It
gives me great pleasure to be in your presence today
in this august assembly after a lapse of many years.
I have been here earlier as Minister of Labour
and I have enjoyed my interaction over the years with
the Organisation - and with the different delegations,
whether they were government or worker delegations or
employer delegations.
Allow me to extend to
you, Mr. President, our warmest congratulations on your
election to the Presidency of the ninety sixth sessions
of the International Labour Conference. I would
also wish to extend our congratulations to the Director
General for his impressive and comprehensive report
in which he highlights the issues concerning the world
of work.
My visits to the ILO from time to time have been a great
learning experience and a particularly enriching influence
on my political career which has spanned over 36 years.
My political life has been constantly influenced
by the aspirations of the working classes of my country.
Contacts with employers too have been quite extensive
and this has given me a well rounded perspective about
decent work. Indeed, the value system on which
I have based my political life is anchored in the well
being of the working classes.
I have been impressed
by the tripartite character of your organisation and
this concept has been close to my heart for a considerable
period of time. It is my firm belief that social dialogue
based on the concept of tripartism can make a positive
and substantial contribution to a country's overall
development. The value of the tripartite system
was confirmed in 1944 in the Declaration of Philadelphia
concerning the Aims and Purposes of the ILO, formally
incorporated in its constitution.
As far as Sri Lanka
is concerned, it must be stated that in the case of
minimum wage fixation, tripartism began long years ago.
In point of fact, tripartite wage fixing machinery
was first introduced into labour legislation by the
enactment of the Minimum Wages Indian Labour Ordinance
of 1927. The second experiment in Tripartite Wage Fixing
Machinery in Sri Lanka was in the year 1944 where Wages
Boards were established to fix minimum rates of wages
and other terms and conditions of employment of workers
in different trades.
Yet another example of Tripartite Consultative Bodies
operating in my country would be the National Labour
Advisory Council activated during my tenure as Minister
of Labour in which leading trade unionists, employee
representatives and government officials are represented
to discuss and determine labour policy. I firmly believe
that the promotion of genuinely tripartite national
consultations, in which employers and workers' organisations
make a significant contribution to the formulation of
economic policies, would help bring about a social consensus
on economic adjustment and foster partnership in development.
The ILO has been in
the forefront to upgrade the life of the workers of
all sectors. It has been clamouring and has spear-headed
the movement to ensure equal pay for equal work for
women. Undoubtedly, whilst it has made tremendous improvements
in the working conditions of women, it has been a critical
influence to eliminate child labour.
Sri Lanka has always
ensured that women are provided with decent work environments,
equal pay, and has been very strict about employing
child labour. It is appropriate for me to say
that, having gained admission to the ILO in 1948, Sri
Lanka has been a party to 31 ILO Conventions including
its eight core conventions. This is particularly appropriate;
because Sri Lanka's unique strength lies in the quality
of its human resources.
We have had a proud history of worker participation
in the political life of our society. Worker activists
have been elected in their own right, first to the State
Council in 1931, and then to Parliament since 1948.
There is no doubt that it was their activism which was
substantially responsible for Sri Lanka achieving unprecedented
social standards for a Third World Country. I
am proud to say that Sri Lanka achieved Universal Adult
franchise in 1931 and women gained the right to vote,
before this right was achieved in many Western countries.
In formulating our public
policy, we have always tried to strike a balance among
3 objectives - macro economic management, development
and welfare. We have provided a large number of
welfare measures. Education has been compulsory
for all children below 14 years. We have a proud
inheritance of providing free education in the government
schools, universities and our technical colleges. We
have provided free medical care to all our citizens
and we do provide certain consumables at a subsidised
rate to those below the poverty line.
Our compliance with
global standards has gained Sri Lanka the right tomarket
its garments under the slogan "garments without
guilt".
With all these welfare
measures and a sharp focus on the development of the
human being, it's no wonder Sri Lanka enjoys a very
high rating in the UN development index at 93. We are
also on the way to achieving or surpassing many of the
Millennium Development Goals. All these benefit
the worker, the rural farmer and the self employed.
Our government will
continue to follow socially oriented policies with the
interest of the working classes uppermost. It
is with that in mind we launched our rural development
movement "Gama Neguma" - the revival of the
village - to improve the life of the rural masses who
have tended to be left behind by the rapid development
of the cities. This programme encompasses all
aspects of rural life including livelihoods of people
and will uplift rural communities. The theme of
this programme is central to the aims of ILO - the empowerment
of people and the provision of opportunity for the fullest
development of the human personality.
We are proud that our
social attitudes have been conditioned by a caring culture
nurtured over two millennia. Sri Lanka, as a predominantly
Buddhist country, has always had a very strong compassionate
approach to fellow human beings. This is a cultural
dimension which we share with our neighbours. In
this context, I would also like to mention that, unlike
those countries that discovered human rights in the
aftermath of the massive destruction caused by global
wars and bloody social revolutions, caring for fellow
human beings has been very much a part of our philosophy
for thousands of years.
This rich inheritance
will be part of our policies in the future as well.
Of course, in the midst of conflict there may
be lapses on the part of individuals. However,
our efforts are consciously directed towards addressing
these lapses so that our intrinsically caring nature
can dominate our policies even at the most difficult
of times.
One of the biggest challenges
confronting our carefully developed social institutions
is the threat of terrorism, which is today a matter
of global concern. A ruthless terrorist group,
the LTTE, continues to challenge us, determined to force
us to compromise on the standards that we have developed
over the years.
Terrorism has no place
in the contemporary world. As a government, we
are not prepared, at any cost, to bow down to terrorism.
Would any of your governments submit to terrorism
had they been in our position? However, we are
determined that in a democracy like ours where political
views can be expressed freely, political objectives
must be realised through negotiation and dialogue and
through compromise. There can be no room for extremism,
and even less for violence.
My government has been
able to form a coalition of 13 democratic political
parties to work in harmony for the well being of the
country. Most of them opposed me at the Presidential
election. All Muslim parties and Tamil parties except
one are in my government. We are a multi ethnic government.
Such a government cannot and will not discriminate any
minority groups.
When I assumed the Presidency of my country in November
2005, I had already declared that I was willing to talk
to the LTTE and even its leader, towards a negotiated
settlement of the conflict we have been facing for over
twenty years. After two weeks of my assumption
of the Presidency, the LTTE commenced its killing spree,
by killing a group of unarmed soldiers taking food to
their colleagues. It continued killing innocent
civilians and soldiers regularly.
Then in April 2006,
just five months into my Presidency, they attempted
to kill the Commander of the Sri Lanka Army in Colombo
while he was on his way home. Fortunately, the suicide
bomber failed to assassinate him. Even then, our
Armed Forces did not retaliate, but only took deterrent
action. In June 2006, exactly a year ago, the LTTE closed
an agricultural canal that provided water to nearly
30,000 acres of rice fields and 15,000 families. No
amount of appeals to re-open the canal softened them,
and the Armed Forces had to forcibly open the canal.
Thereafter, the LTTE
evicted 53,000 Muslims from the town of Mutur and later
launched a massive attack on Jaffna and Trincomalee
harbour. It is then that we had to clear the entire
East and I am glad to say that we are now successfully
resettling the people who fled their homes due to the
escalation of the conflict.
Today, there is a misunderstanding and false propaganda
that we are involved in ethnic cleansing. This is absolutely
false. I must remind this august assembly that
it is the LTTE which resorted to heavy ethnic cleansing
from the early nineteen eighties. They evicted all the
Muslims and the Sinhalese from the North.
Friends,
Those countries afflicted
with the menace of terrorism know very well what they
have to undergo. These terrorist outfits cannot
be contained easily. Our Armed Forces and the Police
have had to be extra smart in containing the LTTE. I
want to assure you that our Armed forces and the Police
are among the most disciplined in the world, and they
have great respect for human rights. Any lapses on their
part will be promptly investigated and corrective action
taken. But I am sad to say that there has been
so much of false propaganda against the Sri Lankan Armed
forces and the Police that is being taken so seriously
by the rest of the world.
Recently, there was
much concern when we cleared some lodging houses inColombo.
On average 20,000 persons occupy these lodges
and only 302 persons were the subject of this evacuation.
In fact many left voluntarily. Please do
not forget that over sixty per cent living in Colombo
are Tamils and Muslims. Almost all suicide bombers
have operated from these lodging houses, and therefore,
we have had to keep an extra vigil over them. As our
government declared, if any inconvenience was caused
to innocent persons, we regret it very much.
A Presidential Commission of Inquiry has been set up
to investigate into some of the killings that had happened
in the past. Its work is being observed by an
International Independent Group of Eminent Persons.
All the observers came on our invitation as we want
to establish the truth. Very few governments would have
done what we did and none has done it so far. We
are open to scrutiny because we respect human rights,
democracy and the freedom of the people. Unfortunately,
it is our flexibility and sincerity that seems to encourage
the global non governmental community to demand further
involvement.
We do not believe in
a military solution. Therefore, I invited all
democratic political parties in Parliament to form an
All Party Conference, the APC. The purpose of the APC
is to formulate political proposals, to ensure political
reform and through that address the grievances of the
minorities. An All Party Representative Committee
is in the process of examining an array of proposals
that have been submitted. I firmly believe that
the outcome of this process will be satisfactory. We
look to our friends around the world to assist in our
hour of need.
My party, the Sri Lanka
Freedom Party, also submitted a set of proposals which
proposed devolution to the district level. Prior
to the establishment of Provincial Councils in 1988,
government effectively dealt with people's issues with
a network of 25 district secretariats. In order to devolve
power to the lowest level possible, the SLFP proposed
the District level devolution, while creating a Grama
Rajya, quite similar to the Panchyati Raj system in
India. We strongly believe that people at the grass-root
level will be truly empowered if we adopt the district
level devolution.
We expect this process
of finding the right solution to political reform, to
continue evolving. However, we await the final outcome
of the discussions at the APC - a set of reform proposals
through consensus among the members of the All Party
Conference.
Friends,
I have had the good
fortune of being an employee, a trade unionist and a
Labour Minister. All these opportunities and tripartism
have given me the privilege of learning, of acquiring
the ability to be flexible and to be practical in my
thinking. That is why I am able to work with a large
number of political parties within the government and
provide a platform for consensual politics and governance.
I also want to ensure that workers become a strong force
in our societal fabric, with the ability to take part
fully in all aspects of National life.
Most workers are poorer
than they ought to be. They are in a debt cycle
which they cannot get out of. Are we sincerely
addressing these issues of the worker? It is time for
us to think very seriously whether all the covenants
we are party to, will really help the worker to have
a better life. In a rapidly changing world, we
have to think again about many of the values and ideas
we have inherited.
Distinguished Delegates,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Our efforts must be
to look at labour afresh where ILO has worked over a
period of time to bring about a decent work agenda.
A decent work agenda is important because it is
central to peoples' lives. Work is also at the
heart of politics. As a politician, these are
some of the issues that I have seen which people vote
on. It has been said that elections are won and
lost on promises, successes and failures to deliver
opportunities for work. Therefore, it is important
that we have high quality in the work place.
My belief is that a
satisfied worker will be the key to a country's prosperity.
This compels me to request the United Nations,
other international organisations, the developed countries,
and international lending institutions to think primarily
of the worker. It is the worker who is at the
centre of development. In this context, the suspension
of post tsunami recovery aid by certain countries is
a direct blow to the workers themselves.
Lending policies and
conditions for assistance need to be attuned to ensurethat
lives of the worker are made better. A satisfied
worker will also ensure corporate profitability. A
worker whether in the agricultural, industrial, commercial
or any other sector, is the core of development.
Most workers in the
developing world come from rural environments. Unless
we raise the dignity of the rural worker, the rural
peasant, the rural technologist, the rural artisan,
we will never be able to uplift our rural areas and
of course the majority of the working class. I
make a fervent appeal, therefore, to this august assembly,
whose heart is with the worker, to consider these thoughts
and deliberate on policies that will make the worker,
a satisfied person and the environment in which he lives,
mostly rural areas, to be more conducive to a pleasant
and productive life.
I must sincerely thank the ILO, the oldest specialized
institution in the UN system, for being an organisation
that has encouraged the whole world to recognize the
value of the worker. This is one organisation
which concentrates on the individual, his skills, his
happiness, his working conditions, occupational health
and safety and also the environment in which the work
is done.
I am also grateful to the Director General for extending
this rare invitation and conferring upon me the honour
to address this august assembly. I wish to say
that our commitment to the ideals of the ILO, whatever
challenges we may confront, remains steadfast. We
will continue to look after and develop our democratic
institutions and improve the life of the worker.
Let me conclude by saying
that we will never shirk our responsibility to ensure
a better future for the working masses of Sri Lanka.
We will always be guided by the caring nature
that we inherited from our forefathers, as we look forward
to the future. In conclusion, let me thank all those
present for your kind attention and I sincerely hope
there will be many more future Heads of State and Government
from among the Labour ministers present here today.
May the Noble Triple Gem bless you all!
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