Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and Opposition Leader R.Sampanthan are political contemporaries who entered Parliament together, in the 1977 General Elections, which radically transformed the country’s political, social, economic and electoral landscape. To his credit, Premier Wickremesinghe has never indulged in sectarian policies for political expediency.
In an interview with the Sunday Observer, to mark the Premier’s 40 years of functioning as a Parliamentarian in the national legislature, Opposition Leader Sampanthan says, the Prime Minister always displayed genuineness in his attempts to create unity among all communities in the country- the much sought after ‘unity in diversity’. Divisive politics is totally alien to the Premier’s political philosophy. His political vision is that all citizens in the country should live together in harmony, irrespective of differences of caste, creed and religion, said Sampanthan.
Plenty of patience
I came to know Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe in July, 1977 when he was first elected to Parliament, in which I too was an MP. The Premier was elected to Parliament from the Biyagama electorate while I entered from the Trincomalee electorate, the same year. He held many important portfolios such as, Deputy Minister, Minister and Prime Minister during the tenure of Presidents J.R.Jayewardene, D.B.Wijetunga and Ranasinghe Premadasa. Initially, he was appointed as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs when the late A.C.S. Hameed was the Foreign Minister. He also held important portfolios such as, Youth Affairs and Education. He first became the Prime Minister during the tenure of President D.B. Wijetunga, and was the Opposition Leader during the Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga presidency. Again in 2002, he became Prime Minister. During the regime of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, he once again held the Opposition Leader portfolio. After the formation of the National Unity Government in 2015, he was appointed as Prime Minister for the third time. The outstanding feature of the Premier’s political career is that he uninterruptedly represented Parliament since the year 1977. Therefore, he is a senior politician with much experience and plenty of patience, to his credit.
Sampanthan said, the Prime Minister acted in a very responsible manner to uphold the dignity and decorum of the House during his entire political career. He never lost his temper, and is a leader who always listens to the opinion of others and works in unison with everybody. The Premier has a very good understanding of the burning issues of the country and possesses a farsighted vision on the economy. He has earned a good international reputation and maintains close rapport with international leaders. He displays genuine desire to provide solutions to key issues in the country. The Premier, through his actions has shown his desire to create unity among all communities. His vision is that all citizens of the country should live together in harmony without giving into narrow political interests. He is endowed with a good decision making capacity.
Reasonable resolution
The Opposition Leader said, we have not been able to find a lasting solution to the national question, yet. But we can’t put the blame on the Prime Minister alone for that. Both, President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe should join hands to find a lasting solution to the issue. I believe they have the ability and the potential to accomplish this. Both leaders should jointly commit themselves to find a solution to the ethnic issue within a unitary state, without leaving room for any divisions. Since they have worked together, their efforts should obviously come to fruition. Both are leaders who have always taken up the position that there must be a reasonable resolution to the national question.
The Prime Minister and his party believe in the philosophy of the open market economy. His intention is to attract more foreign direct investments and increase the volume of exports, to ease the burden of the people. He believes there should be substantial investments brought in, and jobs created. Thereby we should be able to become an export-oriented economy. Sri Lanka occupies a strategic position in the Indian Ocean region. So we should make best use of that unique position. The Premier always believes in maintaining good relations with all other countries and leaders. He is committed to safeguard the unity of Sri Lanka and its territorial integrity. He believes in one country, a united and undivided, independent Sri Lanka and hopes that all people live in peace and harmony as equal citizens.
A most striking characteristic of the Premier is that he never loses confidence in the country, the people and himself. He always kept going. He faced both, successes and failures boldly, in his political career. The Premier generously sacrificed his Presidential candidacy on two occasions for what he called the greater benefit of the country. Those were decisions made in keeping with the needs at that time. In making Maithripala Sirisena the President, the people believe the Prime Minister has created the opportunity for political parties and politicians to unite, for the betterment of the country. He has succeeded in bringing the UNP and the SLFP together in the larger interests of the country, though not fully but fairly substantially. If they can work together it is something most beneficial to the country. Premier Wickremesinghe’s greatest asset, I am sure, is that he has been able to maintain his composure, weathering all political storms.
Sampanthan said, the country is indebted neck- deep, while the income generated is not sufficient to meet the needs. The country needs more investments and needs to improve its export potential. I think the Prime Minister is willing to take bold decisions, by entering into Free Trade Agreements with several other countries and make the economy move forward. Without adversely affecting the lives of the poor, everything must be done to develop the country. It is not fair to impose a burden on the poor. The Prime Minister decided to form a National Unity Government with the SLFP to develop the country and sort out burning issues. If we want to develop the country, we must get together regardless of petty political differences. We could see the destruction caused by the war during the last 30 years. A huge amount of money was spent on the war. We could see the vast development made by some of our neighbouring countries in Asia which is a good example for us to follow, wriggle out of poverty and reach prosperity, the Opposition concluded.