There will be no political victimisation of biz under our Govt. assures Maithri

Wednesday, 24 December 2014 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The Opposition’s common presidential candidate Maithripala Sirisena yesterday gave a range of assurances to the business community as well as foreign investors that under a united national government there will be no political victimisation or the need to lobby among politicians or bureaucrats. Following are excerpts of Sirisena’s speech: We live in a Buddhist country but even our Hindu, Christian and Muslim brothers all believe in impermanency and change. There is change in every facet of life. The only thing permanent is change.

I welcome all of you to this discussion of hope and change, growth and development. The Rajapaksa clan adversely blinded us with development of infrastructure. They have invested in several unwanted white elephant projects. They have rapidly mortgaged our future generation. I and others in the Cabinet were helpless to stop the highhandedness of the Rajapaksa clan who bulldozed these projects. The poor rural and urban people have no use for some of these mega projects. Eminent professionals from our common parties with a brilliant track-record have said that the economy will soon collapse and end up in the ICU of the Treasury. To promote our policy of development and growth for employment we need the following four engines. First the hybrid engine - the private sector. Second is the petrol engine - the public and private sector partnership. The third is the turbo diesel - the state sector. And finally fourth is the Dimo Batta - other stakeholders. We will also seek the active participation and contribution of NGOs, both local and foreign, as they have been an integral part of Sri Lanka’s development for the past few years especially in rural areas. The Rajapaksa Government not only unfairly and highhandedly grounded most NGOs but some were humiliated and banished. It is known that NGOs do not pay up front to the regime. In our Government there will be no political victimisation of companies, institutions or individuals irrespective of party affiliations. The Rajapaksa Government created adverse history in 2011 by taking over the Hilton, Sevenagala Sugar and 30 other companies. We will ensure justice to those who were unjustifiably victimised. Action will be taken through our laws against corrupt public officials. This political victimisation of the business community sent wrong signals to many foreign investors. Some ran away and others put their plans on hold. We will honour the international investor protection agreements Sri Lanka has signed. In our Government, foreign investors need not lobby politicians or public officials for their investments or projects. Established institutions will have power and authority to expeditiously and professionally carry out their duties without any interference. We will prioritise growth of small and medium export enterprises and industries. You are clever enough to harness advantages of all Free Trade Agreements, tap India and China. We will definitely re-open links with traditional markets in US, Europe and Japan. President Mahinda says if we (the Opposition) win they will divide the country into two. We want to remind him that he has already divided the country into two - the Rajapaksa clan, the super rich the luxurious masters comprising less than 0.05% of Sri Lanka and the suffering urban and rural masses, who can hardly make ends meet and amount to more than 99.9% of the population. This is what led to the Arab Spring in the recent past in the Middle East. We will win this election. We will be responsible to the effect that our political results are not unlimited and not extendable. Within our limited political life we are determined to serve honestly for the nation’s growth and development. We are with you, are you with us?