beliefs, and is always conscious of the need
to be a responsible and respected member of the international
community;
-gives priority always to the needs of the people of our country and what is in their best interest;
-is
reconciled, democratic, and prosperous, with a united and
entrepreneurial people, at peace with themselves, and at peace with the
world; and
-works
in engagement and in cooperation with the international community and
international organisations to address issues of concern, not only for
Sri Lanka, but for the region and the global community as a whole.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
During
the first 100 Days in Office itself, we took a series of important
steps to consolidate democracy and democratic institutions, despite not
having a confirmed majority in Parliament. These included the passage of
the 19th amendment to the Constitution through which the two-term limit
of the Presidency was re-introduced; the Constitutional Council was
appointed; Independent Commissions were restored; Right to Information
was recognised as a fundamental right; and the Promotion of National
Reconciliation and Integration were recognised as duties of the
President.
Our
focus is to pursue an agenda based on three main areas: strengthening
democracy; fostering reconciliation; and pursuing equitable economic
development for all our people.
While
consolidating the democratic gains achieved within the first 100 days
in Office, we have managed to take action on all fronts thereafter,
strengthening good governance and the rule of law; promoting and
protecting human rights; fostering reconciliation; and achieving
economic development; while engaging and working closely with the
international community in a constructive manner that benefits the
people of our country.
-The enactment of the Right to Information Act in June this year, was yet another step in strengthening our democracy;
-As
I said before, from May 2009, post-conflict reconciliation eluded us as
a result of short-sighted policies and the triumphalist approach that
was adopted immediately following the end of conflict. The National
Unity Government has approached reconciliation as a matter of urgent
priority. A series of symbolic and tangible steps have been taken
towards healing the wounds of conflict and addressing the grievances of
our people. We have put in place the structures required to coordinate
the setting up of key mechanisms required for this purpose. First among
them is an Office on Missing Persons. The legislation for the
establishment of this Office was passed in Parliament just last month.
This Office which has a humanitarian mandate, will have as its main
objective, ascertaining the fate of the missing, irrespective of when
and where they went missing and in what location, and seek to provide
answers to their family members and loved ones.
-A
Task Force consisting entirely of civil society representatives has
been appointed to seek the views of the public that will inform the
designing of the truth-seeking, justice, accountability and reparations
mechanisms that we propose to establish.
-The
Government is also working towards the adoption of a new Constitution
for Sri Lanka. This Constitution, while entrenching the democratic gains
we have achieved during the last year, will also be a celebration of
Sri Lanka’s diversity as a multi-ethnic, multi-religious, multi-lingual
country that will guarantee equal rights, justice and dignity for all,
and address some of the issues that have plagued us since Independence
and has stood in the way of our unity as a nation. The Public
Representations Committee tasked with seeking the views of the public
for the new Constitution has just completed its work, and their Report
has been handed over to the Government. The sub-committees tasked with
submitting proposals on fundamental rights, judiciary, law and order,
centre-periphery relations and public finance are to hand over their
reports to the Steering Committee of the Constitutional Assembly chaired
by the Prime Minister, shortly.
In
the last one-and-a-half years, we have completely changed the way we
engage with human rights mechanisms. Our objective is to uphold, promote
and protect the individual rights of all. As you are all aware, the
Government co-sponsored the Resolution titled ‘Promoting Reconciliation, Accountability and Human Rights in Sri Lanka’
at the UN Human Rights Council in September last year, out of our own
firm conviction that Sri Lanka must come to terms with the past in order
to forge ahead and secure the future that the people of our country
truly deserve. We have since extended a standing invitation to the UN
Special Procedures Mandate Holders. We received the Working Group on
Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances last November; the High
Commissioner for Human Rights in February; the Special Rapporteurs on
the Independence of Judges and Lawyers, and Torture in April-May this
year; we will be receiving the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of
Minorities in October; and we have just seen the conclusion of a very
successful visit by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr. Ban
Ki-moon.
We
still have a long way to go to achieve reconciliation. As you all know,
Ladies and Gentlemen, reconciliation does not happen at once. It
requires effort, hard work, commitment, and careful, continuous and
concrete action. It is not an end that can be reached where no further
work is required; and it is certainly not a box that can be ticked as a
task completed and achieved. It is a journey that requires constant
striving. A commitment towards which our nation should be bound across
generations, and a central tenet of governance. The price to pay, if we
falter, is not one that our nation can endure once again after over
thirty years of bloodshed that has spared no one.
For
some, the pace at which we are making progress appears too slow; and
for others, too fast. I would say that while victims and the general
public as well as some in the international community may be impatient,
after so many years of conflict, we cannot take risks that will make us
lose everything that we have gained in the last one-and-a-half years. So
we move with caution. Perhaps our approach could be described as what
the Romans called festina lente - making haste slowly.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Political
will and good intentions will not succeed unless all stakeholders in
our country feel that their development needs are being addressed and
cared for, and their living conditions are improving. Therefore, winning
the peace is just as much about jobs, education, healthcare and
infrastructure for all Sri Lankans as it is about political reforms. The
peace dividend must be felt in economic terms by all sections of Sri
Lankan society; the peace dividend for the unemployed youth must be
greater and better job opportunities; for the housewives – better
living standards; for the farmers – higher prices and access to markets;
for the students – more schools, technical colleges and universities
with better-trained teachers and lecturers; and for the elderly –
greater access to hospitals and medicine.
The
Government of Sri Lanka has no doubt that as the necessary political
and economic reforms take place, investments and trade and ultimately
jobs, growth and economic development will follow. But as the
relationship between peace and development is holistic and dynamic, the
faster the peace dividend is felt, the greater and faster the likelihood
and durability of peace. In a nutshell, the people’s purses must feel
the benefits of greater democracy, reconciliation, and peace. And they
must feel them fast.
We
are in the process of putting in place the economic plans and policies
required to sustain and accelerate Sri Lanka’s 6% plus growth rate;
attracting investment, creating a million jobs, developing Sri Lanka as a
hub – taking advantage of its geographic location; and expanding market
access; and improving living standards through an ambitious economic
development drive.
The
Government’s economic strategy is based on attracting foreign direct
investment, making Sri Lanka’s exports more competitive, promoting
tourism, and improving productivity through education and knowledge
transfer.
Sri
Lanka is at the centre of the rapidly growing Indian Ocean region,
astride the main East-West shipping route and next to one of the world’s
largest markets, India. We are leveraging this unique geo-economic
location to accelerate growth: negotiations are already underway to
deepen our existing free trade agreement with India. We plan to do the
same with Pakistan with whom we also have a free trade agreement. We
also plan to negotiate and conclude a Free Trade Agreement with China.
These Agreements – combined with our excellent air and sea connectivity
to the sub-continent – will help cement our position as a Gateway to the
sub-continent.
We
seek to also improve market access abroad. Due to the previous
Government’s short-sighted policies, we lost European Union GSP+
concessions. Having filed our application for GSP+ recently, we hope to
regain the facility by the end of the year.
A
concerted effort is also underway to improve the business climate
domestically. Far-reaching governance reforms that are rules based have
structurally made investment and business more secure and certain. Sri
Lanka is taking measures to increase investor’s ease of doing business
and confidence more directly. For example, we are bringing a number of
government agencies together to create a one-stop investment and
trade-facilitation shop under the Agency for Development. We are
reviewing our laws and regulations to create a simple rules-based
business environment: including those related to land ownership, as well
as tariffs and para-tariffs. We have adopted policies that enable
private enterprise to thrive: for example, Sri Lanka has one of the
lowest income tax rates in the world – at 15 percent. Together these
reforms – alongside our educated workforce and solid infrastructure –
are making Sri Lanka the most attractive, secure and competitive
investment destination in the region.
We
need further and faster support in poverty alleviation, urban
development, infrastructure development, education – particularly
vocational, technical and English language training – and agricultural
productivity improvements.
As
we in Sri Lanka strive to create a better tomorrow for all our people,
we value the partnerships we build with nations across the world to
assist us in our efforts in reconciliation and development; to promote
peace, security, and economic and social progress.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
We
are firm in our conviction to succeed in this journey for the sake of
all our people, vindicating the faith reposed on us by our friends in
the international community, but more than anything else, to do right by
the people of our nation and future generations, and secure for them
the destiny that we were unable to achieve 68 years ago at Independence.
Thank you.
source: www.mfa.gov.lk
