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Wednesday, 20 March 2019 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
By Ashwin Hemmathagama – Our Lobby Correspondent
UNP lawmaker Dr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe told Parliament yesterday that President Maithripala Sirisena is yet to give approval to cosponsor the UNHRC resolution which will be presented in Geneva today.
Taking the floor at the Committee Stage Program of Budget 2019, Dr. Rajapakshe held President Maithripala Sirisena should provide his consent for Sri Lanka co-sponsoring of an international resolution.
Challenging the Government decisions, Dr. Rajapakshe held the line Ministers responsible are kept in the dark while others take decisions.
“Foreign Affairs Minister Tilak Marapana or Ministry Secretary Ravinatha Aryasinha is not aware of most of the decisions. The decisions related to foreign affairs are taken at the Finance Ministry. Some of those meetings were held at the Official Residence of the Finance Minister, with the participation of his close associates and NGO-men. Today, Senior Advisor Mano Tittawella is the one who gives instructions to our Ambassador in Geneva. What authority has he to decide the country’s foreign policy,” he charged.
According to Dr. Rajapakshe, there is no big difference between the foreign policy between the past and the present Governments. “MP Sajin Vaas Gunawardena was overseeing the Foreign Ministry and he even went to the extent of using fists in diplomacy,” said Dr. Rajapakshe, who also charged the Government of Singapore for alleged hiding of former Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran now wanted by Sri Lanka.
“Certain Ministers make statements on matters with the national interest. Recently the City Planning and Water Supply Minister Rauff Hakeem has recently told the Swiss Ambassador that we lack laws in the country against hate speech. MP Hakeem was my predecessor as the Minister of Justice and he is a senior lawyer. He was my batchmate. But he has forgotten that there are laws against hate speech. Our Penal Code came to power during the colonial times in 1883, which is 136 years back. The Penal Code has provisions against hate speech against religions. Sections 290 and 290A have prescribed two-year imprisonment for anyone making speeches downgrading religions,” he added.
In response, Public Enterprise, Kandyan Heritage and Kandy Development Minister and Leader of the House of Parliament Lakshman Kiriella held that the co-sponsoring efforts of the Government has paved way for the country to benefit in many ways and was praised by the UNHRC.
“The resolution has praised the measures taken by Government of Sri Lanka and reaffirmed the commitment to the unity, sovereignty and the territorial integrity of the country. The UNHRC had also welcomed the setting up of the Office of the Missing Persons,” held the Minister.
According to Minister Kiriella, the Government of Sri Lanka is not expecting negative results from the UNHRC meeting. “Taking into consideration the factors included in this document, it is clear that the United Nation has appreciated the efforts taken by our government over the past three years. We cannot be at loggerheads with the international bodies eternally. We are a small country and we must get along internationally,” he said.
“As we discussed at the Steering Committee, we could devolve power to strengthen the Provincial Councils. However, we did not agree on the presidential system and the electoral system, but almost everyone in the Steering Committee was agreeable to the devolution of power. If we start there, I think we can resolve all our other issues with the assistance of the international community,” he added.
