Mangala appeals for ‘time and space’ for reconciliation process

Friday, 13 February 2015 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

In a speech at Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in DC, Foreign Minister warns of extremist elements both within and outside the country seeking to derail democratic reform and reconciliation process Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera has urged the international community to be patient and give Sri Lanka “time and space” while pledging his Government’s commitment to democracy and the protection of human rights during an official visit in the US capital. “I urge the international community including the human rights community to be patient. This is a time of fragile transition,” Minister Samaraweera said in a speech delivered at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington DC on Wednesday. Resorting to the famous ‘time and space’ phrase constantly used by his predecessor, G.L. Peiris, Samaraweera told a full house in Washington that the Government of Sri Lanka was committed to strengthening democracy, good governance and the rule of law while ensuring the promotion and protection of the human rights of all its citizens. The new Foreign Minister told the gathering that the process undertaken by the Government was “sensitive” and involved the participation of a multitude of political parties. These diverse parties were essential to ensure the success of this journey, Samaraweera noted. “There are still some extremist elements within and outside the country who, for obvious reasons, want this journey derailed. Therefore, I urge you to allow us time and space while supporting us in this journey of national reconciliation and healing,” the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister observed. The Minister also called on the US to increase trade and investment in Sri Lanka. “Encourage your entrepreneurs to capitalise on the new investment opportunities that have opened up in Sri Lanka,” Samaraweera appealed. The Foreign Minister said that job creation was key to alleviating the economic situation of the country. “Increased trade and investment opportunities are important factors that will assist the reconciliation process and ensure its success which is vital for Sri Lanka’s sustainable growth, peace and development,” he said. Concluding his speech, entitled ‘Sri Lanka after the Presidential Election’ on a poignant note, Minister Samaraweera urged his audience to tell Sri Lanka’s story of peaceful change through the ballot box. “Tell our story to those who might be able to derive something meaningful from it; to those who would gain inspiration from it, especially those who may be in what might seem like irreversible states of despair – with either authoritarianism or civil strife, conditions which we believed not so long ago that we would have been destined to have perennially repeated in our country,” the Foreign Minister urged. “Tell our story to those who may have lost faith in democracy and the power of the ballot. They must not lose heart.” Minister Samaraweera was expected to meet with US Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday (12) and would also travel to New York for a meeting with UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon on Friday (13). During his visit to the US, he was also scheduled to deliver a lecture at the National Press Club in Washington DC.

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Sri Lanka’s new Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera has expressed hope that US President Barack Obama would visit the island, as he tours the US capital this week. Delivering an address at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Minister Samaraweera said Sri Lanka after the presidential election, seeks to renew its engagement with the world community. Foreign Minister... The Foreign Minister said he would invite US Secretary of State John Kerry and UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon to visit Sri Lanka during his meetings with them on Thursday and Friday. “Shooting at the moon, we would also like to see President of the United States of America visiting Sri Lanka. If it were to happen, it would be the first visit by an American President since Sri Lanka achieved independence in 1948. Minister Samaraweera added that the Government had also invited the UN’s Chief Envoy on Human Rights to visit the country. “Just before my departure to London on Saturday evening, I signed a letter inviting the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to visit Sri Lanka,” he said during his speech. Samaraweera said that since gaining independence, Sri Lanka had engaged with the world and took pride in the pursuit of a foreign policy based on “friendship towards all and enmity towards none.” “It was therefore uncharacteristic for Sri Lanka to have shifted away from this traditional foreign policy for some years in what is best described as an aberration. Sri Lanka now seeks to renew its engagement with the world community,” the Foreign Minister said. “Having stressed the importance of discontinuing the previous Government’s adversarial policies in international relations throughout his election campaign, President Sirisena did not forget to give due recognition to Sri Lanka’s relations with the world community even in his brief remarks following his oath taking ceremony on the evening of 9 January,” Samaraweera recalled. (DB)