The People’s Forums Highlight Challenges For The Future
Jehan Perera
The government has left nothing to chance where it concerns the forthcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting which is to commence in the next few days. It invested heavily in CHOGM both in term of its political and financial capital. The government expects the international perspective on Sri Lanka, its economic potential and peaceful climate, to undergo a drastic transformation for the better. In the immediate run-up to the Heads of Government summit, there were three other forums, the Business Forum in Colombo, the Youth Forum in Hambantota and the People’s Forum inHikkaduwa. In the past the People’s Forum was also known as the NGO Forum, but now it has been widened to include the whole of civil society.
The Role of Civil Society is one of the 16 paragraphs of the Commonwealth Charter which has also been signed by Sri Lanka. It states, “We recognise the important role that civil society plays in our communities and countries as partners in promoting and supporting Commonwealth values and principles, including the freedom of association and peaceful assembly, and in achieving development goals.” Since 1991, it has been the practice for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting to be accompanied by a Commonwealth People’s Forum that brings civil society leaders from across the Commonwealth to share their experiences with one another.
On this occasion the People’s Forum is to be held in Hikkaduwa. About 400 participants drawn in approximately equal numbers from foreign countries and Sri Lanka are presently attending this official event, which was ceremonially opened by President Mahinda Rajapaksa. It was evident that meticulous care had gone into the organizing of the People’s Forum. There was a fleet of newly purchased buses painted with the CHOGM symbol to transport the conference delegates to the opening ceremony which was in Galle. The venue was the old Dutch Hospital in the Galle Fort area, which had been re-furbished and reconstructed to be a world-class hospitality centre in a short space of a few months. The cultural aspects of the programme were tasteful and multi ethnic. All announcements were made in Sinhala, Tamil and English, and the dances and cultural items were representative of the different communities living in the country.
The enormous strides forward that Sri Lanka has made since the end of the war four years ago was one of the themes of President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s address to the delegates at the People’s Forum. He said that “Sri Lanka is experiencing a time of change, of creativity, and expectations of a bright smiling future for all its citizens.” He showed his love for children by having them lead him to the stage and emphasized the future of the younger generations and the responsibility of the present leaders towards them. However, it was unfortunate that this measured speech of the President was followed by the background announcement that the President who had just spoken was the pragmatic leader who had brought peace to our motherland and was the “Father of the Nation.” This was out of place in a gathering of civil society leaders from across the globe who would invariably question the democratic spirit in such fawning utterances.
