11th Dudley Senanayake Memorial Lecture, Sri Lanka

The speaker was by no means censorious of the present day situation in Sri Lanka, but his message to the large and distinguished audience was very clear. War cannot bring about a lasting solution, only a negotiated political settlement will deliver peace and freedom.

The speaker took the audience step by step through the Irish experience, providing a valuable insight and much food for thought. He said “I hope that as I speak of Ireland, you will be thinking about Sri Lanka, and whether there are, or may be, any similarities or comparisons”. This was exactly what happened. Whilst all those who are fighting tooth and nail to uphold democracy and promote a peaceful solution to Sri Lanka’s conflict, like FNF partners, felt invigorated, elated and gained strength and those whose minds are clouded by power and believe that their war mongering is the panacea to all ills, resorted to making surreptitious attacks on all the speakers at the lecture.

Lord Alderdice whilst emphasising that he would not offer any advice on solving Sri Lanka’s conflict, stated that he cannot simply ignore the division and violence. As expressed by all FNF key partners over and over again, Lord Alderdice too, saw the country’s chronic tragedy as being the central and key liberal political challenge. Lord Alderdice brought forth the Irish example of looking to South Africa to learn from their experience. His eloquent and wide-ranging narrative of the Irish conflict rekindled many liberal ideals espoused by Premier Dudley Senanayake, but today have taken a back seat in Sri Lankan politics.

Mr. Bradman Weerakoon, one of Sri Lanka’s top civil service officers made the introductory remarks at the lecture on behalf of the Dudley Senanayake Foundation and Dr. Rene Klaff, Regional Director of the FNF South Asia addressed the audience on behalf of the Naumann Foundation. Dr. Rohan Edrisinha, Senior Director of the Centre for Policy Alternatives summed up the salient points of the lecture and delivered the Vote of Thanks.