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With no proper plans,
Sri Lanka’s road to economic recovery will take longer in the backdrop of the economic losses caused by the Easter Sunday carnage, which has completely changed the country’s landscape, Trillium Property Management and Services Ltd. Chairman Janaka Ratnayake said.
“Day-to-day life and all sectors including tourism have been badly affected due to this disaster. It has destroyed the peace that we have been enjoying since 2009. Everyone is disturbed, frustrated and not aware of what to do next. Animosity, anger and uncertainty prevail everywhere,” he said.
Ratnayake, the former Export Development Board Chairman, has spearheaded the campaign ‘One Country – One Voice’ to bring all Sri Lankans irrespective of their ethnic, religious and political differences to press the political leadership, present and future, to include six proposals in their mandate to bring changes in future.
Titled as ‘People’s Mandate,’ requesting all patriotic Sri Lankans to sign, it expects that the future political leadership will take people’s concerns mentioned in the mandate more seriously as a referendum that will help the Government form its policies to bring changes to the existing political structure.
The campaign is led by Ratnayake, University of Jayewardenepura Professor of Forensic Medicine Muditha Vidanapathirana, Sydney Gajanayake, Sujeewa Rajapakse and Gamini Karunathilake, who are also signatories to the mandate.
Ratnayake in an interview with Daily FT said if all Sri Lankans irrespective of their differences supported this mandate, the present and future political leadership could not ignore the people’s voices.
“Two months have already passed and we think that all those debates and discussions related to the present situation and the Easter Sunday attacks are mere talk shows. Nothing has happened so far to change the system. We need action,” he opined.
Following are excerpts of the interview:
By Shanika Sriyananda
Q: What is the motive of forming this group at this juncture?
After the fateful Easter Sunday bombings, people, including Parliamentarians, in many forums, are debating at length about the incidents. Two months have already passed and we think that all those debates and discussions related to these incidents are mere talk shows. Nothing has happened so far to change the system. Since there are no effective actions taken to reveal the truth, after few months people will forget the entire episode until the country faces another disaster.
No one can predict there won’t be another calamity; as an island nation we are more vulnerable to another disaster in the backdrop of globalisation and also especially due to social media.
In this scenario, I have spoken to a few professionals, whom I have known for a long time, to do our duty by the nation before people forget the 21/4 disaster. This is why we formed ‘One Country – One Voice,’ to pressurise political leaders to act on the six proposals spelled out in the ‘People’s Mandate’.
Q: Do you mean to say that there is no transparency and accountability in the investigations commenced to probe into the Easter Sunday bomb attacks?
We are not for the Government or the Opposition. From ordinary citizens of this country to religious leaders to pressure groups, they urge the Government to take concrete measures to prevent such attacks by terrorists or extremist groups in future. But, if you look at the measures taken by the Government so far, I do not think anybody is happy with what is going on. We do not see that genuine investigations are taking place into the entire coordinated suicide bomb attacks, in which eight suicide bombers died, over 250 innocent people who were praying to God were killed and over 300 were injured.
Details are yet to be revealed about those who are connected to the carnage, those who supported Zahran’s group financially and logistically, etc. Therefore, people expect a more transparent investigation process from the Government. In the absence of such a process, we wanted to form a common voice to rally people to create a common mandate, which is similar to a referendum.
Q: You mentioned that there is no proper investigation, while the Police is conducting an investigation and the Parliamentary Select Committee is carrying out a separate probe into the bombing incidents. Your views?
Yes, but unfortunately, nobody is confident about these investigations. As I said before, two months have already passed. It is true that the Police has taken many people into custody and investigations are still going on. What do we know about who is behind those attacks, who financed them, who is connected to the terrorists? We know nothing. Maybe investigations are still progressing but people have no faith or confidence in these investigations. Therefore, the Government needs to build confidence in people to make them feel that it is carrying out a proper investigation process that will not hide anything from the public.
As a person who has experience in appearing before a PSC a few years ago, I think the proceedings at the PSC should not be open to public as it might affect litigation, because six of those cases are before Courts on the same matter.
What are we trying to gain by allowing the public to witness the proceedings? I really do not know why and whether it is really necessary to open them to the public because it exposes high-profile State officials who are giving evidence before the PSC. This is not what you call transparency and the Government should only release the final outcome of the investigation to the public. I personally think that the Government is not doing the right thing here as serious investigations are going on and the same people are giving evidence in two places – in public and in Court. This might complicate matters.
Q: You have mentioned six propositions in the People’s Mandate. Can you explain?
Yes, those six points in the mandate are based on what Mahanayake Theras, the Cardinal, many politicians, professionals, academics, students, pressure groups and ordinary people of this country are talking about since the Easter Sunday attacks. We need to fix them at this important juncture to prevent the same mistakes repeating in future.
The first proposition is establishing a common legal system in the country. This is very important as we are experiencing various legal systems based on religious, racial and ethnic backgrounds. A country should have one legal framework that is common for all citizens of that country. It should be a priority of the Government and needs to be implemented urgently by the present or future political leadership.
Secondly, political parties based on religion, ethnicity or race must be abolished to bring all people onto common political platforms. At present, there are political parties formed based on ethnic and religious factors. This has created animosity among people and also divisions among voters. As a united nation, we need to create a Sri Lankan identity among people.
Thirdly, we recommend to have national polices. Under the present system, most of the policies get changed with the change of the government and the ministers in the absence of national policies in any of the sectors. At present, there is a chaotic situation and we need to introduce national policies for some important sectors soon.
In the new system, maintaining national security is of paramount importance. However, the Government has not paid enough attention to the country’s security during the past four to five years and this has led the extremists to grow freely and also to launch the Easter Sunday bomb attacks. Every citizen of this country is entitled to have protection from the State.
The fourth proposition is introducing a code of ethics and conduct for politicians while treating them as ordinary citizens. We elect ordinary people in our respective areas to Parliament and other Local Government institutions, including Provincial Councils, to represent us. But, once they are elected as members of those institutions, they become VIPs. This needs to be changed, to make every politician an ordinary citizen and not the most privileged segment of society.
Fifth is upholding freedom and rights for all citizens alongside placing importance on the preservation of nature and all cultural heritage for future generations. The sixth point of the mandate is to bring legislation against extremism and terrorism in Sri Lanka.
Q: You mentioned a code of ethics for politicians. What about them having certain educational qualifications to become politicians?
I view this in a different way. Intelligence doesn’t come from education. A person who has not passed his Ordinary Level examination might have a better frame of mind than a university professor. If someone says that only educated people like academics should be in the Parliament, then it will be like a university. We need to have intelligent people of good conduct in Parliament to represent us. The best example is Singapore, where only those who have a certain level of educational qualification can be ministers. This will be the extreme end that Sri Lanka can look for. But for countries like Sri Lanka it is difficult to implement minimum educational qualifications for politicians as most of them come from the grass roots.
However, we need good political leaders, who promote a code of conduct and ethics for their members. In Sri Lanka, political leaders do not discipline their members. Apparently, the political party leaders encourage or turn a blind eye to their misbehaviour.
We are strongly opposing crossovers by parliamentarians. They should not be allowed to crossover from one party to another. There are laws to deal with them but no one has yet implemented those laws against the parliamentarians, who keep on crossing over to other political parties.
Q: We have heard about similar groups which are also collecting signatures to lobby against the Government. How is your group different from them?
Yes, we have also seen that there are some groups which have good proposals to bring about change. We are different from them because we present the mandate to the people and they will decide what they want from the present Government or future governments. We have a bottom to top approach.
Those groups have presented their proposals to some important people in society but nothing happened. But we go to the people, who will take the ultimate decision to bring the change. We collect their signatures and then pressurise all politicians to implement the six propositions in the mandate if they want to be in power. When signing the mandate, people have to forget about their political affiliations but think as Sri Lankans. This is a collective effort to bring a change to the country’s political system.
The ‘One Country – One Voice’ team has already launched our campaign by publishing paper advertisements in three languages on 9 and 10 June. We also have printed mandates to distribute among all citizens of Sri Lanka.
There are no leaders in our group. We felt that it is our duty and responsibility as ordinary citizens of Sri Lanka to start a campaign to change the present political system that is destroying the country’s future.
We request all Sri Lankans to take part in this campaign by signing the mandate. We think every Sri Lankan has a responsibility and a duty towards this. Our aim is to collect seven to eight million signatures from around the country to show the politicians that the majority of Sri Lankans want change.
We especially need to collect more signatures than a presidential candidate gets in an election to show him the concerns of the majority Sri Lankans who expect him to implement the six propositions mentioned in the mandate to bring a change in future.
We are happy with the response we have received from the public so far. We have received thousands of applications with signatures by post and also via our social media platforms.
Q: Can other lobby groups also join this campaign?
Yes, anyone, whether it is a lobby group or an individual, can join with us to collect the targeted signatures for the mandate. We have no competition and at this crucial juncture we want the support of everyone who can forget their differences and step onto a common floor to bring this change. Even though we faced a disastrous situation with the Easter Sunday bomb attacks, it has created an opportunity for Sri Lankans to get together to strive for a common goal for the betterment of the country.
Q: Most of the lobby groups are influenced by political forces; which political party is backing your group?
We received many calls since we published the People’s Mandate and they asked this same question. They suspect all new movements or groups – people have no confidence due to the things that are taking place in the country. When people are coming forward to pressurise the existing political system, they think there are political arms behind those people and also that they have political agendas. There is no doubt that, as individuals, people have their own political aspirations, but everything has changed with the 21/4 Easter Sunday bomb attacks. Politicians are destroying this country and we need to put an end to this.
This is why a common mandate is vital. We go to people, collect their signatures and hand them over to the politicians, who will pass laws and regulations related to this matter. We are a group representing very neutral professionals and I reiterate here that there are no political or hidden agendas behind us. We don’t have any political support. I personally fund this campaign as I think it is my responsibility to come forward when my motherland is at risk. I think every Sri Lankan will have the same sentiment and will come forward to support our campaign.
Q: What is your ultimate dream for Sri Lanka?
Over 40% of people of this country live below the poverty line. It is the reality. In rural villages, people are discriminated against not because of their ethnicity, religion or caste, but because of their financial situation. Discrimination happens based on rich and poor. I have a few neighbours from other ethnicities and they have better privileges than me. All Tamil politicians who are living in Colombo are more privileged than their people in the north and east. Why? Marginalised people are discriminated against more than others. We say the majorities of Sri Lanka are Sinhalese people. No. The majority in the country is the well-to-do people in society who enjoy all perks and privileges. We also say Tamils and Muslims are the minorities in the country. No. The minority is the people who are living below the poverty line.
The politicians have divided people according to their ethnicity for their own advantages and for political mileage. All Sri Lankans need to get rid of the majority and minority mentality to have a prosperous nation. We dream of such a country with less differences and work together for the future of the country.
Q: Sri Lanka’s economy is in a dire state; how do you assess the economic impact of the Easter Sunday bomb attacks?
The impact on the economy after the blasts is unimaginable. From the small ‘game kade’ to the multi-national companies to all the sectors, all have been directly affected due to the 21/4 bomb blasts. Last year, the tourism sector earned $ 4.5 billion but the Easter Sunday bomb attacks incurred a direct loss of $ 2.5 billion to the tourism sector, in which employments related to tourism have been reduced to half from 800,000 jobs.
The US took almost three years to recover from the 9/11 attack while India took over two years to recover from the bomb blasts that occurred there. No one has done a proper investigation into the economic losses of the Easter Sunday bomb attacks, which would runs into trillions of rupees. Therefore, it will take a longer period for Sri Lanka to revive its economy.
Revenue loss runs to an estimated $ 5 billion. There will be much economic hardship in the future since the Government lacks proper plans to revive the economy. However, it needs natural healing with well-designed plans to attract more tourists and investors, ways and means of building confidence among people and the business community and political stability.
If we plan to develop the country, we need to forget about differences and get rid of the majority and minority mentality. Unless we, as a nation, embark on this mission now, we will not get another opportunity to rise up again. It is never too late to start this journey, if all Sri Lankans take their responsibility towards the country seriously and personally.
Most of my friends are asking, ‘Why do you want to spend your time and money on this campaign?’ I think it is my duty and I call on all Sri Lankans to come forward to join this national cause at this important juncture.
