Professionals in this country have a crucial role to play today in focusing attention on public issues, offering an analysis of solutions to problems confronting the nation and creating public opinion in a constructive manner, Prof. G. L. Peiris, Minister of Export Development and International Trade, said.

"Lawyers and law students are particularly important in this regard because, by virtue of their training and aptitude, they have a special competence to undertake this task in the public interest", he stressed.

Prof. Peiris was addressing a seminar on the subject "Responsibility of Youth in Society Today" at the Mahaweli Centre, organized by the Sri Lanka Nidahas Law Students’ Association. University professors, lecturers, student leaders and representatives of civil society were among the audience.

Nimal Siripala de Silva, Minister of Healthcare and Nutrition and Patron of the Association, presided.

In a situation where there is a marked lack of clarity with regard to most of the issues which are the subjects of public debate, lawyers and law students could render yeomen service to society by contributing to a balanced discussion on these matters, and by so doing, facilitating the emergence of solutions beneficial to the country at large, he noted.

Dealing with the sequence of events during the last two decades relating to approaches by successive governments to the ethnic question in the country, Prof. Peiris said no solution capable of implementation had emerged because of the lack of an adequate consensus.

It is against this backdrop that the Government of President Rajapaksa had decided to build on a foundation which was already in existence. While it is correct that the 13th Amendment was introduced into Sri Lanka’s Constitution 20 years ago, it is equally true that no attempt had been made to implement the principal provisions contained in this instrument either fully or even substantially, he said.

The Eastern Province of Sri Lanka, Professor Peiris continued, was clearly the appropriate area to be selected as a point of departure in respect of this initiative. The demographic composition of the Eastern Province which is home to all three communities – Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims – is of special relevance in this regard.

The Government was able to hold Provincial Council elections in the Eastern Province and to achieve the establishment of a Provincial Council reflecting the aspirations of the people. This is an essential first step: if power is to be devolved, there must be an institution having political legitimacy to serve as the repository of devolved power. This requirement has now been fulfilled in admittedly challenging circumstances, Professor Peiris observed.

The importance of these developments is by no means restricted to the political sphere, he continued. One of the most promising features of the evolving situation is that an environment conducive to the restoration of livelihoods in a variety of fields including agriculture, fisheries, tourism as well as small and medium scale industry, has been created.

There is substantial investment coming into the region, and the Government is supporting public sector and private sector partnerships and investing significantly in the development of infrastructure, the Minister said.

The international community has expressed deep satisfaction with the practical benefits accruing to the people of the area from these developments, Professor Peiris said..

Mr. Nimal Siripala de Silva, Minister of Healthcare and Nutrition, recalled his experiences as a law student in an age of transition. He said that, traditionally, law students came from affluent backgrounds, and he found that when the portals of legal education were opened to less advantaged sections of the community, especially to rural youth, they experienced difficulties with regard to access and mobility within the profession.

On the occasion when the civic rights of Madam Sirimavo Bandaranaike were taken away, and also when Hector Kobbekaduwa filed a Presidential Election petition, as well as at various critical times in the history of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, there was reluctance on the part of lawyers to offer their professional services. He undertook this responsibility in these circumstances, Minister de Silva said.

Today, lawyers have every opportunity to make a unique contribution to society, he said. This was specially so, because of the reluctance of intellectuals to engage in direct politics on account of disillusionment with the preference voting system. The gap can be filled to a large extent by lawyers taking a sustained interest in public affairs, Minister de Silva noted.