Karu appeals to EU for GSP concessions

(October 20, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) UNP Deputy Leader Karu Jayasuriya today called the European Union not to decide to withdraw the GSP concession to Sri Lanka as it could serverely affect the estimated 300,000 garment sector employees.

“…we make a final appeal to the European Union on behalf of the UNP to consider the fate of millions of our people who will face a loss of income and livelihood if the EU decides to withdraw this concession”, Mr. Jayasuriya said in a statement. The text of the statement follows;

We are greatly perturbed by the release of the EU’s final report tied to the all important GSP plus concession for Sri Lanka’s apparel industry and its overwhelmingly negatives prospects. As the UNP has constantly said, the GSP Plus tariff concession scheme granted by the European Union has been a lifeline to the Apparel and Garment Industry in Sri Lanka, which directly employs over 300,000 persons and nearly a half a million persons indirectly. The denial of this concession will severely compromise Sri Lanka’s competitiveness and perhaps sound the death knell for the industry.

It is nothing short of despicable that in the face of this grave national crisis, the government continues to be obsessed with imaginary coups, conspiring about conspiracies and neutralising its opponents rather than getting on with the work of governance. The UNP demands at least now, when so much has been lost, that the authorities begin to conduct itself like a government of the people, representing their interests instead of nursing petty political ambitions. We urge this government to cease playing politics with the lives of innocents and take the necessary steps towards securing the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of workers who will face unemployment and poverty in light of this latest development.

Even though the government has acted incredibly irresponsibly with regard to setting the groundwork to ensure the extension of this trade concession, as a responsible opposition, the UNP offered its support to the administration consistently and repeatedly. We pleaded with the government to work with us so that the country could stand on a united footing and request the EU to consider extending the concession in light of the challenges that would face a large section of our populace if it was to be denied. We did not make this appeal to the government in order to find favour with the administration. We appealed because as the single largest opposition party elected by the people, we have a bounden duty towards the people of this country. The government spat in the face of all our efforts in this regard.

From the outset, it has been abundantly clear that the government had no interest whatsoever to rectify this issue. The primary concern of the regime was ensuring that other political parties do not obtain political advantage that might result in an erosion of the government’s popularity. Even when all the warning bells about the GSP plus had gone off, the government wasted precious time on unnecessarily attacking the West, attacking political parties, blaming them for the cloud over the concessions and coming up with new conspiracy theories every day. Not once did they stop to introspect; never did they attempt to set this country’s human rights and good governance record right, implement the 17th Amendment which is part of Sri Lanka’s contribution, a move that would have met the criteria for the EU concessions. If the people are still unaware, the report clearly indicates that it is very likely that Sri Lanka will lose this all important concession because the government has failed, repeatedly and even when the war is concluded, to stop the violation of our people’s fundamental rights and pull the brakes on wastage and the erosion of democracy. This is no Western conspiracy to infringe upon our sovereignty – we now lie in a bed of our own making.

Once again, we impress upon the government that machismo is a foolish way to deal with problems on the world stage. The representatives of this government have toured the world denigrating countries and their statesmen, prompting nations that were once firm friends of Sri Lanka to turn their backs on us today. With this government, brute force has trumped soft diplomacy at every turn and today, we are reaping the rewards of that short-sighted governance. For the government and for all those who believe that this government can do no wrong, may this be an eye-opener. There is no point remaining in seats of power if only to heap suffering on the people you claim to serve.

We are saddened by this development because some issues are too critical to make political and derive pleasure from seeing this government fail. That is not becoming of a responsible opposition, to gloat when the government’s failure means untold suffering for half a million people or more. And in light of the government’s irresponsible behaviour, it falls all the more on the opposition to maintain sanity and rationality in the face of overwhelming challenges that our nation now faces.

Therefore we make a final appeal to the European Union on behalf of the UNP to consider the fate of millions of our people who will face a loss of income and livelihood if the EU decides to withdraw this concession. The UNP has always stood for democracy and upholding the inalienable rights of all our citizens and our party continues to fight for a better day for our people. We are not prepared however to stand aside and be passive observers while our people face uncertainty and economic ruin. The UNP still remains committed to support the government in any way for the sake of our citizens, to make representations to the EU to obtain a favourable decision when a vote is taken on the matter next month. The government might view this appeal by the UNP to be included in the damage control operation as being a weakness, but it is a label we will gladly wear if it means our people will be spared from this impending crisis. If the government turns our offer of support down once more, the UNP will still continue undeterred to make appeals to the EU of our own accord. We will not rest while some hope still remains to turn things around for the sake of this vibrant industry and the thousands of people employed by it.

Country comes first, but whether this government can forsake petty politics in the national interest is another matter. Therefore, even at this late stage, we would like to request the government to understand the predicament of our people, to sympathize with them and put themselves in the shoes of millions who will be deprived of livelihoods because of the government’s obtuse behaviour.

-Sri Lanka Guardian