Full text of the Policy Statement delivered by President Maithripala Sirisena addressing the 8th Parliament of Sri Lanka on September 1, 2015;
Honorable Speaker, honorable Members of Parliament,
It
is my great pleasure to offer you the congratulations of the people of
Sri Lanka and welcome you to the new parliament. You are the
democratically elected representatives of the people and you have been
elected in the most peaceful election held in the history of our
country.
As a person political experience of more than five decades, including
26 years as a Member of Parliament, I take this opportunity extend my
thanks to the brotherly people in this country, those who voted for and
against me at the Presidential Election on January 08, which I won as
the Common Candidate of the opposition.
Honorable Members of Parliament,
By my address today another tradition of the parliament democracy is
being fulfilled. This key note address, which is known as the Throne
Speech according to British tradition and as Inaugural Speech according
to American democracy is the presentation of the official policy
statement of the new government to the parliament.
As I see, you, the representatives of the people who implement laws
for the people have to face more challenges that any previous
Parliament. Millions of Sri Lankans are now using new technological
equipment which enable to connect with the whole world on their palms.
While we went to school taking a slate for writing, our children and
grandchildren have gone even beyond laptops and take iPads to school.
The era in which they do it may come before the end of the tenure of
this parliament. I like to tell you that the people have selected you as
lawmakers in an era of transformation like this. Accordingly, everybody
has the responsibility to build this country for that era to be dawn
and the ambitions of new generation while protecting the values of our
culture which binds us as the Sri Lanka nation.
I have something to emphasize about the national security of our
country. I have the complete responsibility about national security and
territorial integrity of the country as the Supreme Commander of the
Armed forces as well as the Minister of Defense in accordance with the
Constitution of Sri Lanka. I will fulfill that responsibility to my best
ability while requesting your complete cooperation and commitment which
is not second to anything in that regard.
It is my belief that the new parliament commences today will mark an
important landmark of the history of Sri Lankan politics. After gaining
independence, we had experiences only of coalition governments that were
formed by a major party with the support of small parties. But we can
see examples from various countries where they formed conventional
alliance governments, forgetting their political differences to face
threats to those nations. As soon as the racial discrimination was ended
in South Africa, the main political parties of that country established
a consensual government to eradicate the racist divisions of political
parties and to achieve a rapid development for the country. I strongly
believe that this moment, in which Sri Lanka marches towards a post-war
era, is the golden opportunity to build a consensual government to face
national and international challenges.
Our two main political parties that ruled the country during three
decades of continuous conflict did not have sufficient experience to
understand how to govern the peaceful Sri Lanka in a democratic
structure. As we did not have enough experience on politics of consensus
rather than politics of rivalry, we failed to set up a consensual
alliance government with unity of the two main political parties.
The most important task of the consensual alliance, formed with the
unity of the two main parties of the country, based on the concept of
national government is to build reconciliation among communities and
take the country towards speedy socioeconomic progress and human
development so that local and international challenges in the new world
dawning in 2020 could be faced successfully.
While we were in a war for three decades, many other Asian countries
with similar history as ours and with weaker socio-economic conditions
than us have achieved rapid development. Therefore, we should not forget
that a huge development gap had been created between those countries
and Sri Lanka. Even though it is delayed I understood the importance of
building a consensual government with the unity of two main political
parties as the key strategy for winning challenge of minimizing this gap
in development.
In order to fulfill this need without any delay, I took steps after
taking leadership to establish a national consensual government in
accordance with what I have clearly stated in policy statement, “Maithri
Palanayak (A Compassionate Government)” for the Presidential election,
2015. This Parliament is setting up a consensual government for two
years to fulfill that national requirement. I trust that it will be a
start of a new developed political culture of this country.
My manifesto for the last Presidential Election, accepted by the
majority of people in Sri Lanka will be the foundation for drafting the
agenda for the consensual government to be born through this Parliament.
Similarly, the “Panchavida Kriyavaliya” (Five-fold Plan) by United
National Front for good governance, “Anagathayata Sahathikayak’
(Certificate of Guarantee for the Future) by United People’s Freedom
Alliance and the “Harda Sakshiye Sammuthiya” (Agreement of
Consciousness) by Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna as well as the election
manifesto of Tamil National Front have been studied in comparison with
the policy frame based on the principles of Good Governance presented in
my manifesto; ‘A Compassionate Maithri Governance – A Stable Country’.
Accordingly, I will take action to establish policies in the new
consensual government by mixing the policies of other parties
incorporated into the future vision identified in my manifesto.
Honorable Speaker,
Any country or nation considers the constitution as the foundation of
its self-identity. That is why we consider our constitution as the most
supreme volume. We have had three different constitutions during past
60 years since independence. But, it is unfortunate that we could not
agree with one constitution that could be acceptable to everybody as the
foundation of the Sri Lanka nation. From the day 1978 constitution was
established, most of the parties have been complaining about the
Executive Presidency and the Electoral System which are considered as
its foundation. I have paid special attention to this issue in the
manifesto; Maithree palanayak (A Compassionate Governance). Passing of
the 19th Amendment to the Constitution of 1978 was a fulfillment of one
of my key promises. It is the responsibility of the Parliament, where
you are now seated, to take the final decision over the existence or the
nature of the Executive Presidency. My other key promise during the
election was to change the proportional representation and the
preferential vote system which earned displeasure and hatred of most of
the people for the last three decades and establish a new electoral
system acceptable to everybody. You are aware that the foundation has
been laid even by now through the proposals I presented at the end of
the term of the last Parliament for the 20th Amendment to the
Constitution. Accordingly, the historic task of formulating the most
suitable electoral system in which all political parties and civil
society agree, and passing it, are the responsibilities of this
Parliament of which you all are members.
The Parliament also has the responsibility to take political
decisions that we should have taken earlier, for reconciliation,
coexistence and development to raise Sri Lanka as a proud nation.
You have become the partners in the task to build the modern Sri
Lankan nation, which consists of the reconciliation among Sinhala,
Tamil, Muslim and burgher and the coexistence among the religions,
Buddhist, Hindu, Islam and Christian. I am, as President, dedicated to
give the leadership, guidance and cooperation in that regard without any
delay. I emphasize it is a responsibility of this Parliament to raise
Sri Lanka as a great democratic nation forging ahead.
Honorable Speaker,
The most valuable resource of our country is human resource. I
believe that the foundation of the development process of our country is
developing the human resource to a great extent. When the modern world
is gaining technological achievements, a country can grow beyond medium
income level only through developing the trained workforce. Hence, my
government gives the top priority for skill development and empowering
the Sri Lankan workforce to be fit for any requirement of the local and
international market.
I should remind you that the 21st Century is the century of Asia. It
is our fortune that we are geographically situated in a position which
helps us to get benefits of the economic opportunities generated in a
context where Asia is emerging as the hub of the world economy. Our key
responsibility is to make future economic policies, plans and strategies
in a way to take maximum benefits from this great opportunity given us
by the nature.
There are several important sectors and related issues that failed to
receive due attention during the process of making our economic plans
in the past. Informal economy based on small scale enterprises is
prominent of those neglected sectors. When we consider about the
contribution made from the informal economy to the national economy of
Sri Lanka, we should pay more state attention and provide assistance to
this sector. The government will support rural economy through the
initial understanding on the micro credit and credit management to the
small scale entrepreneurs and farmers who do not earn a permanent
income.
Honorable Speaker,
The most valuable resource of our country is human resource. I
believe that the foundation of the development process of our country is
developing the human resource to a great extent. When the modern world
is getting technological achievements a country can go beyond medium
income level only through developing the trained workforce. Hence, my
government gives the priority for skill development; the enforcing of
the Sri Lankan workforce to be fit for any requirement of the local and
international market.
I should remind you that the 21st century is the century of Asia. It
is our fortune that we geographically situated in a position which helps
get benefits of the economic opportunities, generated in a context
where the Asia is emerging as the hub of the world economy. Our key
responsibility is to make future economic policies, plans and strategies
in a way to take maximum benefits from this great opportunity given us
by the nature.
There are important fields and related issues in which have not been
paid attention during the process of making our economic plans. Informal
economy based on small scale enterprises is prominent from those. When
we consider about the contribution made from the informal economy to the
national economy of Sri Lanka we should pay more state attention and
give more assistance to them. The government will support rural economy
through the initial understanding on the micro credit and credit
management to the small scale entrepreneurs and farmers who don’t earn
permanent income.
The mandate given by the majority of the people to me is an
endorsement of the manifesto that promises a Maithri governance led by
the principles of good governance, rejection of corruption and
protection of state property. Therefore the commitment to eradicate
corruption and fraud is a key principle of my government. I will not
hesitate to take action against those who are charged with misusing of
state property, take them before the Judiciary, without being partial to
anyone. I am committed to eradicate corruption and further strengthen
the institutional structures of the country.
As you are aware, our country today is a medium income one. Our aim
should be to launch the initial economic strategies successfully and
rapidly to increase that income to a considerable level during the
period of this Parliament.
We cannot consider Sri Lanka as an economically developed country
when benefits of all developments are enjoyed by a small number of
members of the rich society, while most of the people suffer from
poverty. As a result of that while we are increasing the per capita
income of the country we must take steps to decrease the income parity
in the country.
Similarly, it is the responsibility of my government to ensure that
the development is equally spread to all parts of the country.
Especially, the fruits of development must reach the conflict affected
areas in the North and East, so-called border areas of those provinces
that suffered due to the conflict and under developed areas in other
parts of the country. It is the responsibility of the government to
ensure all areas of the country are equally developed.
Many developed countries in the world have achieved a rapid economic
growth causing significant environmental damages which has adversely
affected the humankind. However, now they have identified the
disadvantages associated with their development path and, at present
they are being transformed into a knowledge economy from the industrial
economy, and they are moving towards policies like innovative economy,
green economy and sustainable economy. It must be emphasized that in the
journey ahead when we take the country towards success of human
development goals and socio-economic development , we should not do any
form of harm to our beautiful environment, rain forests or to flora and
faunas which make Sri Lanka one of the most beautiful countries in the
world. I believe when we move forward on that path we must follow the
Buddhist economic strategies what the Lord Buddha preach as “Santutthi
paraman dhanan” (Happiness is the supreme wealth). The world is now
aware that we cannot achieve a sustainable development by going against
the environment. The Buddhist Philosophy which enriched our country for
the past 2500 years, demonstrates how we can achieve happiness and
prosperity by following the Middle Path while preserving the
environment. I consider the Buddhist economic strategies that we have
with us is a great resource for us when we step into the modern world.
Don’t we have to hand over this country to the future generation as a
country in which people can obtain maximum satisfaction with minimum
necessary consumption levels and as a country where its people are
contended and not as a country that consumes most goods and services in
the world?
Hon. Speaker,
Today we are living in a globalized new world. In that context, every
country in the world is important to us. There are many things we can
learn from them and they can learn from us. As a result of that openness
and friendship between the countries will remain as the foundation of
our foreign policy. I have also previously mentioned that we have
entered into the Century of Asia. Accordingly, I will state that my
Government will pay more attention towards a foreign policy which is an
Asia-centric middle-path policy.
I believe that during the past few years the word ‘Geneva’ was often
talked about in our foreign policy. From the moment I took office as the
president on January 08, the perspectives international community have
towards us has changed in a very positive way. When facing such complex
situations successfully, the faith placed on us by the international
community and their cooperation and consensus is very important. I am
very happy to state that during the past seven months my government was
able to change the then existed situation towards our country in a
positive way while restoring the good name and reputation of the
country.
It is lamentable that our country has used to import food from other
countries when there is an environment to produce those food items in
our own country, as in ancient times Sri Lanka has been named as
“Granary of the East”. Dependence on visiting grocery shops for
vegetables and fruits that we can grow in our own garden, buying crops
from distant areas when they grow in your own area and importing food
from other countries when they can produced in our own country are not
the agricultural policy of my government. Already, I have begun to
implement a National Food Policy focused on home yards, villages and the
country for growing agricultural products. The main objective of the
“Api Wawamu-Rata Nagamu” Program, which I implemented as the Minister of
Agriculture is to promote the local food production.
I recall with honor, the Agricultural philosophy of D. S. Senanayake
which recognized six decades ago, that, in order to provide a
sustainable foundation for the country, it is essential to develop the
agricultural sector and he established large scale new human settlements
for agriculture.
The main objective of my Government is to produce healthy food
locally by promoting agricultural products including rice production to
fulfill the nutrition needs of the people in the country. Accordingly,
my Government will work to provide water for drinking and agricultural
purposes by implementing multi-purpose development projects such as
Moragahakanda and Kalu Ganga and will take steps to introduce modern
technology into the agricultural and livestock sector. I have taken
steps to implement a national program to prevent kidney disease faced by
the farmers.
I will take steps to minimize the protein deficiency of the people in
the country by developing the fishing industry. As we are living in an
Island we should not delay our plans to utilize our marine resources. We
should not limit our sea area, which is eight times the size of the
land area, only to the fishing industry. Therefore, my Government will
launch immediate preparations to use marine resources in large scale and
in practical manner for the development of our country.
As all of you aware, a Government cannot fulfill every aspiration of
the people within this modern world order. We need to strengthen our
public sector, private sector, as well as civil society in order to
accomplish the needs of the people. When empowering the private sector,
it is necessary to provide more facilities to local industries. My
Government will provide required reliefs, facilities and incentives to
boost the private sector in order to attract local and international
investments. Apart from this, the Government has paid its attention to
offer benefits and concessions to the employees in the private sector.
I will take special actions to enhance the develop the services such
as free health service, free education and public transport that
provides a major service to the people. These services get more state
contribution as they are beneficial to the people. My Government has
paid more attention to introduce necessary reforms to state sector in
order to improve the efficiency and the quality of the service. The
Government will take steps to establish Advisory Committees in state
institutions to make necessary arrangements to ensure they function
properly, to take steps to reduce the salary anomalies, to introduce
talent-based system when recruiting persons and to adopt a new system
for promotions. The government will take action to make an attitude
change in public views regarding the state sector and its employees. To
realize the above mentioned goals, my Government must establish a new
national policy which will not change when there is a change from
Minister to Minister, Government to Government or President to
President.
Although, we have spoken many things regarding the youths, the youth
uprising during the past years in our country proves that as a nation we
have done very little about them. Due to these violent conflicts we
lost thousands of valuable young lives to our country.
The implementation process of the recommendations of the Commission
Report on youth uprising in 1900 is taking place at a very slow pace. My
Government will reconsider those recommendations and will formulate a
method to apply these recommendations in a suitable way for present day
requirements. Under this, I must emphasize that my government will not
allow any form of political interference when providing jobs or in any
situation where state mediation is required.
We must pay more attention to the vulnerable groups such as women,
children, elderly and the handicapped persons in the society. Women who
are more than half of the population in Sri Lanka make a considerable
contribution to the national economy and for the sustenance of the good
behavior in our society. The priority will be given towards the
well-being of women in all development strategies in my Government.
Our children are the future of the nation. My Government’s main
intention is to build a better future for the children and to ensure
their security.
There are many disabled persons living with us. I will take immediate
steps to pay the proposed monthly allowance to disabled people while
preserving their dignity and will take possible steps to ease tough
regulations now existed regarding the monthly allowance.
Hon. Speaker
We see limitless opportunities for a Sri Lankan child to triumph in
this modern world and one’s race, religion, region, social status or
economic potential should not be an obstacle for that. However, that
does not mean that if a person has an identity, it should be devalued.
Regrettably, even today there are reminisces of the age of feudalism
which prevents us from resurging as a Modern Nation. In many situations I
have seen some people face inconvenience when their family names
announced loudly in public places. I believe using family names in an
inconvenient way to people is an obstacle to build the modern Sri Lankan
identity. Because of that if there is a necessity to include the family
name in public places and public documents, the relevant authorities
must take permission of the holder of the name. My government will make
necessary provisions if someone does not interested to show their
complete family name, to use only the initials of the surname. According
to this there is no hindrance to the right to use the family name
publicly. Specially, I consider this action as taking a step forward of
the social-democratic philosophy of S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike who gave
leadership to the social revolution in 1956.
New challenges and new social problems will emerge inevitably within
the world in keeping with its changes day to day. We must be ready to
face these challenges with a new vision, while maintaining our good
values.
Already Sri Lanka is a country with a high level of drug consumption.
I must emphasize that if we fail to protect our children from this drug
menace, none of our future objectives will be successful. Drug use, not
only a health issue, it is also a social problem of our country. I have
already initiated a new Island-wide program of action to prevent the
drug use.
Hon. Speaker,
Scholars and intellectuals of the country have pointed out a long
time ago, that a new political culture should be introduced in our
country. I must recall that I came into power on January 08 in keeping
with that pledge. I am committed to create a new political culture with
political leaders with good values, good personality, a good image as
well as discipline. These are the qualities an exemplary political
leader must have.
Now we have the foundation for the new political culture in our
country which the general public and local scholars and intellectuals,
as well as those who are abroad, anticipated. I request the
intellectuals around the country and all expatriate Sri Lankans to use
your expertise and skills to develop the motherland in this consensual
political environment. My Government will establish a special bureau
under my directive to coordinate the expatriate Sri Lankans who wish to
return to the motherland and we will offer a red carpet welcome to them.
I would like them that now it is time for us to work unitedly for the
betterment of the country, instead of dividing into endless factions and
groups.
Finally, I must emphasize on one issue. Since we gained independence,
this country has been ruled by the two major political parties. From
that a one party ruled this country for 35 years. The other main
political party ruled this country for 32 years. I would kindly request
all of you to give me your assistance in my determined effort to build
consensus among political parties instead of blaming each other for
their particular doings during their respective regimes and increasing
political rivalry.
From now on, keeping with this consensual politics as the foundation
between the two main political parties, I request from all the political
parties represented in the Parliament and all the people’s
representatives in Parliament, to pay their attention to find the ways
and means as to how we could use this consensus among all political
groups and the present emerging good political culture for the
betterment and progress of our country. (ColomboTelegraph)
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