PHU criticises Mangala

By Chamodi Gunawardana

The Pivithuru Hela Urumaya (PHU) yesterday claimed that Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera’s statement to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, over a new constitution being enacted to address the grievances of Sri Lanka’s Tamils, contradicted Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s previous comments on the matter. 

Criticising Samaraweera’s statement, PHU Leader MP Udaya Gammanpila said: “Wickremesinghe said that the Government would solve the problems of Tamils through the 19th Amendment to the Constitution. However, Samaraweera proposed providing a solution through a new amendment. We believe this statement to be questionable. He should clarify what he really meant,” Gammanpila said.

Gammanpila said that Samaraweera’s statement had aired out internal problems in front of the international community.

“Power devolution and such matters are internal issues. We can solve them at a local level. We think talking about them on an international stage was wrong,” he said. “The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights mentioned that the report carried allegations against our war heroes. We expect to provide protection for them all by passing the Act of Indemnity in the House, which can be used to protect Government employees from punishment,” Gammanpila stressed.

Moving on to the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between India and Sri Lanka, Gammanpila said: “When we point out CEPA’s bad impact, the Government labels us racists. However, we would like to remind the Government that Sri Lankans do not have alternatives for a motherland,” he asserted.