[Speech made by JVP leader Anura Dissanayake at the NPP convention held on 20.12.2021]
Among those assembled here are those who have voted for us, as well as many who have voted for other political parties. All of them are cordially welcomed, and we appreciate their decision to unite to change this destructive political trajectory. The actions carried out for decades have done all the devastation to the country and the people. The economy is heading to a catastrophic end. There is a massive shortage of goods and a sharp rise in prices. More than 1,500 containers of essential goods have been held back at the port. Doubts have been raised about the repayment of loan instalments. The lives of ordinary people are in deep crisis. Can the traditional political trajectory that has existed so far solve these deep-seated crises? Today, experience and their lives have proved that the old, conventional political path cannot take our country forward.
This was not a natural disaster. These are the consequences of the wrong economic and political path followed. If someone falls into the well, he has to come out of it. If our country was plunged into this catastrophe with the wrong economic and political policy, the answer lies in establishing the correct economic and political policy in the motherland. Many people who have a decent source of income and want to be respected for their profession leave the country. They leave the country not only in search of employment but also in terms of social security. But, no matter how much you struggle individually, you can’t get over this. It requires a collective effort. This platform of the National People’s Power is made up of people who make humanitarian sacrifices and dedication for such a collective effort. From now on, I assure and declare that we will build the National People’s Power into a people’s movement that can mobilize all the country’s people together. Everyone is convinced that our country must be taken away from this destructive political trajectory. No matter how much you struggle individually, it doesn’t work.
The quail caught in the Vedda’s net could not escape no matter how hard they tried. But in the end, Bodhisattva quail clarifies to other quail that only a collective effort could save them. That is precisely what has happened to us today. We are ready to take over this country. Also, this country is ready to be built. We have a sincere and holy desire for that. No one on this platform or any of you who have participated here has participated on personal grounds. We all have a thread that binds us together. We are ready to take over this country and build this country. This is not a country that should be allowed to collapse. The main factor wreaking havoc on this country is extremely corrupt politics. The rulers steal the antigens of people who are on the verge of death from the covid epidemic. Rulers who steal from Sri Lankans employed abroad through the quarantine process do not build a country. While those who cultivated Yala and maha seasons for generations are without the necessary inputs for agriculture, the rulers steal from Chinese fertilizers.
Therefore, this corrupt politics must first be stopped. These corrupt projects weigh heavily on our country. Corruption is not just a bribe committed at that moment. The impact of corruption is enormous. The former Auditor General had once stated that the country’s debt was eleven trillion and its assets were 1.8 trillion. This is why our country is stuck in a huge mountain of debt. The share of debt which was one billion rupees in 1955, has increased to 16 billion rupees as of 30th April. Can any ruler say what was done with the loans taken? As such, firstly, incorrupt politics is needed to build this country. It can only be done by the most incorrupt national force in this country. Many people expect the corrupt to be punished. It is also expected that the property earned from corruption should be taken back. Surely it can only be done under the control of the National People’s Power. We shall do it.
Secondly, a collective effort is needed to build this country. How many people went after individuals in search of prince ‘Diyasena’? We always say that building a country is not a magical act of an individual. Sri Lankans employed in foreign came to vote in chartered planes with high hopes for building this country. Anton Chekhov once said, “Man will become better only once we have shown him how he really is.” Man is not naturally a thief, a corrupt person, an oppressor. The man is naturally optimistic. Who dragged that man into this disaster? It was by creating a society that runs for itself individually. Within that society, man is a deceiver, a corrupt man. If so, he can be saved from that society only by a collective effort. It can only be done by getting the politician to descend from the political upstairs. Politics today is an extremely privileged position. It has created a person who is not subject to the law. This politician, who is extremely privileged and above the law, must come down from the top floor. Then he has to work shoulder to shoulder with the public and become an activist who builds the society as equal partners. Politicians cannot tell citizens to be collective from upstairs. The country can be built by combining my role as a politician, your role as a professional, his role as an entrepreneur, and the roles of the farmer and the fisherman collectively.
Pensions, ministerial quarters, taking care of former presidents, and mansions should all be abolished. Politics must be turned into a joint exercise to build this country, politicians moving shoulder to shoulder with the citizens. Only the National People’s Power can do that. The old traditional camp has proved that they can do nothing.
Incorrupt politics and the collective intervention of society are the two basic elements needed to build the country. The economic programme built on that should be implemented. We have a vision and a plan. But, I do not say it’s perfect. New ideas and suggestions should be added to complete it. The transformation we are making, especially with regard to the economy, must be done on three basic foundations. We must increase national production, acquire a fair share of goods and services in the world market, involve the people in this economy and distribute the benefits justly among them. Today a large section of the people has been evicted from this economy. They have turned human life into human dust. Even today 38% of the GDP comes from the Western Province. 5,5 percent from the North Central Province. This means that though the economy has expanded, people have not been equally involved in the economy. Therefore, the people should be made active participants in the economy. The share of the economy among the people is being distributed in an extremely unfair manner. Thirty-eight percent of the top ten percent enjoy national wealth. The bottom ten enjoys .1 percent only. Is this justified?
As the country achieves economic expansion, the benefits must be distributed fairly. Society will not prosper if economic benefits are not fairly distributed. No country in the world can match the economic system of another country. They shape their country’s economic strategy based on several key factors. Of those, location is the first. Our country is located in a very important place. Our country is located on four major shipping routes: Europe, India, Australia and the Far East. Thirty-six thousand ships pass through these lanes every year. Thirty percent of world trade comes from these four shipping lanes. This position should be utilized very well in the development of our country. It is also important to have an accurate assessment of our country’s natural resources. We do not have valuable resources like gold, copper and gas. But, we have an ocean almost eight times as much as the country. This ocean is a source of rich resources. Our lucky resources are beautiful beaches, mineral resources, two monsoon rains, location near the equator, and fertile land. Utilizing these resources is the core of our development plan.
Thirdly, human resources are the most important resource in our country. Our country is ranked 24th in the world in terms of population density. Approximately three hundred and forty live in a square kilometre. Developing these human resources is an important part of our economic strategy. It requires the use of education, health and sports. Where are these three areas today? Thirty thousand students who enter school to ‘first-year’ drop out of school before the GCE Ordinary Level. More than seventy percent of drug addicts have not learned the basics. More than seventy percent of prisoners have not studied up to the ordinary level. There is a link between poverty and ignorance as well as a social crime. Therefore, the primary purpose of our education is to produce an intelligent man. Just as health produces a healthy man, sport also produces courage. We build the Sri Lankan citizen as a wise, healthy and efficient citizen. We aim to build the most advanced human resources in the world from Sri Lanka. We are confident that it can be done.
The world today is intertwined in many ways. Communication, transportation and the world market are all intertwined. If anyone thinks of creating an isolated state from the world, they belong to the 1800s and beyond. There are various strongholds in world politics, and the economy and conflicts and competition exist. Where is Sri Lanka located in it?
Our country is in a quandary because of decades of misguided foreign policy. When the Hambantota port is given to China, India is asking for the Eastern port. America demands Kerawalapitiya power plant. Therefore, we must implement a foreign policy that is fresh, non-aligned, with a very broad vision and programme that would enable us to come out of the cave and deal with each country with dignity.
Our inland irrigation industry, the tank system, is built on a civilized evolution. Twenty-two percent of our workforce still exists on agriculture. Twenty five percent of export earnings come from agriculture. Twenty five percent of the industries in our country are based on agriculture. Agriculture in our country is very important in terms of food security and improving the livelihoods of rural people. We must move towards a new economic programme based on our country’s civilization, human resources, world politics, and resources.
We have a vision and a plan in that regard. Entrepreneurs implement it. The government sets goals, and the entrepreneur implements those targeted programmes. What has happened today is that entrepreneurs do not venture into new fields. They meet Gnanakkala as the government doesn’t introduce a process according to an economic vision. We guide farmers, workers, entrepreneurs and public servants with a vision. Our country can be transformed into a developed country in five or six years. Citizens always had good hopes. No voter cast his ballot at the polls with the intention of destabilizing the country, selling national resources and dragging our country into such devastation. Every citizen cast his vote with good intentions. But instead of the voter’s good dream, the elected rulers had their dream as expectations of their family. The ruler had a life of extreme greed, selling national resources. We are building the aspirations of the people to move the country forward through an administration that builds the unity of all in this country. The Executive Committee of the National People’s Power has an elected body representing all sectors. Let us go to the village and launch the politics of turning this country towards a new path. Let us choose the path of solution, instead of the path of destruction that has been going on for seventy-three years. This is the road to the solution. We invite everyone to join us on that path with courage.
