hat the country needs after three decades of violence and great tragedy is a consoli-dation and restoration of political stability and economic growth. And I think the President himself signalled the fact that he wants to focus on development during his campaign speeches. Unfortunately we have to face another election, which will lead to the customary orgy of politicisation that happens in Sri Lanka particularly. On the one hand we are a robust democracy, but on the other hand we can be spared some of this political turbulence that goes on particularly when we have very abusive election platforms, and now the arrest of the (Opposition) presidential candidate. I think Sri Lanka has the unique ability to shoot itself in the foot; and we seem to be doing so once again,” Jayantha Dhanapala told Benchmark Special Correspondent Savithri Rodrigo recently.

While congratulating the President and the armed forces for a decisive victory against the LTTE, the veteran senior diplomat feels that “we are missing the opportunity of achieving political stability and economic development”. And he hopes that following general elections, “we can find a way for both the Opposition and the Government to work together in the national interest”.

Addressing the vexed issue of human rights and alleged war-crimes charges by the international community, Dhanapala draws attention to the importance placed on the subject by Western governments and the need for Sri Lankans to be mindful of issues: “For many Western countries human rights is a very important plank of their foreign policies. I’m glad that the Minister of Human Rights, Mahinda Samarasinghe, who is experienced and understands international relations, has engaged now in a dialogue with the UN Human Rights Commissioner to understand what her concerns are and to respond to them. I think that is the way in which Sri Lanka should act internationally. Human rights is only one aspect of a many stranded foreign-policy relationship with any country. And so to understand that and to be able to put it in its correct perspective I think is very important.”

“That is not to deny the importance of human rights for our own sake. It’s vital that Sri Lankans themselves be very concerned about the observance of human rights in our own country because we are being affected; our democracy is being affected. So if there are concerns these should be dealt with transparently. In South Africa a model was the truth and reconciliation commission. Now, I would hope that we have the moral fibre, especially with the strong religious traditions that we have from Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity and Islam, for us to be able to do something similar, to be able to confront the problems within our society and overcome them,” he suggests.

Dhanapala also observes that the fragmentation of the voter base, especially of those in the north and east have sent a warning bell to the incumbent: “If the results of the presidential election are any indication, the minorities in the north and the east clearly voted against the incumbent. And he therefore, has a special responsibility to reach out, as he says he will. He said he will be the President of not only those who voted for him but those who voted against him. And that’s a very magnanimous statement and we have to applaud him for it, and we must hold him to that promise. The President has said he was keen to engage elected representatives of the minorities in a dialogue – this is a first step which he must implement.”

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