Lord Mayor of London says upcoming elections decisive
19 May 2015 06:02 am
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By Chandeepa Wettasinghe
The Lord Mayor of London, who is currently visiting Sri Lanka, said that true democracy would be the greatest step for Sri Lanka to climb into the future with its abundance of qualified human capital.
"Yarrow also said that the level of Sri Lanka’s professional community is the best that he had seen in the developing world"
“Sri Lanka has such a great future as a country, subject to the next election,” 687th Lord Mayor of London Alan Yarrow said.
He said people being ruled by their equals is most critical in a just society and expressed his jubilance over Sri Lankans demanding the rule of law.
“The reason that the Magna Carta is relevant to us in the UK, and to you because it’s in your constitution, is that you’re judged by your peers, not by the despot who’s in charge at the time. The jury system is relevant and proper dispute resolution and rule of law are absolutely critical,”
Yarrow added.
He added that once parties entered into a legal contract for a transaction, it must be completed in a professional manner.
The comment bears much relevance towards certain situations which have arisen in Sri Lanka lately. Many members of the Cabinet are professionals who have been preaching on the subject as well. Yarrow also said that the level of Sri Lanka’s professional community is the best that he had seen in the developing world, as most are multi-qualified, with great command of the English language.
“When people come into this country to do business, they know they’re dealing with professionals,” he added.
The Lord Mayor of London is the head of the City of London Corporation, which administers the original city centre of London.
The position has been in existence for 1,000 years and was made official exactly 800 years ago with the signing of the Magna Carta.
“The only person senior to me in the City of London is the Queen, not even the Prime Minister. Even she asks permission to come into the City of London. So it’s in a unique situation. It’s like the Vatican,” Yarrow said.
He was making the comments during an awards ceremony held at MilleniumIT, the staff training subsidiary of the London Stock Exchange.