Sri Lanka opposition moots all party parley to face Geneva threat
Colombo: Sri Lankan opposition parties on Monday called for the formation of an all party committee to prevent an anti-Lanka resolution being passed at the UN human rights body. "We have to think of ways to escape this (resolution). We will tell the government to call an all party meeting and give a time frame to implement the LLRC recommendations," Ranil Wickremesinghe, the main opposition leader told reporters.
Wickremesinghe said the action plan to implement the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) must be announced before May 31. "We must have a mechanism to do that. The government alone cannot do that", he said.
| Ranil calls for All Party Summit |
By Umesh Moramudali
Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe today demanded that the government holds an All Party Conference to discuss the implementation of the Lesson Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) recommendations, at the earliest opportunity.
Addressing the media in Colombo, he warned that Sri Lanka will have to go through tough times at United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) session, and in this critical moment, the government needs to work together with the opposition.
“If the government takes steps to hold an All Party Summit the international community will know that the government has the intention to implement the LLRC recommendations and provide a political solution to the national problem. If not, the UN will take steps to send their agent here and that agent will hold an inquiry about HR violations in Sri Lanka,” he said.
Wickremesinghe further emphasized, there is a risk of Sri Lankan goods being rejected by the foreign countries, by citing Sri Lanka as a country that violates human rights. “If that happens, it will have an adverse impact on the country’s economy,” he added.
Wickremesinghe pointed out, the LLRC report was prepared by a body appointed by the government, and the government had promised the UNHRC it would implement its recommendations.
“We as the opposition can’t wait until the citizens of Sri Lanka suffer due to the fault of the government. That is why we are calling on the government to have discussions with us,” he said.
He also said there is no point in protesting against the UNHRC for interfering internal matters as the government itself has given the UNHRC the powers to do so. (Ceylon Today Online)
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US adopted a similar resolution last year with India's support which bound Sri Lanka to make rapid progress on reconciliation with the Tamils. Contesting reported deaths of 40,000 civilians during the war with the LTTE as unverified, Sri Lanka has said it was in the process of ground verification of facts in the former battle zones to ascertain the real numbers.
