All political leaders have failed to bring about economic development: President

President Maithripala Sirisena delivering the speech at the 71st Independence Day celebrations yesterday - Pic by Shehan Gunasekara

President Maithripala Sirisena yesterday declared that all political leaders of Sri Lanka to date have failed to bring about economic development whilst a political solution to ethnic issue remains elusive.

“We all, as political leaders, have failed to bring about the economic development our country and the people have expected for decades. The people of the country are no longer ready to continue in an economic recession while experimenting on economic development themes and rectifying errant ways,” the President said in his address to the nation at a ceremony to mark the 71st Independence or the National Day. “It is sad to note that the leaders of our history, including us, are responsible for the inability to find a clear political solution that all can agree, although a decade has passed after the end of the 30-year war,” President added. Following is the full text of the speech delivered by President Maithripala Sirisena at the 71st Independence Day celebrations on 4 February.

Most Venerable Mahasangha, Hindu, Islam and Christian Prelates, President of the Maldives, who is the Guest of Honour at the71st Independence Day celebrations, Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, Speaker of Parliament, Chief Justice, Your Excellencies representing foreign governments, Ministers and Members of Parliament, Governors, Chief of Armed Forces, Police officers, Heads of security forces, public servants, invited distinguished guests, and my dear people of Sri Lanka.

We gained independence on 4 February 1948 as a result of the freedom struggle against the colonial forces carried over for a very long time by our heroic patriotic leaders. The spirit of freedom commenced at the moment when we lost freedom in 1815, when Wariyapola Sumangala Thero brought down the British Flag. The attempts through armed struggles to defeat the foreign forces in 1818 and national freedom struggles later in 1848 were foiled. Fourth February is the day our country won freedom. Furthermore, that is a day to recall the fragrance of the lives of all those citizens of Sri Lanka who sacrificed their lives and served with commitment for national independence from 1505 to 1948 as well as the war heroes who defeated the barbaric terrorism during the 30-year conflict.

There are foreign interferences and pressures among the challenges we are faced with. With marked contrast to the armed foreign invasions prior to 1948, these interferences have surfaced with a different face.

The celebrations of Independence Day are not only symbolising our place on the world map as a free sovereign nation in global political affairs. I make this an occasion to pay my respects to all those war heroes who valiantly fought in the battlefield, sacrificed their lives, became disabled, and are missing in action for safeguarding the freedom of the nation. The Ministry of Defence has already decided to pay the salaries and allowances to the families of the members of the security forces – Army, Navy, Air Force, Police, and Civil Defence Force – who died during the war and to those who were disabled during their lifetime. This is also applicable to the war heroes and those who were disabled in the Police and Special Task Force that was taken under the Defence Ministry recently.

Freedom is a concept that overrides boundaries and extends across time and space. That extends from the freedom of geographical space, human freedom, and also the freedom to use Facebook in the modern era.

Today, we are in the tail end of the second decade of the 21st Century and I called upon all the citizens with respect to make this occasion of commemorating the national independence to understand the meaning of independence in a new angle with an open mind.

The concept of freedom cannot be measured by a scale or a criterion and today, it has become too complex to give it a clear interpretation.

This is not the time to describe these national problems or national challenges one by one. However, it is sad to note that the leaders of our history, including us, are responsible for the inability to find a clear political solution that all can agree on, although a decade has passed after the end of the 30-year war.

Whatever the reasons and whoever was responsible, we all, as political leaders, have failed to bring about the economic development our country and the people have expected for decades. The people of the country are no longer ready to continue in an economic recession while experimenting on economic development themes and rectifying errant ways. The political leaders who lead the country should be aware of this. Through that, the school education system, university education system, and fundamental reformations of the vocational and technological education should be made in tune with the international standards of the 21st century.

In particular, the modern economical concepts of the 21st century, which are the economy of knowledge, economy of regeneration, blue-green economy, the digital economy, and other economic concepts, which must be operated simultaneously in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

The 21st Century has been identified by most economists of the world as the ‘Century of Asia’. Thus, the development of the Asian region would take place very speedily in this era, and its benefits should be derived by all of us by making required preparations to be the centre for supply of skilled workforces and competent professionals.

All of us know that in 2015 we formed a national Government joining the major political parties. Through this Government, we rendered a great service to the country. However, most of the tasks that should have been done by the Government were neglected. Also, some acts were done that should not have been done.

Since 2015, I have attempted to enter into a new political journey with novel development experiences. The people have fulfilled their responsibility by changing governments at every time. But, most of the governments which came to power destroyed the aspirations of the people. All of us know that the real supreme institution of the people’s supremacy, the Parliament, has tarnished its image. How maliciously the MPs took actions to throw chilli powder at police officers inside the Chamber and also to bring a knife into the Chamber and to destroy the resources used by the MPs that are maintained by the funds of the people. At present, the people see the Parliament as a mirror image which shows the deterioration of the society.

The leadership of the country is bestowed upon a certain individual to protect the special sections of the society, such as the underprivileged, innocents, widows, refugees, the disabled, children and women, farmers, fishing communities, and labourers, from harm and exploitation and to provide them economic, spiritual and intellectual freedom.

Every government spent their time to find solutions for the communal conflict. They gave priority to this issue. They attempted to find solutions. As a result of this, finding solutions for the economic crisis of the country was postponed. All gave priority to the ethnic issue.

Today we don’t have solutions for unemployment and the debt burden. Both the issues are severe. We have neither successfully achieved solutions for the ethnic issue nor have we achieved economic victory.

All of us know that there are more than 6,000 languages spoken in the world today, out of which, in our country, we only have three. We should not forget that all of us are one human race.

I believe that the people in the North lived freely during the last four years, after 35 years. We should understand the gravity of the ethnic issue without ridiculing or slandering the concepts of national unity and reconciliation. We should not forget we are living on a mound of ash, under which lies a simmering fire.

We established Provincial Councils more than 30 years ago. Today, from annual budget allocations to Provincial Councils, only 15% is left for development and capital funding. Of these, recurrent expenditure and maintenance costs are 85%. So, we need to act immediately to transform this upside down situation. I see the failure to hold Provincial Council elections for the last one and a half years as a challenge to democracy‍. Non-government organisations do not come forward to talk about that.

There are 1.6 million public servants in this country. According to survey reports, the efficiency of public service is only 30%, but it should be 70%. I see that the mistake is not of the public servants. They do not have the proper guidance.

I’ve seen the proposal for a national government in the media. It is necessary to question how ethical it would be to claim the formation of a national government by joining with a political party which has only a single Member of Parliament. 

I only see that as an attempt to increase the number of Ministers and increase in the facilities of the Ministers and MPs. From what I have seen in the media, I strongly disagree with the proposed idea for a national government.

If the number of Ministers is reduced to 25 with a single party running a government, as I believe, it is the wish of the people. Before questioning the duties and responsibilities that should be accomplished by the country for you, it is a necessary to think about the duties that should be accomplished by you on behalf of the country. ‘What will we get?’ or ‘What we will receive?’ are questions asked by most. But everybody knows that the most essential thing is to accomplish the duties and responsibilities on behalf of the nation.

We have understood by now that the path taken by the country for 70 years has not given us proper sustainable and physical development or the human capital. The poverty ratio of the country has been reported at 6.7%. Yet, more than 50% of the population is suffering from relative poverty. The daily wage of this population is reportedly less than Rs. 1000 a day. One child out of four is suffering from malnutrition. We know the need for expanding the export earnings that has been decreased. In an era where the world is moving towards a digital economy, we are in a threshold of obtaining the essential knowledge for the nation.

The economic racketeers have already made Sri Lanka a centre for illicit drug smuggling. As I believe, the development of a county should not be measured by the massive buildings, highways, or different kinds of market places trading in various consumer goods.

The sustainable development that prioritises the environmental conservation should be our handbook. We have not identified governance with such a vision as politics in the last seven decades. Instead, we have politics where nepotism and self-gain are prime motives. As a result, eradicating corruption and drug smuggling has become a major challenge.

Today, what we need is not fraudulent pretensions of serving the people, but a clear and far-sighted clean governance. In our common vision, we have to protect our indigenous values and be cable of winning over the challenges of today’s reality of globalisation.

In addition, since 2015, we completely removed the fear that was prevalent in the country. We won that situation. How difficult is it to remove corruption? I see a scarcity of honest politicians.  Therefore, on the 71st National Independence Day, we must be determined to make Sri Lanka a powerful and prosperous nation in Asia that cannot be undermined. We must be determined to build a prosperous and harmonious nation and also build a superior economy in Sri Lanka. Therefore, we need to build a green economy that will contribute to eliminating poverty. We need to introduce a system of checks and balances and a mechanism that strengthens the Parliament to eliminate political anarchy through a proper election system. Furthermore, introducing the skills required for State governance is very essential.

The utmost priority should be given to the elimination of corruption and malpractices in the country. For that, we should be totally committed. So, we should defeat drug trafficking and all the rackets and illegal activities that are causing a black economy in the country.

We must take prompt action to provide technical education, incentives and infrastructure facilities to drive young people of the country to step into the future through new innovations. Our educational reforms need to be done immediately to create an educated nation. It is our duty to safeguard the cultural child and the technical child, of which I spoke in 2016. We have to create the conditions for all the people to live under a single flag in an indivisible country. We must stay together.

I wish to remember once again the war heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice in the 30-year old conflict, the disabled and members of their families. Two Sri Lankan war heroes serving in the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission died last week. I express my condolences over their demise on this occasion and extend the honour of the whole nation. I’ll quote a free verse written by Kumaratunga Munidasa;

‘Ma desa hela desa, ma desa hela resa. Ma basa hela basa, meya mage hisa mata.’

I believe this is the essence of our future vision.

Finally, I extend my gratitude to the Ministry officials, including the Minister of Home Affairs, officials of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Police, Heads of the Civil Defence Department, all the public servants and all institutions, including the Ministry of Education for their great contribution in successfully organising this 71st Independence Day celebration, and I request all to unite with the aim of conquering all the challenges before the nation.

President raps politicians for country’s paralysis