Happy New Year

The New Year that is dawning follows the General Election last week. The new Parliament will meet soon after the celebrations on April 22. We also had the Presidential Election three months ago. That means that in the coming year there is the hope of a fresh beginning for Sri Lanka.

Incidentally, this is the first occasion in about three decades that the New Year is celebrated throughout the island. It is a consequence of the victory over terror almost a year ago.

Hence, this time the New Year is celebrated in an atmosphere sans fear and trauma. The spirit of freedom reigns everywhere from Point Dondra to Point Pedro.

The New Year is a season of cheer, a season of family reunion, a season of friendship and a season of visiting relatives and friends.

Hopefully, it could be used to ease animosity and acrimony generated during the elections. It could also be a fitting occasion to reach out to each other by those on either side of the political, religious or ethnic divides.

The New Year is also the time for fresh resolutions. Since the end of terrorism development has become the first item on the agenda. Development cannot be achieved without unity. Hence, it is necessary for every citizen to resolve to do his or her best to develop the country.

Development is not a task that can be left to politicians to handle alone. It requires the synergies of all citizens. We have seen how politicians squander national wealth and commit many blunders when left to themselves. Eternal vigilance of the people is necessary to guide the people’s representatives.

The new Parliament is fortunate to have several dozen new MPs, most of them young and energetic. It has also a better representation from the professionals. The combination of the exuberance of the youth with the maturity of the elder politicians should be able to deliver better.

The Parliament should be elevated to a higher level with people’s representatives contributing seriously to its debate drawing from their knowledge and experience.

Unfortunately it had degenerated so much during the past few years that schoolchildren and visitors found it shy to listen to the debates on account of their unparliamentarily language. It is hoped that fresh blood will introduce a higher and more refined political culture to the House.

The call of the President was for a strong Parliament. People have heeded his voice and returned a strong Parliament. It is time for the Government to deliver. Several questions need its urgent attention.

One serious question that demands attention is how to ensure equitable development. Development by itself or as expressed in the growth of the GDP has no meaning to the rural, estate and urban poor.

Development must ensure a better living standard for the poor and marginalized sections of society. Nor could development take place without sacrifice.

Therefore, it is necessary to curtail, if not abandon, the consumerism that is prevalent. No country has developed without its people making sacrifices by way of leading an austere life.

The real key to poverty eradication lies in the sphere of production. This requires raising the productivity of Sri Lankan labour through appropriate use of new technology and raising the technological literacy of the work force.

Liberation from terror has opened up vast possibilities for developing the country. There needs to be a development strategy and plan which will take into account all possibilities and probabilities and decide upon a set of priority areas and tasks as well as a realizable pragmatic time frame for its implementation.

We wish our readers a happy Sinhala and Hindu New Year.

For exit only

The people have rejected several former MPs, including some powerful politicians that claimed to have won the whole world. They are said to be clamouring for entry into Parliament through the back door - the National List.

What these gentlemen have forgotten is that the back door is for exit only. Though they do not know it every fugitive knows it. It is through the back door that fugitives escape when authorities arrive from the front door.

Perhaps they would have thought Parliament is also akin to a passenger transport bus, where people use the back door for entry. Fortunately the Parliament is no bus and it has better entrance qualifications.

These gentlemen who used to enjoy princely benefits find it difficult to digest the lesson taught by the people. The best they could do is to eat the humble pie and start again from the grassroots or quit politics. The sooner the better.