The economy can take another 18 months of war

The economy can take another 18 months of war

Recently sworn in as a MP and acting as a Special Advisor to the President Basil Rajapaksa, believes it is more important to have the support of the people towards the political solution, than trying for a two thirds support in the House. He argues that the 13th amendment failed the last time around simply because it did not win the trust of the people, even if the government had more than a two thirds majority in Parliament.

Spearheading the government’s Eastern development programme, he also maintains that the government has successfully handled the displaced civilians in the East.

Denying reports of criticism against the administration by the international community, he tells Hard Talk that the government has and will address any legitimate concerns of the world. He maintains that the Rajapaksa administration has the understanding of the international community and claims that even if it has any criticism it isn’t the only one to have them.

Q:President Rajapaksa has reiterated he would negotiate with the LTTE only if they laid down arms and warned that if not, the government would have no option but to continue with the military operations. How realistic a situation is this for a country to continue with?

No, it is also in the Mahinda Chinthanaya that the LTTE has to lay down arms when the final solution comes. And at this stage that strategy is realistic. When the LTTE attacked Mavil Aru and attacked Muttur and chased away 40,000 people from there and tried to capture our army and police posts in that area, and we took measures to chase them away and liberate the area, the LTTE said that if we even touch Sampur there will be a bloodbath. Then when we tried to come to Vakare Thamilchelvan threatened to attack economic targets. This was I think the first time that the LTTE threatened such terrorist activities openly. But when we abrogated the Ceasefire Agreement there was no such high handed sentiments- but they wanted to continue with the CFA. The attitude of the LTTE has now changed, which means that we have shown them that they are weakened, and that the government is committed to this objective. So this is made very realistic.

Q:There is an extension in the timeline on ending the war, by a year and a half. Does the government have a programme to ensure security and minimise the hardships faced by the people?

This conflict has been continuing for the last three decades. This is not a new phenomenon. Why can’t the government do it? The same intensification was also there. Those days the LTTE overran entire army camps and attacked the airport, sacred religious places like the Temple of the Tooth Relic, they killed Buddhist priests in temples and attacked strategic economic places like the Central Bank. Compared to those days, what they are able to do now or the intensity of the war is very minimal. If you go back to history whatever hardships of the people it is very minimal. Now normal activities are able to continue- those days state functions had to be postponed.

Q:But isn’t there an intensification that is forcing the schools to be closed or curtailing the day to day lives of people due to security concerns?

Do you know that the schools and in fact universities were closed in 1989. There were universities that were closed for years. People just forget those days. Those days not a single vehicle was moving. Compare what is happening here to what takes places all over the world. What other city is safer? It’s happening in Hyderabad, London or Lahore!

Q:Are you confident that the country’s economy can take another 18 months of war given the inflation?

Of course. Can you show any three consecutive years when we had a growth rate of over seven percent? This is a difficult thing to maintain. We have been able to do that. Look at what your own newspaper said about the employment rates. Definitely the economy can take this. In fact the economy is never affected by these things. Its’ really the oil prices in the global market that has a greater effect. And these effects were not just felt in Sri Lanka. Even the US economy was affected by this. Unfortunately due to improper power planning and our increased dependence on thermal power we have to bear a greater cost. Two major hydro power plants failed to start on time increasing our dependency on thermal power. Certainly the cost of war is a concern but compared to the power and oil prices the effects are much less.

Q:The President has maintained that he wanted solutions that would not be burnt in Parliament. But even the proposed 13th Amendment has been rejected by a party within the government like the JVP, and on the side of the Tamil representation by the TNA. What are the chances of the APRC proposal succeeding this time around?

The fact is that the solution is not only dependent on the numbers in Parliament. That is what we saw at the time of President J R Jayawardena, when he had even more than a two thirds majority in the House, and brought in this 13th Amendment which still failed. What chaos it created in the country because the people rejected it. It was because the people didn’t believe in it. They suspected it. It was also because it was signed under pressure and without seeing it as a genuine solution to the conflict. That is why this time we are going to the people. If we can find that solution from the majority of the people I don’t think there will be any issues. The President’s position is that he will get a solution that is practical and accepted by the people. The recommendations of the Cabinet Advisory Committee are already in and we are implementing them now.

Q:How successful do you expect the implementation of the official language policy by promoting the learning and usage of Tamil in administration, to be?

I think the Minister concerned is extremely committed to it and this will be a decisive step towards having a good dialogue with all the communities.

Q:The government is strong on its stand on the role played by the international community. Some term its criticism of the UN or the treatment of certain NGOs as unwise. Are you concerned about possible long term effects of such decisions?

We are very concerned about the international community and we want them to help us as partners and not as monitors. They must be partners of peace, development and prosperity-not monitoring. Unfortunately very few people want a monitoring capacity in the country. But I think 99% of the international community is very helpful to the government and very cooperative. There are possibly a handful of NGOs run locally as private companies under a single member which try to represent matters for an entire civil society! Similarly internationally too there are individuals who want to make money through these conflicts. These days you only need a website calling themselves some action committee or some movement and they issue these statements- They don’t represent the international community or the people of that country. We can’t treat them as such.

Q:But what about the criticism that comes from agencies like the United Nations under officials like Louise Arbour?

Yes, they have every right to express themselves. Of course we take them seriously. And in some situations we have accepted and ratified their concerns and of course denied in other instances.

Q:How do you view their right to protect the people?

Of course not only them, anyone is very welcome to show us any instance where there are humanitarian issues that have to be met. The Rajapaksa government is very serious and concerned about this. This is why in comparison to all other military operations in the world currently, ours have been the one with the least civilian hardships. I can without any doubt maintain that our troops keep civilian concern as a priority. We have separate Ministries for Human Rights and Resettlement. This is especially to look after the civilians.

Q:So there is no justification for the view that the government is against any international scrutiny of the humanitarian situation or the presence of a UN humanitarian agency in the country?

The UN has many agencies of the UN in any country including Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka is one of the countries with both a humanitarian and development arms of the UN already. We have good rapport with all these agencies. But at the moment there is no necessity for UN monitors. The Minister of Human Rights has very categorically said there is no necessity and that is the view of the government. We handled the 200,000 displaced people in the East so well that even the neighbouring districts of Polonnaruwa did not feel the effects. Compare this with how the UN handled the situation in Darfur. Not a single person died in a camp or any disease spread afterwards.

Q:Then what is the basis for this criticism in your opinion?

I don’t want to blame the media alone, but there are those who want to live on these conflicts and these are the results. Anyway I don’t think there is any such criticism of the government by the international community. When there are concerns they intimate them to us and we address them. But there are a few organisations that use these issues. We have the support of the international community, who understand. The Rajapaksa administration, if it has any criticism isn’t the only one to have them.

Q:There are increased concerns on the situation in the East. Is a free and fair election viable at this juncture?

Yes. Compared to the other electorates there is a high percentage of candidates for this election. And comparatively if there are no complaints in a Sri Lankan election that means it is silenced by the gun. Look at the elections in the late 80’s. You couldn’t find candidates- some of them put banners and later resigned. Its not happening in Batticaloa now. A lot of people are contesting.

Q:Isn’t it so if you have the support of the govt? The TNA says they can’t contest.

Do you know that in some areas they contested at the last election there were polling booths where not a single vote was cast? Not a single candidate of the TNA elected from Wanni and Mullativu could canvass. EPDP Leader Douglas Devananda had to go in an armoured tank to hand in his nominations. That is not happening in the East now. There are candidates of all three communities contesting this time.

Q:There is a strong criticism against the government for an increased level of hardship for normal Tamil people with the heightened security measures.

I know there is this feeling but it’s not because of some government policy that directs it or that of the security forces. Sometimes your emotions get affected in these situations. It’s like being in a foreign country with a white man and you are kept to be questioned and you think it is because you are brown. Sometimes it’s simply because your baggage is overweight! There is all this talk about the harassment due to security but thousands willingly walked over a km to see the Dayata Kirula exhibition with all the security arrangement.

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