Mangala slams Mahinda on GSP+

Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera, yesterday responding to a statement made by MP Mahinda Rajapaksa on Sri Lanka regaining GSP+ concessions, claimed that he was attempting to distort facts and insisted the return of tariff concessions would boost growth. 

“MP Mahinda Rajapaksa and his advisors, instead of working to take our country to the heights that our country could have achieved soon after the conclusion of the conflict in 2009, chose to run our country to the ground. He made our country heavily indebted on the one hand, having borrowed at exorbitantly high, commercial rates, while taking decisions that made Sri Lanka withdraw from the international stage, on the other, thus making our country and our people isolated and shunned by the world. He hides the fact that time after time, major donor countries voted against Sri Lanka at the time, in international financial institutions.”

 “Having eventually lost an election which he himself called for, ahead of time, he appears to still not be able to come to terms with that loss. His hunger for power makes him and his advisors continue to indulge in the lies, tricks and games that were so much a part of his regime and so much a part of his personality.” 

Samaraweera also pointed out Rajapaksa is disregarding that a country has to be classified as ‘upper middle income’ by the World Bank for three consecutive years in order to be no longer eligible for the GSP Plus. “Even if Sri Lanka were to reach that threshold tomorrow, we would still have access to the advantages of GSP Plus for three years, and for one additional year after the decision is taken to withdraw the benefit.” 

“This shows that Rajapaksa is clearly trying to distort facts because he can’t acknowledge the fact that the National Unity Government has in fact managed to obtain a formidable boost to Sri Lanka’s economy, in application of Article 4(1) of the GSP Regulation of 2012, for at least four years. 

This period of, at the very least four years, comes just when the European economy starts to show signals of growth recovery. With less unemployment and more consumer demand, this is the moment to join in enhanced partnership with the European Union!”

The Finance Minister also argued that Rajapaksa’s reasoning of Sri Lanka refraining from aspiring to a better deal because some time in the future the economy will grow is callous and insensitive to the workers of the country and their families. “It reflects a complete lack of concern for our workers who expect progress in the immediate present and they deserve progress in the immediate present. 

So what if Sri Lanka, thanks to the ingenuity and hard work of its entrepreneurs and workers looks poised to cross a certain threshold of average income? Does it mean that we, as a Government, should sit on our hands without giving them the opportunity for a better deal that they deserve now in the present? Shouldn’t we help them to reach our national goals sooner rather than later?”

“The idea that GSP Plus puts Sri Lanka “under the supervision” of the EU is simply absurd. By committing to a number of universal human rights principles, we do nothing that was not already recommended by Sri Lankan people who came before the Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) to give their input and views. Protecting every citizen from torture is not an alien imposition. It is a sovereign decision from a humanistic nation, towards its own citizens, inspired by the most sacred human values and principles. How ironic that Mr. Rajapaksa who claims to be not just a follower but a guardian of Buddhism in Sri Lanka, does not advocate granting the very basic human rights principles and rights and freedoms to the citizens of this country! Don’t our citizens deserve the highest standards of protection? Don’t our citizens deserve the highest standards of human rights and freedoms?” 

Samaraweera also insisted that it was ill-advised to not implement the 2011 recommendations of the LLRC, a Commission which Rajapaksa himself appointed, to protect citizens from torture, criminalise disappearances and fully investigate cases of human rights violations. “In fact it was an injustice caused to the law abiding soldiers of this country as well. Having failed himself, and the people of our country, now in 2017, it is simply invidious to criticise a successful measure that the Government seeks to implement for the benefit of the people of our country.”  

“Sri Lanka and the Sri Lankan people deserve the best in the world. Sri Lanka is a proud nation and the Sri Lankan people are a proud people with the self-confidence to speak and act as equals with every country or group of countries in the world. We don’t need to hide from global dialogue in order to feel better.” 

“On the contrary, we feel stronger when our laws reflect the best of global humanism, when our citizens benefit from the best law enforcement, when our workers and entrepreneurs see the ports of the world open to the fruit of their efforts.”