(Adapted to English from the original text in
Sinhala)
I am pleased to address this meeting
of the Asia Society. Many of my predecessors have also
addressed you. Yours is a very special institution.
This city which seems an image of globalization has
drawn millions of people to it through the centuries.
This is the birth place of billions worth of capital
and trillions of ideas. The Asia Society which is situated
in such a background is a place which nurtures the Asian
vision, so essential for the modern world. Therefore,
I am pleased to be able to use the opportunity to address
the United Nations, to also participate, even in a small
way, in this forum of yours. Madam President, while
thanking you for your invitation I commend you for your
leadership.
Development and people offer great
challenges to us. For an environment where globalization
threatens development and sovereignty, achieving peace
has become a difficult goal. In addition, this equation
is not without factors that make it even more complex.
The democratically elected governments of independent
states are today faced with challenges from non-formal,
reactionary, illegal, armed groups. These groups have
no right to represent any section of people. Governments
elected through the ballot find this task more difficult
as many have to respect human rights and freedom as
were as uphold the law and safeguard peace. Another
problem is the necessity for the governments to be responsible
to the people who elected them.
What we face in Sri Lanka is a closely
knit combination of these complexities. The problems
should be solved with transparency, both nationally
and internationally. We should do this while safeguarding
national security and also protecting the hallowed individual
freedom of the citizen. It is my intention to first
share with you some facts with regard to facing the
dual challenges of development and peace within a democratic
framework, and next to express a few of my own views
on these issues.
I do not wish to either enter into
a debate on whether the dawn of peace should precede
the challenge of development; whether peace should prevail
for development; or else, whether development would
help in the achieving of peace. Similar to the familiar
debate about the chicken and the egg, the dilemma as
to what should come first in this context is irrelevant.
It is my firm belief that there
exists a symbolic link between peace and development
that assist each other. Irrespective of a person’s
caste, tribe or religion he or she should be able to
contribute to the development process. They should have
every opportunity to obtain the dividends of peace and
reap its benefits. My aspiration is to implement a development
process at the rural level in the areas where Sinhalese,
Tamils and Muslims live, based on an accelerated development
strategy and a strong peace policy. Using the opportunity
I received in the November 2005 Presidential election
what I placed before the people was how we could achieve
peace and development in keeping with my vision. That
comprised my election manifesto known as “Mahinda
Chintana”. It contained my vision, together with
my plans and strategies to achieve an honourable peace
and economic development.
My election manifesto is a careful
compilation of well thought out ideas for a long term
program of action. This was produced following extensive
dialogue with all stake holders in the economy. As the
preamble to my manifesto I stated the following with
all humility:
“This earth and its vegetation is yours. But
they should be protected not only for your benefit but
also for the benefit of future generations. A ruler
is only a temporary trustee and not an owner of your
children’s heritage”
To realize this mission I received a very favorable
response and endorsement from the people. Therefore,
utilizing this invaluable opportunity I shall build
a healthy society that serves the needs of all including
children, women and adults. Such a society will promote
the qualities and values relevant to our country. This
should be done upholding human rights and good governance.
I have already launched a community
based rural development effort for the empowerment of
the poor. Through this we have identified the needs
of different sections of the community and carried out
suitable responses with the aim of empowering these
communities. Action is being taken to make the district
and provincial administrations more efficient in order
to decentralize the decision making process. Priority
has been given to the development of infra –structure
facilities. The key sectors of electricity, highways,
irrigation, water supply, ports and airports, transport
facilities, cities and investment zones have been prioritized
for this development. While this will bring about a
process of economic development throughout the country,
this will also bring about new opportunities to generate
employment and investment. Through this we expect to
build a healthy economic and social relationship between
the private sector and public services. Such relationships
could function when a competitive economic policy framework
that is both market friendly and export oriented.
My Government is committed to the
Millennium Development Goals of the United Nations,
which are very similar to the goals embodied in the
Mahinda Chintana. Implementing the Millennium Goals
of primary education, gender equality, reduction of
maternity and infantile morality rates are the victories
that we have already achieved. Despite the problems
faced by terrorism, Sri Lanka has succeeded in carrying
forward the socio-economic development of the country.
In Health Services, in 1990 we had
one doctor for every 10,000 persons but by 2005 we have
increased this to five. In 1990 for every 1000 live
child births there were 26 infantile deaths. It has
decreased to 12 by 2005. Similarly 96% of our child
births take place with the assistance of Health workers.
Also in 1990 68% of the population got clean water and
by 2005 it increased to 78%. In 1990 longevity at birth
was 71 years; it has increased to 74 by 2005.
Among the developing countries Sri
Lanka has the highest literacy rate, above 90%. During
the last few years educational facilities, especially
in secondary, tertiary and IT education, improved considerably.
The total number of Universities stands at 15. Through
the special “Nenasala” project we have taken
IT education to remote areas, with limited facilities.
Annually, more than 50,000 students are admitted for
government vocational and training courses. Eliminating
anomalies at regional level, more facilities have been
provided to investors in areas away from Colombo through
improvement of rural infrastructure facilities and monetary
incentives. The government has made efforts to maintain
a balanced regional development process by taking steps
to initiate 300 industries in Provinces outside the
Western Province and by implementing two rural infrastructure
development projects. These are the rural road development
programme called the “Maga Neguma” and the
coordinated rural development programme called the “Gama
Neguma”.
The Sri Lankan economy indicates
a good state of growth. The 6% growth in 2005 was increased
to 8.1% in the 1st quarter of 2006. On the whole, year
2006 is passing all targets to reach 7% growth. Through
balanced share market activity and high business credibility,
scope for development of our economy is clearly indicated.
It has been observed that during the first seven months
of 2006 the share market has been active and grown and
in the private sector, profits of large firms remained
high.
I wish to mention a few facts about
the biggest challenge facing us, which is the realization
of peace. I wish to place facts before you honestly
when speaking about this complex and yet very important
subject. Every government in Sri Lanka has made many
efforts to achieve peace with the most heavily armed
terrorist group, the LTTE. However, all these attempts
failed perhaps due to many reasons. The LTTE has on
every occasion withdrawn from the negotiation table
under some pretext. However, I should mention one fact
here. All elected governments having recognized the
grievances of every community living in Sri Lanka have
made efforts to find suitable solutions to them. In
making those efforts one thing we have to keep in mind
is our strong commitment to protect democracy and human
rights, honour the rule of law and maintain a pluralist
political system. At the same time we have to safeguard
the territorial integrity, sovereignty and the unitary
status of the country.
When I was elected President I gave
a pledge about my government’s unchanging commitment
to a political solution. I also promised to continue
talks with the LTTE. I promised this with the honest
intention of bringing about peace. I firmly stand by
those promises. Although the LTTE is not the sole representative
of the Tamil community, and, although their basic strategies
do not fulfill the needs of the Tamil people, I gave
those pledges with the intention of achieving peace.
Although many had doubts about the CFA signed in 2002,
we decided to act in accordance with it. In spite of
this it is saddening to note that the LTTE is treading
the murderous path, violating every provision of the
Ceasefire Agreement. It was long before I became President
that the LTTE itself decided not to continue negotiations
for peace under Norwegian facilitation.
Because the LTTE is continuing its
murderous activities and assassinations of innocent
civilians, many countries, especially Canada and EU
countries have banned it as a terrorist organization.
The European Parliament has adopted a number of important
measures against LTTE activities. I am pleased to state
that the US government also has started hunting down
those who supply arms to the LTTE. Today, the innocent
Tamil people in Sri Lanka are migrating to the Western
Province in large numbers. 54% of the total Tamil population
is now living outside the North East. Especially in
the Western Province they live and work happily. It
is no secret to the world that the LTTE is a murderous
outfit. Immediately after the EU ban of the LTTE they
made various statements against all EU monitors of CFA,
and monitors of those countries had to leave the country.
The LTTE should do only one thing; that is stop their
murderous activities, put an end to the massacre of
civilians, leave alone the Tamil community in Jaffna
and come to the negotiation table. There is nothing
else that they can do. It is regrettable that many are
forgetting the LTTE’s atrocities and cruel assassinations.
A member of the sub-committee on
a political solution of the All Party Conference summoned
by me, who was also the Deputy Secretary General of
the Peace Secretariat, one Ketheesh Loganathan, a Tamil
democrat, was cruelly gunned down by the LTTE, among
its atrocities.
Despite all this, I wish to state
that my Government remains committed to an honourable
peace through negotiation with the LTTE. Although many
countries may speak of terrorism in their own territory
they do not provide the terrorists with their needs
through humane considerations. However, our record is
different. When a LTTE member fell ill he was provided
facilities for medical treatment, despite their many
atrocities. All this is done with the honest intent
that some day they would enter the democratic process.
The LTTE robs a large portion of the food and other
material assistance the Government provides the Tamil
people in the North. What is so robbed amounts to many
millions.
The task before us is two-fold.
First, Sri Lankans and the International Community should
be determined to take the LTTE on to the democratic
path. It should not be possible for them to obtain any
recognition in the world as long as they are engaged
in terrorism. Secondly, Sri Lankans and the International
Community should extend all support to the political
solution we are formulating. We should be helped to
make that solution acceptable to all. I firmly believe
that we can find a solution acceptable to the majority
of our people. I have already prepared the foundation
to meet this dual challenge. I have shown the LTTE that
a militaristic policy is not in keeping with our search
for peace. We have shown them through our own military
successes over them that they cannot obtain a political
solution through their strategy of violence. The sole
aim of our military operations in the past months was
ensuring the security of the people and bringing the
LTTE to the negotiating table. Our actions are justified
because the operations to protect Mawil Aru, the people
of Muttur and restore the situation in Sampur, were
all taken in the longer interest of our national security.
My government has followed another
policy parallel to that of ensuring the security of
the state. This is the seeking of a solution through
a multi-party and multi-ethnic approach. I believe that
complex exercise will be fruitful. In keeping with my
mandate I have not forgotten an important factor in
all these efforts. That is the need to establish and
strengthen democracy, human rights and a multi-religious
culture in our country. I have fought for human rights
from the inception of my political life. I cannot abandon
those basic core values. There can be no value in any
peace process that betrays fundamental human rights.
We also cannot play around with the integrity and security
of our nation and country. The LTTE leadership has the
opportunity to demonstrate their true commitment to
peace. We can also relax certain political positions
we hold. My expectation is to agree to what agreement
can be reached on and carry on negotiations on other
issues. However, all this can be achieved only if the
LTTE stops its cruel killing of people, gives up all
terrorist activities and makes a firm commitment to
a genuine ceasefire.
I wish to summarize the challenges
that lie before Sri Lanka in the search for peace. The
difficulty of this task is emphasized by the fact that
is necessary to suppress the ideologies that are ranged
against peace in our country in carrying out this task.
These challenges are:
- Many people think that peace
is possible through an agreement between the government
and the LTTE only. Some believe that peace can be
achieved through the betrayal or destruction of the
core values of our country. I emphasize that genuine
peace should have a pragmatic approach and be acceptable
to all.
- Some others think this is possible
solely through constitutional reform. They propose
that this is possible through a federal or other state
structure. Although many may have the time to debate
about mere labels, it is regrettable that they cannot
comprehend the correct situation. I have neither the
time nor the need for such extended debate. What I
expect is to identify and approach the final result,
and then give it an appropriate name. Many are those
who make much profit through crises, arms deals and
bringing pressure on various groups both internationally
and within a country. The more crises and conflicts
there are the more they gain. We are at present seeking
to curb these pressures by working with friendly countries.
- Another problem we face is dealing
with people who believe in peace at any cost. I do
not see the value of peace where everything is sacrificed
for it. Individual freedom, human rights, democracy,
the people’s franchise and independence are
matters we cannot sacrifice for the cause of peace.
- There are still others who believe
that because the LTTE has signed a ceasefire agreement
and it comes for negotiations with the government
from time-to-time, we should remain silent in the
face of its illegal activities, violations of human
rights, terrorist attacks and threats to the sovereignty
of Sri Lanka by them.
After our victory in the election
back in November my government and I have launched
a prudent and well-thought-out course of action.
• We have clearly stated
that we can offer a long lasting solution only through
political negotiation and not through military action.
You will recall how the number of attacks by the LTTE
increased from November 17 last year through to April
25 this year. Despite all this escalation of attacks
our security forces did not fire a single shot in
retaliation. This situation lasted till the first
round of Geneva talks.
• Due to the inability of the present ceasefire
situation and the facilitation to prevent the terrorist
activities of the LTTE; and as the LTTE continued
to violate the ceasefire, it became incumbent upon
me to give a firm response through the security forces.
I had to take suitable steps to show the LTTE that
it would be futile to carry on with continued violations
of the ceasefire and engage in activities of war.
• No sooner the European Union named the LTTE
as a terrorist organization our government announced
that it was solely a step to move towards a political
settlement, and not reason for either the government
or the LTTE to engage in military activities.
• In keeping with the people’s mandate
I received at the Presidential election our government
established an All Party Conference for political
discussions; and to realize the policy of maximum
devolution of power stated in my policy statement
to Parliament, also appointed a committee of legal
and technical experts comprising all communities to
formulate a principled framework for such devolution.
The All Party Conference will study the recommendations
of this committee of experts, and whether the LTTE
shows willingness to negotiate with us or not, we
will seek the views of the people on such agreed proposals.
• I am entirely committed to solve the genuine
grievances and demands of the Tamil people. This applies
to other ethnic groups too. All of them comprise our
nation. As one who has raised his voice in defence
of human rights, I have worked both nationally and
internationally to safeguard the human rights of the
Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslim people, alike. I declare
my commitment to such work in the future too. I do
not wish to give an exploratory response to the debate
whether a Federal State is suited to us or not. My
greatest desire is to see a constitutional structure
that will ensure the development, happiness and prosperity
of the Sinhalese, Tamil, Muslim, Burgher and all people
that make our nation.
All this time I sought to present
to you the truth about the present situation and the
challenges before us, and to show you how an elected
government should overcome those challenges under democracy
and respect for law which we have cherished so long.
I hope you would appreciate the commitment of our government
to enter into an active political process on the one
hand and on the other the procedure adopted by us to
safeguard the security and good of our society.
With the objective of having a new
constitution for Sri Lanka I am ready to involve in
a deep political discussion with the LTTE at any level,
in order to ensure their active participation for that
purpose. I see it also as an inducement for the LTTE
to enter the democratic stream. We have already launched
that exercise. Although many people of the country have
expressed adverse opinions about the state of Norway,
I wish to state that I am prepared to go ahead utilizing
the facilitation offered by Norway and other friendly
countries.
I invite the LTTE to offer their
active participation to the democratic exercise launched
by us to share power by devolution through negotiation,
instead of demanding a separate state which is never
attainable, and engaging in military and terrorist activities.
The truth is that over 50% of the
Tamil people live not in the North–East but in
other areas outside it. Sinhalese and Muslim people
who lived in the North-East who have been expelled form
there are anxiously waiting to go back and live in the
homes owned by them. Tamil people who have migrated
to Colombo and other places in the Western Province
have become stakeholder of the economy, having made
large investments. The government continues to invest
billions for the infrastructure development of the North-East.
The LTTE knows very well that the economy is developing
despite the crisis situation created by it and warlike
activities in the artificially demarcated areas in the
North-East.
Understanding the efforts of the
Sri Lankan state and the duly elected government by
the people to effect change through a democratic constitutional
process, the LTTE should abandon terrorist activities
and to show that they are a group that has entered the
democratic stream. The Sri Lankan nation is anxiously
waiting to see this happen. What I can say is that to
make this a reality the LTTE should immediately come
to the negotiating table. I request the facilitators
to be creative transformers.
However, I wish to finally state that if the facilitators
proceed to further the existing situation it will not
be to our satisfaction.
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