A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
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Thiranjala Weerasinghe sj.- One Island Two Nations
?????????????????????????????????????????????????Thursday, June 15, 2017
Mahinda Rajapaksa trying to distort facts on GSP+: Samaraweera
Finance
and Mass Media Minister Mangala Samaraweera said today that former
President Mahinda Rajapaksa is trying to distort facts regarding the
GSP+ concession.
The
Minister said this in a statement made in response to the comment made
by former President Mahinda Rajapaksa regarding the GSP+ concession.
Minister
Samaraweera said that by saying that the ‘Government should not create
unrealistic expectations about GSP +’ former President Rajapaksa is
saying that obtaining GSP+ concession is trivial since Sri Lanka is very close to passing the threshold of an upper middle income country.
‘A
country has to be classified as ‘upper middle income’ by the World Bank
for three consecutive years in order to be no longer eligible for the
GPS+’ he said.
‘Even
if Sri Lanka was to reach that threshold tomorrow, we would still have
access to the advantaged of GSP+ for three years, and for one additional
year after the decision is taken to withdraw the benefit’ the Minister
said.
Minister
Samaraweera said that Rajapaksa cannot acknowledge that the Unity
Government has managed to obtain a formidable boost to Sri Lanka’s
economy, in application of Article 4(1) of the GSP+ regulation of 2012,
for four years.
The Minister said by the end of these four years the European Union will show growth recovery.
‘With
less unemployment and more consumer demands, this is the moment to join
in and enhance partnership with the European Union’ the Minister said.
Furthermore
Minister Mangala Samaraweera said that the statement made by the former
President saying that GSP+ puts Sri Lanka under the supervision of the
EU is absurd.
‘By
committing to a number of universal human rights principles, we do
nothing that was not already recommended by Sri Lankan people who came
before the Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) to give
their input and views. Protecting every citizen from torture is not an
alien imposition’ Minister Samaraweera said.
In
addition to this, Minister Samaraweera said that Mahinda Rajapaksa
failed to retain the GSP+ facility by misjudgments made by his advisors
who advised not to implement the 2011 recommendations of the LLRC, which
he himself appointed to protect citizens from torture, criminalized
disappearances and fully investigate cases of human rights violation.
‘We
know very well how Rajapaksa and his advisors tried until the last
minute to retain the GSP+ facility in 2010 and lost’ he said.
The
Minister said that the GSP+ system is a partnership that helps our
nation to gain it’s due place once again in the international stage to
stand shoulder to shoulder with the international community.
‘On
the contrary, we feel stronger when our laws reflect the best of global
humanism and when our citizens benefit from the best law enforcement’
Minister Samaraweera said.
The full statement is reproduced below:
Statement
issued by Mangala Samaraweera, Minister of Finance & Mass Media in
response to a recent statement made by Mahinda Rajapaksa, MP for
Kurunegala District on GSP+ concession.
Mahinda
Rajapaksa and his advisors, instead of working to take our country to
the heights that our country could have achieved soon after the
conclusion of the conflict in 2009, chose to run our country to the
ground. He made our country heavily indebted on the one hand, having
borrowed at exorbitantly high, commercial rates; while taking decisions
that made Sri Lanka withdraw from the international stage, on the other,
thus making our country and our people isolated and shunned by the
world. He hides the fact that time after time, major donor countries
voted against Sri Lanka at the time, in international financial
institutions.
Having
eventually lost an election which he himself called for, ahead of time,
he appears to still not be able to come to terms with that loss. His
hunger for power makes him and his advisors continue to indulge in the
lies, tricks and games that were so much a part of his regime and so
much a part of his personality. Just recently we saw how he lied to the
people about his travel to Japan. He said that he was travelling to
Japan at the invitation of the Emperor of Japan! The Embassy of Japan
responded to a question from a journalist denying this. Why resort to
this kind of lying to hoodwink the people, Rajapaksa? If you are in fact
a follower of the teachings of Gautama Buddha as you try to show the
people, isn’t it about time, at least at this stage of your life, to try
to abide by even one of the five precepts, and refrain from indulging
in lies.
Rajapaksa, in a statement titled ‘Government should not create unrealistic expectations about GSP Plus’ says
that obtaining the GSP Plus facility is trivial, since Sri Lanka is
very close to passing the threshold of an upper middle income country.He
conveniently hides a fundamental issue. A country has to be classified
as "upper middle income" by the World Bank for three consecutive years in
order to be no longer eligible for the GSP Plus. Even if Sri Lanka were
to reach that threshold tomorrow, we would still have access to the
advantages of GSP Plus for three years, and for one additional year after
the decision is taken to withdraw the benefit. This shows that
Rajapaksa is clearly trying to distort facts because he can’t
acknowledge the fact that the National Unity Government has in fact
managed to obtain a formidable boost to Sri Lanka’s economy, in
application of Article 4(1) of the GSP Regulation of 2012, for at least
four years.
This
period of, at the very least four years, comes just when the European
economy starts to show signals of growth recovery. With less
unemployment and more consumer demand, this is the moment to join in
enhanced partnershipwith the European Union!
But
let me add a point. Rajapaksa’s reasoning that we shouldn't aspire to a
better deal, because some time in the future the economy will grow is callous
and insensitive to the workers of our country and their families. It
reflects a complete lack of concern for our workers who expect progress
in the immediate present, and they deserve progress in the immediate
present. So what if Sri Lanka, thanks to the ingenuity and hard work of
its entrepreneurs and workers looks poised to cross a certain threshold
of average income? Does it mean that we, as a government, should sit on
our hands without giving them the opportunity for a better deal that
they deserve now in the present? Shouldn't we help them to reach our
national goals sooner rather than later?
The
idea that GSP Plus puts Sri Lanka "under the supervision" of the EU is
simply absurd. By committing to a number of universal human rights
principles, we do nothing that was not already recommended by Sri Lankan
people who came before the Lessons Learned and Reconciliation
Commission (LLRC) to give their input and views. Protecting every
citizen from torture is not an alien imposition. It is a sovereign
decision from a humanistic nation, towards its own citizens, inspired by
the most sacred human values and principles. How ironic that Rajapaksa
who claims to be not just a follower but a guardian of Buddhism in Sri
Lanka, does not advocate granting the very basic human rights principles
and rights and freedoms to the citizens of this country! Don’t our
citizens deserve the highest standards of protection? Don’t our citizens
deserve the highest standards of human rights and freedoms?
It
was incompetence and arrogance of Rajapaksa and his advisors, and their
determination to deny the people of this country their rightsthat
resulted in Mr. Rajapaksa failing to retain the GSP Plus facility. It
was ill-advised to not implement the 2011 recommendations of the LLRC, a
Commission which he himself appointed, to protect citizens from
torture, criminalize disappearances, and fully investigate cases of
human rights violations. In fact it was an injustice caused to the law
abiding soldiers of this country as well. Having failed himself, and the
people of our country, now in 2017, it is simply invidious to criticize
a successful measure that the Government seeks to implement for the
benefit of the people of our country.
We
know very well how Rajapaksa and his advisors tried until the last
minute to retain the GSP Plus facility in 2010, and lost. Licking their
wounds, they then sought to lie to the people by saying that he decided
to not pursue the facility, to avoid damage to the country’s political,
legal and institutional framework. He probably still can’t get over
those lies. So he keeps repeating them in different formulations and
words even seven years later in 2017.
For
this government, the GSP Plus system is a partnership that helps our
nation and our people regain their due place once again on the
international stage as a respected nation and a respected people
standing shoulder to shoulder with the international community, shedding
the pariah tatters that the former government chose to put on our
nation and our people. Sri Lanka and the Sri Lankan people deserve the
best in the world. Sri Lanka is a proud nation and the Sri Lankan people
are a proud people with the self-confidence to speak and act as equals
with every country or group of countries in the world. We don't need to
hide from global dialogue in order to feel better. On the contrary, we
feel stronger when our laws reflect the best of global humanism, when
our citizens benefit from the best law enforcement, when our workers and
entrepreneurs see the ports of the world open to the fruit of their
efforts.