Competition, Conflicts Of Interest & Control
By Mangala Samaraweera –August 3, 2016
Mangala Samaraweera -Minister of External Affairs
When the National Unity Government was elected just over a year and a half ago the Sri Lankan economy was at the precipice with economic stagnation, international isolation and even a forcibly imposed international inquiry into allegations of war crimes around the corner. Together, these circumstances forced the then government to call a snap presidential election when it still had two full years left in its term. This election was meant to send a strong signal to emerging pro-democracy movements in Sri Lanka and the international community that, despite allegations to rampant corruption and nepotism, the government remained popular.
Under the previous government the economy and employment stagnated. I need not to go into details but allow me to share a few key statistics that are a snapshot of the situation just 19 months ago. The number of Sri Lankans searching for jobs remained roughly the same between 2009 and 2014. Exports as a percentage of GDP declined to 17 percent in 2014, down from 33 percent in the year 2000. Our foreign debt, used for wasteful projects like the Mattala Airport, reached critical levels.
If that was not bad enough, an economic crisis was looming over us. Relations with our largest export markets, including the US and EU which account for over half our exports were in a precarious state. Thanks to the previous government’s atrocious human rights record we had already lost GSP+. Department of Commerce statistics show that in the six years since Sri Lanka lost GSP+ the total loss of export revenue was 150 billion rupees. That sum is four times the education ministry’s entire budget in 2014. In addition, 150,000 people were made unemployed because of losing GSP+. The effects of the now lifted fish ban, although on a smaller scale, were similar. The worst was yet to come. Following consistent debacles at the Human Rights Council, in addition to the OISL international investigative report that was to be tabled in 2015, the road was paved for targeted sanctions and travel bans. This would have constituted the tipping point of a domino effect that would have more than wiped out the economic dividends of ending the war.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The National Unity Government is now putting in place the framework for democracy, reconciliation and development. This framework will break-through Sri Lanka’s post-Independence malaise of consistently missing opportunities and simply doing too little too late. We have made great strides in the areas of democratisation and foreign affairs. We are making progress on reconciliation. The framework for the reconciliation process will be in place once the mechanisms outlined in the Geneva Resolution, which brought us a tsunami of international good will, and the new constitution are implemented. The new constitution will entrench the changes we made under the 100 Day Work Programme and will help ensure that Sri Lanka is truly united and at peace for generations through a constitution that enshrines our multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, multi-lingual and multi-religious character.
The next major challenge for Sri Lanka is development, particularly generating growth and employment. We need to provide a peace dividend to our people; they need to feel that year-by-year their pockets are fuller and their standards of living are better.
