Premier doesn’t know person who can directly call British PM has been recalled ?
Dec 18, 2015
Prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe told parliament today (18) that his government was having good diplomatic ties with Britain. He said that relations were at such a level due to the skills of the acting high commissioner, in the absence of a permanent appointee. His skills are such that he can directly telephone the British prime minister and his predecessors, said the PM.
Wickremesinghe was referring to acting high commissioner in the UK Dr. Chanaka Thalpahewa. It was foreign affairs ministry supervising MP at the time Sajin Vaas Gunawardena, who gave him the posting in November 2014. At that time, even we alleged that Dr. Thalpahewa is a servant of Sajin Vaas. But, he answered us through his deeds.
Dr. Thalpahewa was able to organize president Maithripala Sirisena’s British tour in March commendably. In addition to the British PM, he arranged a personal meeting between the president and Queen Elizabeth amidst numerous disruptions by the Diaspora. Also, through his professional relations with Cherie Blair as a lawyer, he was able to bring ex-PM Tony Blair and his family for a vacation in Sri Lanka, during which he also delivered the Kadirgamar memorial lecture.
Dr. Thalpahewa was able to bring the high commission’s administration, which had been made a muddle by Dr. Chris Nonis, to commendable levels. Sri Lankans living in London are of the view that Dr. Thalpahewa was the only person to properly coordinate relations between the various communities and religious places in London in the recent past.
A person of such skills has received a personal recommendation by foreign affairs minister Mangala Samaraweera for a three month extension as the acting high commissioner, but ministry secretary Chitranganie Wagiswara had recalled him to Colombo at the insistence of Austin Fernando, better known as the ‘Yaha Paalana monitoring govenor’, a fact the PM seems to be not aware of, going by the remarks he made in parliament today.
Dr. Thalpahewa is the recipient of a doctorate on international relations from Cambridge University of England. His recent book ‘Peaceful Intervention in Intra-State Conflicts’ is receiving international acclaim.
