POLITICAL VOICES

Chandrika Kumaratunga

President of Sri Lanka (1994-2005), Member of Club de Madrid

Chandrika Kumaratunga was the 5th President of Sri Lanka, serving from 1994 to 2005. She is the only woman to hold the post of Head of State in Sri Lanka. Her campaign was built on good governance, ending corruption, a negotiated political solution to the ethnic crisis and economic development for all.

The daughter of two Prime Ministers (her father Prime Minister S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike and her mother modern world’s first female head of government Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike in 1960-65, 1970-77), she was also the leader of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party until the end of 2006.

Action

Ms Kumaratunga was the only political leader to offer a political solution to the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka in the form of Devolution of Power to the Regions, including those inhabited by the minority communities, in her new Constitutional Proposals. This could not be implemented as the government could not obtain the required 2/3 majority in Parliament. She also implemented successful programmes to bring about Understanding and Social Cohesion among the diverse communities in Lanka – the number of majority Sinhala opting for Peace, Dialogue and a Negotiated Solution to the ethnic problem increased from 23% to 68% in two years. Her government developed much of the neglected Northern and Eastern districts. When the LTTE resumed its armed conflict, Kumaratunga urged the government forces to exercise caution and to minimize civilian casualties. Even after LTTE attempted to kill her, Kumaratunga persisted in her bid for Peace. A landmark agreement was signed between Government and the LTTE in June 2005.

Kumaratunga’s government implemented a successful economic development programme, which took the benefits of development to all sections of the population. Education, Health, Ports, Airport, Highways, Power, Telecommunications, Water Supply sectors saw massive improvement. Per capita income trebled during her Presidency, taking Sri Lanka to middle-income level country status, and GDP increased by 03 times. Her government initiated successful Public/Private partnerships in Stated owned enterprises in major sectors of the economy such as Telecom, Ports, Electricity and Airlines. President Kumaratunga is Chair of the CBK Foundation for Democracy and Justice which she created in 2008, as well as the South Asia Policy & Research Institute.

Relevant discourse

In 2011, discussing Sri Lanka’s political conflict, President Kumaratunga said that confronting the country’s identity crisis “would require that we manage existing diversity, and redirect the richness of that diversity towards positive change.” Also, she strongly criticized an act introduced by her own father as prime minister, which elevated the Sinhala language above others: she said it caused ethnic riots and contributed to the war by excluding minorities. “This created a major setback for Tamils and other minority groups seeking equal opportunity in jobs and education”, she said. “We brought all kinds of rules that made it more difficult for the Tamils to get into schools.”

Expertise, Leadership lessons / innovative policies or discourses:

SDGs Expertise: Counterterrorism, economic development, peace
More information about fields of expertise (i.e. AIDS, reconstruction, digitalization…):

Personal Website or others: http://www.presidentcbk.org/index.php

IGOs positions (i.e. EU, OSCE, ILO, OAS… in bold if they are currently holding that position): Chairperson of the Office for National Unity and Reconciliation; Chairperson of South Asia Foundation

Chandrika Kumaratunga's channels

Chandrika Kumaratunga is leader on:

Political participation & representation of ethnic minorities

Reconciliation and social justice