Parliamentarians and state officials representing 54 countries participating at the ongoing 58th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference in Colombo could act as ambassadors in telling the world that Sri Lanka, is busy with development, committed to peace and cooperation and is on the path to rapid progress, the CPA General Secretary Dr. William F. Shija said.
Speaking to ‘Daily News’ on the sidelines of the CPA Executive Committee meeting at Hotel Hilton yesterday, Dr. Shija said, “We are here as eye witnesses to what is going on in Sri Lanka. So no one in future will tell us something different, unless some changes come” he added.
“We don’t need people who tell wrong stories. We need people who tell the right stories. I will be one of the Ambassadors to tell the right story” he said when questioned about his views on the post-conflict developments in Sri Lanka and views of the international community to the goings on in the country.
Dr. Shija who said he had visited some parts of the c country, including the North to see for himself the work been carried out on the ground said, that a lot of positives are happening which was very encouraging.
“We congratulate Sri Lanka for having overcome terrorism. We commend the country’s leadership and government on ending conflict and laying the foundation for rapid progress and reconciliation” he added.
With proper development taking place after a long drawn out conflict Dr.Shija said that the state should ensure its continuity and the world should support the endeavour.
In this regard he said unity among various partners in the country was the key. For this he said that parties need to accommodate each other and political parties need to tolerate each other with the prime focus being the peoples wellbeing.
“Tolerance and accommodation produce a stable society and this is what we think will happen in Sri Lanka” he noted.
Speaking on the conference Dr.Shija said that Sri Lanka had come forward and volunteered to hold the 58th conference which many countries at the time had highly appreciated.
So far he said the conference has been a success with all deliberations proceeding well. He also praised the arrangements laid out by the organizers.
Speaking about the aims of the conference Dr.Shija said that the main among them was promotion of parliamentary democracy. He said that the gathering was also focused on forging new partnerships and friendships with the aim of propagating peace, development and cooperation.
He said that the CPA will have a number of workshops with the purpose of propagating the usefulness of democratic practices.” This will help in building peace and that in turn would help development. For this to happen all should be open to dialogue and discussion to work towards cooperation” he added.
Rasika Somarathna and Sandasen Marasinghe
Source: Daily News (Sri Lanka)
