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Freedom Alliance for 'mixed, open economy' The
United People's Freedom Alliance stands for an open, mixed economy,
in which the private sector plays a vital role, and will promote
domestic agriculture and industry, its spokesman Media Minister
Lakshman Kadirgamar said last week. The
alliance, comprising of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party and the Janatha
Vimukthi Peramuna, said they were also committed to maintaining
the ceasefire and for a political dialogue with the LTTE to solve
the ethnic problem, he told a meeting with business leaders. The
meeting was called to voice the alliance's policies regarding economy,
peace and other matters and dispel misconceptions and disinformation
that had worried the corporate sector. Kadirgamar said the alliance
would pay close attention to the private sector's ideas and take
them into account when drafting its election manifesto. "It
is not without significance that the first public event of the Freedom
Alliance is this interaction with the business community. This indicates
the importance the business community holds in the minds of the
alliance. "The alliance believes the private sector has a vital,
even decisive, role to play not only in the economy but in other
areas of society as well. The alliance is committed to increasing
productivity in the private and public sectors both of which will
have "significant roles" to play in economic development.”
he added. The
alliance welcomes national and international investment and will
promote the private sector in every possible way. "Growth
is not possible without private sector participation to the fullest
possible extent," Kadirgamar said. "However, we do not
tolerate corruption, unfairness, and manipulation," he told
the assembled corporate leaders. "It takes two to make a corrupt
transaction - be not one of them." All
participants in the alliance have given their approval to have a
political dialogue with the LTTE and all other groups to achieve
a political solution to the ethnic problem. Asked about its commitment
to the ceasefire, Kadirgamar said: "The ceasefire stands. I
don't see any government actually deciding to go to war. The people
do not want war - the alliance reflects the will of the people.
However, self-defence, if attacked, is a different matter." An
alliance government would be committed to maintaining the current
'no-war' situation. Kadirgamar also said an alliance government
would "restore the foreign policy which served us well in the
past. "It
would not be subservient to the interests of any other country and
not endanger the safety and sovereignty of neighbouring countries."
The alliance's spokesman on the economy, Sarath Amunugama, said
it would focus on achieving domestic self-sufficiency in areas of
local resources and raw materials and promote export sector diversification. It also intends to modernise the public transport infrastructure, which he described as the "single biggest problem facing the working population." It
would support small and medium enterprises (SMEs) which had become
marginalized today. "We will make SMEs the new driving force
for growth," Amunugama said. "We will protect vulnerable
areas of the economy, especially those affected by natural disasters
and bad weather." The
alliance will also try to rectify imbalances in wealth distribution
and ensure that economic activity, which is now concentrated in
the Western Province, is spread out to the provinces. "State
involvement in the economy will continue - in electricity, water,
transport, banking, education - but be made more efficient,"
Amunugama said. "The
private sector and the state sector both bear responsibility for
economic growth." The alliance would give priority to development
of economic activity that harnesses the domestic resource base such
as in industry, agriculture, livestock and fisheries. It favours
foreign direct investment but based on Sri Lanka's priority needs. "We do not want an 'open sesame' situation - no casinos or any of the five deadly sins. Not those who want to make a quick buck." The alliance would monitor monies that come in and areas to which funds flow and there would be no restriction on foreign investment as long as it is in the national interest. Asked
about the free trade deal with the United States, which is vital
for the survival of the garments industry when quotas end next year,
Amunugama said it was too early to go into the specifics of the
agreement but added: "We want to help local businessmen if
they want to get more advantageous terms to be more competitive." The
JVP's Bimal Ratnayake dispelled rumours the alliance would impose
restrictions on migrant workers. "We have no intention of stopping migrant workers but will give them better legal protection," he said adding that such action was required because of the abuse of Sri Lankan migrant workers with some 300 bodies of such workers being brought home each year. JVP leader promises no more trouble JVP
leader Somawansa Amarasinghe said they were a political party learning
from its past. The party had gone through difficult times and had
already made a self-criticism regarding the uprising of 1988-89. "However,
one can't talk about 1988-89 without talking of what happened in
1977," he added. J.R. Jayewardene came to power and his sympathisers
took the law into their hands. Democracy eroded rapidly with the
1982 referendum postponing the general election scheduled for 1983. "We've already admitted we committed mistakes as a result of which the UNP suffered, the people of the country suffered and most of all the JVP suffered," Amarasinghe said. "So we don't want to repeat what happened. We have already surprised you and we're going to surprise you in future. I assure you, there won't be any problem on our part. We have a duty to safeguard democratic traditions." |
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