15 years ago we were on top of the world

Former Secretary General of Secretariat for Coordinating the Peace Process and ex-UPFA MP Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha yesterday (17) said that in spite of bringing the war to a successful conclusion in May 2009, couldn’t achieve what the country expected of the rulers.

Prof. Wijesinha issued the following statement on the eve of the 15th anniversary of the end of war: “15 years ago Sri Lanka was on top of the world, having defeated an incredibly dangerous terrorist movement, and then defeated the power of the West in Geneva. Five years later we had lost it all. How?

Firstly, Mahinda Rajapaksa let down those who had supported him solidly, both India with whom he had made solemn agreements, and Dayan Jayatilleka who had secured the support of the Third World diplomatically. Mahinda succumbed to pressure, the sacking at the behest of his own extremist supporters and also Israel, which loathed his influence in Geneva.

But the West also contributed insidiously, in supporting Sarath Fonseka for the presidential election he foolishly advanced. Rajapaksa then moved to extremism himself and ignored his commitments to the Tamils. And, worst of all, he abandoned the North to the rent seekers in his entourage, so development was in the interests of profit, not people.

So was development in the rest of the country, with no plans to use productively the infrastructure that sprang up through loans. Education and training were ignored, and people served through job creation, at great expense, for the constant elections conducted to prove his popularity. So that and the country declined.”