By Saman Indrajith
External Affairs Minister Prof. G. L. Peiris yesterday accused UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe of misrepresenting facts regarding Sri Lanka’s strong opposition to the appointment of a Commonwealth Commissioner for Democracy, Human Rights and the Rule of Law.
Prof. Peiris lashed out at the Opposition Leader for playing politics with an abortive move made by the Eminent Persons Group (EPG) at the behest of some members of the Commonwealth at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM 2011) in Perth, Western Australia.
The MP was responding to Wickremesinghe’s accusations that the government had opposed the EPG’s proposal due to what he called deficiency of democracy in Sri Lanka.
Stressing that Wickremesinghe’s allegation was baseless, Prof. Peiris said that nothing could be further from the truth than the claim that the government had opposed the move at issue out of a fear that its own human rights record would come up for investigation.
Prof. Peiris said that a vast majority of member states of the Commonwealth, including, India, Pakistan, Malaysia, South Africa and all African nations had opposed that move. The new office would have cost the Commonwealth 500,000 Sterling pounds, the minister said adding that those opposed to the EPG’s move felt that the new office shouldn’t be set up at the expense of existing priorities.
Prof. Peiris lambasted Wickremesinghe for taking all domestic issues before the international community instead of having local mechanisms to tackle problems faced by the Sri Lankans. An irate External Affairs Minister stressed that the responsibilities of the Opposition shouldn’t be handed over to Colombo-based foreign envoys. He said that Sri Lankans could solve their problems, without being advised by external elements.
Source: The Island, 2 December 2011.
