Congratulations for the 3rd International Conference of Asian Political Parties.

Sri Lanka and China had very cordial and friendly relations for a very long period and the people of Sri Lanka are ever grateful to the people and the Government of China for the many lasting contributions made for the benefit of the people in Sri Lanka in the sphere of economic development and the promotion of social and cultural activities. An International Conference for Asian Political Parties is indeed a useful opportunity to leaders of political partied in the Asian region to exchange views and share their experiences with one another.

A Political Party is an integral part of the process of government in a democracy. Democracy as we all know in the well defined and the famous quote from Abraham Lincoln is “Government of the people, by the people, for the people”. Government of the people as it stated in its purest form in Greece is not feasible in the context of today’s large populations.

An alternative system had to be devised. The birth of the political party system is the result in seeking an alternative approach to set up a democratic form of government.

A political party is the barometer of public opinion. It also helps in formulating public opinion. The role of a political party is to formulate a set of policies which it considers to be in the best interest of the country in tune with the people’s wishes and seek a mandate from the people to implement those policies by taking the responsibility of the governance of the country.

In a democratic form of Government, sovereign power in the country lies with the people of the country. How do we translate the sovereignty of the people in controlling the governance of the country. The prime vehicle to do this is the political party. Different political parties go to the people with different policies and programs of work.

People in their judgment decide on what they consider the better policy and programme, select the party accordingly and entrust their sovereign power — “the people power” to set up a government and implement the policies and programs on which they were elected to power. This is a time bound exercise. If the party in power fails to fulfill the aspirations of the people, they look for an alternative set of policies and programs from another political party at the next opportunity to select a party for governance.

In this manner in a democracy a political party plays an important role in exercising the sovereign rights of the people in a country for the good governance of that country.

A political party also provides an opportunity for the people to discuss policies and issues in a peaceful manner and decide on the better course of action. Issues are debated. Saner counsel prevails. Better course of action is decided by ballot and the majority view prevails. These are the other basic ingredients in a democracy that help in the working of political parties.

This role of a political party is all the more important in the modern day context of widespread terrorism all the world over. These groups want to settle disputes and differences not by discussion and negotiations but by threats and bullets. In that context I am sure we all agree that the political parties have a major role to play to educate these groups who are resorting to undemocratic means of settling disputes to come forward in a peaceful manner as parties with a separate policy and programs and seek the mandate of the people for what they want to achieve.