RIYADH, 14 February 2004 — Security fears and the rising cost of living in the country were the main considerations for the dissolution of the Sri Lankan Parliament, said Abdul Hameed Fowzie, Sri Lankan legislator, who was in transit in Riyadh on Monday prior to returning home after performing Haj.
Fowzie, who was minister of highways and Islamic affairs in the People’s Alliance government of Chandrika Kumaratunga told Arab News that it was an act of statesmanship on the part of the president to have saved the country from anarchy. He said that the island was plagued with strikes, fasts, demonstrations, bribery corruption, killings of innocent people and attacks on the minority Muslim population.
“Two years of rule is good enough to gauge the progress of a government”, Fowzie noted adding that the extent of damage would have been greater if the government had been allowed to continue. During the past two years, he said, it undertook no projects of any real substance. Although the government signed a peace treaty with the Tamil Tigers in early 2003, the rebels continued their attacks on Muslims in Trincomalee and Batticaloa.
He said President Kumaratunga gave the government enough chances to rectify its faults and failings and even advised Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe to form a national government with the cooperation of all political parties to avert the national crisis. “She resorted to dissolution only when all her efforts to convince the government failed,” Fowzie said.
On the possible outcome of the forthcoming elections, Fowzie said the island has a highly literate population and it will choose the right government consistent with national interest.
About the stampede at Mina, Fowzie said indiscipline among the pilgrims was the main cause of the tragedy.
