UNP National Organizer and MP Ravi Karunanayake says after vilifying UNSG Ban Ki-moon over ‘Darusman Report’, which dealt with accountability issues in Sri Lanka, the government has endorsed a second term for the UN Chief.
MP Karunanayake says the government owes the public an explanation on its policy U-turn. “Had the UNP said something in favour of the UNSG, the State run-media would have called us traitors and LTTE agents, said MP Karunanayake. The likes of Minister Wimal Weerawansa, who launched a fast unto death outside UN office in Colombo, should ask his political masters for an explanation,” he said.
The Colombo District MP said that the government decision to support moon could be interpreted as an endorsement of the ‘Darusman Report.’ The MP was responding to Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative to the UN in New York, Ambassador Palitha Kohona declaring strong support for moon for a second term. Kohona was quoted as saying that “Ban would be the ideal Asian to continue to lead the United Nations.”
Kohona made this remark in an interview with UN Bureau Chief Thalif Deen of the Inter Press Service, the Third World news agency.
Deen said that Ban, who had unanimous endorsement from the Asian group at the UN, also ‘surprisingly’ had strong support from Sri Lanka, a country which has been critical of him for establishing a UN Panel of Inquiry to probe war crime charges.
MP Karunanayake alleged that the government was playing politics at the expense of the country. The Rajapaksas, he alleged, wouldn’t care as long as they felt current strategy could help them exploit foreign issues to their advantage.
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