Ceylon Today Editorial

President’s fervent appeal

05 December 2016

President Maithripala Sirisena made a fervent appeal last Thursday to the Joint Opposition led by former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, not to create obstacles to the attempts made in making the new Constitution and keep away from carrying out false propaganda to derail the process now in place to strengthen peace and reconciliation.

President Sirisena while appreciating the role of Leader of the Opposition R. Sampanthan in supporting the efforts of the Government to solve the ethnic problem said, that narrow minded attitudes in politics will only lead to bloodshed and put the country forever in a turbulent state.

The country had suffered severe setbacks in the past in maintaining its integrity. The long drawn out civil war had destroyed all resources in the country putting the economy in peril. So efforts in drafting the new Constitution should be multifaceted, not only to resolving the issues of the minorities, but also in stabilizing the country's shattered economy.

The functions of the Joint Opposition led by former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, since its inception have created obstacles to the National Unity Government as well as to the main Opposition in Parliament. According to President Sirisena his predecessor Mahinda Rajapaksa is acting in a highly irresponsible manner by indulging in false propaganda on the status of Buddhism and arousing the Buddhist clergy by saying that the new Constitution would be a threat to the country and it would even undermine Buddhism.

Being the former Head of State experiencing the arduous task of facing the civil strife in the island the statements made by Mahinda Rajapaksa and his men from the Joint Opposition could be seen as stirring the hornets' nest. Another prominent member in the Joint Opposition Dinesh Gunawardena even told in Parliament of the country facing a threat of a military coup. The highly irresponsible comments of this nature have highlighted the Joint Opposition's political bankruptcy and its attempts in creating a fear psychosis among peace loving innocent people.

It is important to remember the immense sacrifice made by the security forces in safeguarding the unity and integrity of the country. The military leaderships in the past remained loyal to the governments which were in power and maintained the best of traditions of the armed forces in the country. Therefore, the comments made by Joint Opposition's Dinesh Gunawardena had even undermined the dedication and the commitments of the armed forces in safeguarding the sovereignty of the country.

The Joint Opposition should realize the challenges still prevail in the North and the East in creating a healthy atmosphere to stabilize peace and reconciliation. The present government is now in the state of safeguarding the country from the errors committed by the previous regime in dealing with the post-war humanitarian issues and over the alleged war crimes committed during the last phase of the civil war in 2009 by co-sponsoring the UNHRC resolution in 2015.

Enormous humanitarian problems still remain unresolved in the North and the East. The reports of the foreign experts who had looked into the post-war issues have highlighted the struggle of the present regime in overcoming the adverse conditions created by the previous regime. The failure in working towards a reconciled nation soon after the end of war and only looking for ways and means of hanging on to power had led to the collapse of the Rajapaksa regime.

President Sirisena had also pointed out that his predecessor Rajapaksa had even promised the international community that he would go beyond the 13th Amendment to the Constitution and fulfil the political aspirations of people in the North and the East. However, according to President Sirisena now his predecessor with the intention of causing problems to the present government is saying something contrary to what he had pledged to the international community.

President Sirisena by making a fervent appeal to the Joint Opposition in Parliament to refrain from its undemocratic ways has clearly highlighted that the manipulations of the Joint Opposition remain a big threat not only to coexistence but also to good governance in the country.