CHOGM Sri Lanka: A victory for President Rajapaksa, but at some price paid and counting
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Rajan Philips-October 26, 2013, 6:09 pm
There is no question, the November Commonwealth summit is a victory for President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his government, internally and internationally. In collusion with the Commonwealth Secretariat, the government has pushed back detractors and nay sayers, concerned about the human rights situation and the impeachment of Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake and has managed to make sure that the Colombo summit goes ahead as planned. There could be distant and neighbourly PM-level boycotts by upstart Canada and hoary India, but the two Ashes rivals in cricket, Australia and England, will not let down their old port of call. And so the countdown is on for a weeklong summit extravaganza starting November 10. Colombo is spruced up and officially ready to cheer as the Commonwealth caravan rolls into town on the brand new highway from the airport to the City.