Why Daham Sirisena At UN Is A Big Deal

By Nalaka Gunawardene –September 30, 2015

Nalaka Gunawardene

When the first signs appeared of the new Yahapalana (=well-ruled) government going astray some months ago, I tweeted: “Good governance must not only be done, but also be SEEN as done”.

Optics or appearances do matter. They are especially important in this social media age when every action of the government and its top leadership is closely monitored and commented upon by many citizens.

For reasons of governance and optics, President Maithripala Sirisena taking his son Daham Sirisena to UN General Assembly in New York is wrong. We presume that the young man’s travel and accommodation was paid for with public funds. Yet he has holds no public office; it was completely out of his league to be seated with the president, ministers and diplomats who had official reasons to be there.

It was not good that the officially released photos showed an all-male, mostly Sinhalese delegation seated at the main UN assembly hall.

It did not help matters when the President’s media director tried to explain that the son was a “member of the president’s personal staff”.

And it certainly was not helpful when Daham himself offered a feeble defence on his Facebook page (and giving us definitions of nepotism in the process).

As far as I know – and I have studied how the UN works – the UN Secretariat does not invite individuals to attend the General Assembly. It is the right of member states (which Sri Lanka has been since 1955) to determine who will be on its official delegation. This decision is typically made by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in consultation with the President’s office.                Read More