Full Text of the editorial:

It certainly is quite interesting to watch the manner the government, which at one point was insisting that it could do well without the GSP + facility, makes announcements about every single step of its talks with the EU to regain the concession.

Of course Sri Lanka would still have survived, though with a lot of difficulties, if the EU decides against lifting the suspension. There would have been a major down turn in economy. Still the country would have pulled through with some scars.

The GSP plus certainly is critical and that’s exactly why the government sent a delegation to have a dialogue with the European Commission with a view to get the suspension lifted.

Professor G.L. Peiris told media on Wednesday that the government team that returned from Brussels had a promising start and that Sri Lanka remains optimistic about the outcome of talks. Prior to his announcement there were quite a few statements to the effect that everything was hunky dory with the EU.

So it appears that whatever rhetoric and grandstanding to the effect that Sri Lanka can absorb the loss of the tariff concession without much of an issue the government has been giving away all signs that it is desperate to get it back to sustain the economy. One may well say that if Sri Lanka had maintained same accommodating tone instead of the confrontational note with which it approached the issue of GSP + and moved to make a few adjustments it may perhaps would have retained the EU tariff concession. Banging the head against every organization and country may help boost one’s ego but would not help country’s economy in the long run. This does not mean that Sri Lanka should compromise its sovereignty for perks. It means that Sri Lanka needs to be civil and diplomatic when dealing with the outside world.

It’s easy to shut the door saying ‘we can do without you’ and then lament, go with bended knees a few days later and become the laughing stock of the world. Sri Lanka could have avoided all that embarrassment if the politicians acted like mature statesmen instead of behaving like spoilt brats. While these politicians have only local audience in mind when they make these explosive statements, they often forget that most of those inflammatory speeches land on web and are disseminated world –wide.

Hope at least the GSP+ episode will serve as an eye opener to them.