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1998 - Extracts from other Adresses |
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Mr
Henri Konan
Bédié Madam Prime Minister, I wish to pay tribute to your will for dialogue, which was the chief factor in bringing a real peace to a whole region that had taken refuge in rebellion as a result of insuperable “misunderstandings”. With your vision and your capacity to rise above partisan politics and to consider that, in a democracy, it is the duty of the majority to protect and promote the rights of minorities, you have taken careful account of the legitimate interests of a region that is turned in upon itself and you have also drawn the people of Bangladesh closer together and strengthened their unity. (…) To women, Madam Prime Minister, you stand as an example, a role model for our time. Need I recall that, as a result of your initiatives, more than 12,000 women have been elected to local councils throughout your country – a fine example of emancipation and democratic vitality – or that your attachment to peace has also been brought into the limelight as a result of the signing of an exemplary agreement with India concerning the sharing of the water of the Ganges. This thorny issue, which is a threat to peace in many regions of the world, was solved in such a way as to grant the populations both security and the hope of shared economic growth. So life is returning with the tilling of the soil in many deserted villages. For you, this is the highest reward, over and above all the honours the world has accorded you. Your
Excellencies, When President Bill Clinton asked Senator George J. Mitchell to chair the Northern Ireland peace talks, he entrusted him with a mission so difficult that it was regarded by many as doomed to failure. And yet it was carried out brilliantly, to the admiration of everyone. The Good Friday Agreement signed at Stormont Castle under his auspices is now the essential basis of the peace process under way in Northern Ireland (…) Mr Senator, It is you who have restored the hope of reconciliation with force, calm and growing clarity. The interminable negotiations full of pitfalls have never diverted you from the pursuit of the sacred end – peace. Generous, lucid, endowed with uncompromising intellectual honesty, you needed your immense talent in order to succeed. Giving without stint of your time – hours, days and years away from your family and personal concerns – you won the confidence of all the political parties of Northern Ireland and succeeded in harmonizing all the demands around a simple message: peace first. This warm and moving unanimity is now a remarkable tribute to you. As an “advocate of peace” you have thus been awarded the Prize you are to receive today. Your struggle for peace shows beyond doubt that the ultimate purpose of life is good, as are the right to life, well-being, peace and everything that contributes to these goals. This struggle is a credit to your great country, the United States of America, which, as everyone knows, has made a decisive contribution to the defence of the values on which our civilization is based.” ________________ Mr
Abdou Diouf “ (…) Madam Prime Minister, you come from an illustrious family which gave Bangladesh one of its most highly respected leaders, your late, lamented father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, whom your people referred to as the “Liberator of Bangladesh”. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman led his country along the road to democracy and development, and your dearest wish has been to continue his prematurely interrupted work. Elected to power by a democratic ballot in June 1996, faithful to the philosophy and action of your illustrious father, you immediately tackled the manifold problems hindering the harmonious development of your country and, first and foremost, those endangering the internal or external peace of Bangladesh. After signing water-sharing agreements concerning the Ganges with all the peoples of the subregion, you committed yourself wholly to the peaceful settlement of the conflict arising from the insurgency of the populations living in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. You rightly considered that internal peace was a prerequisite for the progress of democracy. Backed by a development aid programme affecting five million people, the peace treaty signed with the rebels from the Chittagong Hill Tracts on 2 December 1997 has enabled Bangladesh to turn a page in its history and to envisage the future more serenely. Senator Mitchell, you meanwhile were invested with President Bill Clinton’s trust to contribute to the solution of the thorny problem of the relations between the Catholic and Protestant communities in Northern Ireland. The negotiations conducted over a period of twenty-two months under your chairmanship at Stormont Castle resulted, on 12 April 1998, in the historic Good Friday Agreement, under which the two communities undertook to form a coalition government in Northern Ireland. This agreement, which still gives heart to the international community, was massively approved by the population with the referendum of 22 May 1997. Mr Senator, The first truce to be signed by the two communities since the beginning of the conflict was due to your action. At this very moment, you are continuing your untiring efforts to restore peace in this part of the world with the support of the United States Government.” |
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