Rebuilding a new Sri Lanka: President strikes the right chord

The guns and grievance of war have fallen silent and here we stand at the threshold of an era of development – a time for Rebuilding Sri Lanka! But it must not merely be interpreted as a physical state of growth and expansion; we need also to rebuild the human values and ties that form the basis of a progressive nation and people.
The President has struck the right chord in inspiring both these key inferences. During his policy statement in Parliament last Tuesday, Rajapaksa cited the need to converge as Sri Lankans and discard the age-old boundaries of ethnic division. It is the responsibility and expectation from every Sri Lankan to recognise this need, and subscribe to a national movement of solidarity and social harmony keeping the broader objectives of the country in mind. The President also publicly pledged his government’s commitment to forge a broad and inclusive development agenda, and these are key initiatives that must receive support.
In yet another passionate speech, President Rajapaksa on the occasion to mark the Heroes Day on May 22, urged thousands of those gathered as well as millions glued to the live telecast, to join him in the new challenge of building the nation.
“As much as I have fulfilled the promise in the Mahinda Chinthana to rid this country of terrorism, I now say that I will also fulfill the promise to build the nation. We must also eliminate corruption and waste from the country,” the President said.
What drives investment in a milieu of uncertainty? Conventional thinking would point to incentives the investing community may expect from government. However, it is infrastructure that serves as the real incentive for investment in our landscape – that coupled with some semblance of law and order. Sri Lanka is now free from the clutches of terrorism, thus, law and order refers to security and safety from the ills of society and power politics. The late Lakshman Kadirgamar once said he was almost ready to rate law and order a bigger concern than terrorism. Crime has evolved since in an epoch of apathy. It is imperative we put in place controls, or rather – set examples, to build confidence for the future.
To drive infrastructure we need to support the development of our macro-economic fundamentals, and so we must put in place strong management. Effective and prudent decision that serves as an incentive for long-term growth must come from a cohesive process that involves government, the private sector, civil society and the donor community. The Bottom Line has always stood for progressive partnership between these stakeholders for it believes in their collective fruition. It has always aspired for an effective partnership between government and other political parties to pursue a united course on pressing national issues.
After all, Rebuilding Sri Lanka and rekindling the hope and lives of the newly-liberated areas a process that is perhaps more complex and challenging than the art of war. It is important we all contribute and consult in this process – what is possibly the country’s best opportunity. Because of the war and other factors, Sri Lanka has missed many a golden opportunity to become a smarter and successful nation whereas others in the region have progressed rapidly amidst challenges.
Another fact is that the pressures and expectations of the world community and even those of its people must weigh on the shoulders of our administration. Today, Sri Lanka is a lead actor in the theatre of global politics, with the world sitting before us – a fierce and iniquitous critic at times.
The government has won admiration for the maturity displayed in handling pressures put forth by certain elements within the international community though some critics opine Government should have won greater global backing. However it is this same level of prudence and courage we would expect in the endeavour to rebuild and shape a new Sri Lanka. In putting together this process to charter a way forward, the challenge would in fact be to manage people – the parties and minds that have attuned to political rhetoric. We need to build a society that is magnanimous and forgiving; we need to drive a change in mindsets. This would serve as our biggest challenge. The time might be fit for a new assembly of an All Party gathering to discourse a new settlement that is just for all.
As stated by the President, terrorism is now removed; this is our time to take the place on the world stage as a development power to reckon. Let us work together with our key stakeholders for development and charter an effective way forward. It is our road to prosperity, it is the path to sustained peace, it is salvation for a people swept by war and now confined to the agony of camp life. Our country needs the assistance of its international development partners, and we must put in place the process to facilitate that. For it is not always that we can act alone, we need support – and our fellow Sri Lankans would depend on that.