Looking forward to a Future of Prosperity

Looking forward to a Future of Prosperity
(Previously published in The Island/13th August 2010)

Beginning with the 1948 Independence we have had five watersheds that determined in turn the orientation of the Sri Lankan national polity over the past sixty-two years, the other four being 1956 (political empowerment of the common people), 1972 (the reinforcement of political independence through a republican constitution), 1978 (introduction of the executive presidency and open market economic strategies by a new constitution), and 2009 (achievement of a high level of political stability and national unity in the wake of the elimination of separatist terrorism, with enhanced prospects of accelerated economic development ).
The victory over terrorism to which we were held hostage for thirty long years allows us to look forward to a well earned future of peace and prosperity. It’s a grand vision. The Government has articulated this vision as that of transforming Sri Lanka into the commercial hub of Asia or Asia’s Economic Miracle in fact, which is by no means too far-fetched an ideal.
I personally believe that we have had only six national leaders of vision among the eleven ruling (from an executive position) at different times to date since Independence, six leaders able to imagine a better future based on their clear understanding of the existing state of affairs: Mr D.S. Senanayake, Mr S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike and his widow Mrs Sirima Bandaranaike, Mr J.R. Jayawardane and his successor Mr R. Premadasa, and the incumbent Mr Mahinda Rajapakse. Only leaders of vision make a lasting, positive impact on the course of a country’s history. Successful politicians, like great scientists, are persons of imagination.
A situation has evolved that fosters hopes of a bright future for Sri Lanka. Seven important factors, in my view, characterise the status quo: a stable administration under an able leader, a well established democratic form of government with a vibrant, discriminating electorate, broad international support secured without compromising national autonomy, the possibility of an unprecedented national consensus, major development programmes underway across the island, positive key economic indicators (though subject to fluctuation), and realistic expectations of future oil revenues. Of course, not everyone will share my optimistic assessment of the situation; besides, I am not unaware of the unfortunate reality that each factor mentioned above is undermined by its own intrinsic imperfections. Yet, I believe that unlike the average politician, the vast majority of us ordinary citizens prefer to focus on the benefit that accrues from each of these factors to the nation rather than on its potential for affecting the petty electoral fortunes of those on either side of the government-opposition divide, and will not fail to appreciate good things done for promoting the national interest, whoever is their author.
Mr Mahinda Rajapakse has been voted in for a second term at the helm, which he will start next November, in three months’ time. His re-election and the landslide win by the UPFA which he leads at the subsequent parliamentary election furnish clear proof of the public endorsement of his way of ruling and the popular recognition of his successful performance at the top. Ridding the country of terrorism amidst so much overt and covert opposition, both internal and external, was entirely due to his resourceful leadership. But the nature of politics being what it is, no politician can be expected to be perfect; there’s a tendency for certain individuals near and dear to him (not his brothers), though their loyalty to him is apparently absolute, to embarrass him with their quirky excesses. This the public still seem to be ready to tolerate (in the belief that our pragmatic President will bring them under control somehow), because they are anxious to have him lead the country for some years more until the victory over terrorism that he achieved is further consolidated and the country rebuilt. The President himself shows genuine concern with building democratic consensus about the decisions that he must make.
No one can deny that democracy broadly prevails in Sri Lanka today. One might express reasonable reservations, though. Institutions of democracy are intact: there’s media freedom; elections are held in due course, but naturally an element of strategic manipulation is not absent in their timing. The rule of law generally holds, and the government’s writ operates through the length and breadth of the country including the north and east for the first time in nearly thirty years. For a country just emerging from almost four decades of armed insurgency (first in the south under the JVP, then in the north and east under the LTTE) this is a remarkable situation.
In my opinion, it’s a national achievement, and it’s mainly due to the mature, patient, and intelligent electorate that Sri Lanka is lucky to have, more than to the exertions of politicians of every colour who try to influence its will. The vast majority reject every form of extremism, though we are saddled with a few extremist politicos, who are appropriately left in the doldrums. The opposition’s belly-aching about the high cost of living is incredibly naïve as a strategy to create disaffection with the government among the voters in spite of many examples of its extensive development efforts in evidence throughout the country. Do these purblind politicians think that the hundreds of thousands of ordinary people who have been converging on Hambantota over the past few days from all parts of the island just to have a glimpse of the bottom of the harbour basin before it permanently disappears under water will believe that the government is doing nothing by way of development?

Unlike some of his antagonists Mr Rajapakse has a great deal of empathy with these ordinary voters and likes to move among them, sit, talk, and eat with them whenever there’s an opportunity. He knows that they are literate people with a mature political sense; they are proud people who don’t like to be dictated to, and especially resent what they see as unnecessary foreign interference in their affairs. In Mr Rajapakse they believe they have a national leader who is strong enough not to be fazed by the impositions of the so-called international community, and who acts with great diplomatic aplomb as well as foresight in courting friendship with countries outside the circle of our traditional ‘allies’. Sri Lanka has been able to garner enough diplomatic support and protection from our foreign friends in the face of subtle attempts to condemn us in world forums at the instigation of the few well entrenched terrorist sympathizers among Tamil expatriates. We enjoy dynamic friendly relations with more countries in the world now than under previous administrations, and that too, without compromising our sovereignty and autonomy.
Prospects for developing national unity embracing all sections of the polity are brighter today than ever. Even some ex-Tiger members are now with the government, which sends a clear signal to those among expatriate Tamils who had supported the terrorists before their destruction, and who are the sheet anchor that some LTTE remnants might try to fall back on in order to pursue their separatist goal, although that would prove a doomed enterprise. The government has already successfully reached out to a section of the leadership of Tamils abroad with an invitation to take part in the development of the war affected areas, and there are signs that many of them are willing to return home to Sri Lanka. This trend is likely to go on, but the anti-Sri Lanka media blitzkrieg still sustained with some success by those who lived on the business of supporting separatist terror has yet to be effectively neutralized.
The Rajapakse administration started rebuilding the war ravaged north and east even before the war was well over. Its numerous development programmes launched in accordance with the ‘Mahinda Chinthana’ (The Vision of Mahinda) manifesto in such vital sectors as education, roads and railways, agriculture and fisheries, air and naval communications, trade, and energy now cover the whole country. A mega seaport is being built at Hambantota, and a big airport at Mattala in the same area. The first phase of the Hambantota port which commenced construction work just over two years ago has been completed and will be declared open by the President on 15th Sunday; on that day, the harbour basin will be filled with water. There are new power projects, express motorways, railroads, communication towers, bridges, tourist hotels, and other infra-structure facilities being added to the country’s resource base. The government also encourages private sector participation in development work.
Of course, when major projects are embarked on, allegations of corruption, mismanagement, misappropriation of funds etc are normal as is the likelihood of corruption. However, the problem with many charges of corruption raised by opposition politicians is their ritual nature: politicos out of power customarily sling mud at those in power, hoping to bring them down; there’s hardly any attempt to substantiate these allegations, and so, to the public it becomes clear that these politicians’ concern is not with the elimination of corruption if any, but with improving their own chances of making political capital out of such allegations. If there’s enough reason to believe that there is corruption, then it must be duly investigated and put an end to; that responsibility devolves not only on the government, but on the opposition as well. The development work that is going on should not be scuttled merely on account of unsubstantiated charges of corruption.
Most of Mr Rajapakse’s first term was taken up with resolving the problem posed by the terrorists. First he made a genuine attempt to resolve the crisis through negotiations, but finally, his hand being forced by their intransigence, he managed to finish them off militarily. Even during this unsettled period the country’s GDP grew at an average rate of 5%. Between 2007 and 2009 Sri Lanka’s foreign exchange reserves rose significantly. Today the GDP growth rate has reached 5.5%, with the GDP at LKR 2582.95 billion.
There is encouraging information about the feasibility of tapping petroleum and gas reserves around the country. The oil industry will provide employment for our young people, and also save the large amount of foreign exchange that we now spend for importing petrol and gas. It is claimed that the oil reserves potentially available are in excess of our needs, which means, very likely, we’ll be exporting some of our oil in the near future.
So, the government has set the scene for a gamut of development activities; a new vista of progress has opened. But success will depend on the cooperation of every Sri Lankan citizen. The key activists in this national endeavour will be politicians, public and private sector workers, and civil society leaders. It should be completely free from all political, ethnic, religious, or class considerations.
The war against terrorism was won amidst cynical opposition from internal and external sources. The ramshackle alliance of forces ranged against the government during the most critical stages of the humanitarian operations closed ranks amongst themselves and tried to bring down a popular regime that was succeeding in its humanitarian campaign. It was made out that toppling the Rajapakse rule was more urgent than overcoming terrorism! Fortunately for the country, some patriotic opposition politicians joined the government, breaking ranks with their leadership. Ordinary Sri Lankans today hope that the development programmes now in progress will forge ahead under similar circumstances, perhaps with even more explicit across the board collaboration.
It is high time that all of us realized that Sri Lanka will economically stagnate so long as we are not truly united as one nation. Some communalist politicians seem to wrongly believe that the minorities they claim to represent cannot have their rights unless the majority community remains divided into several camps. A true patriotic politician is one who struggles for the rights of every Sri Lankan irrespective of their ethnicity, religion, language, gender, politics, or culture. For such a politician, “my people” means all the people of Sri Lanka; when politicians behave like that, others will more than readily fall in line, because that is the vision of ordinary Sri Lankans.
National unity and economic development go together; each sustains the other. I sometimes think that the chances for separatist demands would have been minimized or nipped in the bud if we were rich enough. Which community in the world would want to secede from an affluent state whose economic and political power results from national unity rather than from ethnic, religious or any other kind of fragmentation, on allegations of real or perceived discrimination, and condemn themselves to a life of poverty and privation?
The most critical issue to be resolved was the separatist terrorism that was a near insurmountable roadblock to the country’s forward march. Now, thanks mainly to Mr Mahinda Rajapakse’s stewardship, we have put it behind us. But, a shadow of a revival of separatist sentiments, however ineffectual these may be, will not fade away until we remove a major pretext for the interference of those countries that consider it their prerogative to have some influence over Sri Lanka in order to serve their own geopolitical interests, by ensuring that the benefits of the victory over terrorism are shared equitably by all the communities in a free, democratic Sri Lanka, and by maintaining heightened vigilance and appropriate defence readiness.
We have arrived at the most propitious moment ever since Independence for embarking on national development: the country is peaceful after the demise of the terrorist threat; we’ve are well on our way towards economic recovery; people are convinced that something is being done in earnest, which is essential for public acknowledgement of and participation in the nation-building process. There’s a clear vision, and a well thought out strategy to translate it into reality.

Where visions and strategies are matched, success is assured. Success in our case is the survival of Sri Lanka as a free prosperous nation, which will ultimately depend on our ability to feed and protect ourselves (i.e. economic independence and national security, respectively).