There have been so many contradictory views expressed by the government regarding the Report of the UN Panel of Experts it is difficult to gauge the government’s exact stand. External Affairs Minister G.L.Peiris attempted to put the record right by way of a special statement in Parliament on Tuesday, but with so many members of the ruling party taking upon themselves the role of spokesperson for the government on the issue, the record is unlikely to be ever set straight.
The minister said the report did not help forward the reconciliation process but instead accentuated the divisions between the Sinhalese and Tamil communities. “It revisits certain incidents in a spirit of rancour and acrimony. It does not help the healing process,” he said.
Explaining at length the reason why the government cannot accept the contents of the report, minister Peiris said the government never recognized the appointment of the panel despite admitting that government representatives met with members of the panel in New York in February this year. “The purpose of that discussion was to make the UN system aware of the work that was being done by the LLRC. It was in our interest to let them know,” the minister said. It was a welcome admission given the fact that news of the meeting was vehemently denied by the government at the time.
However, despite the contradictions on the government side on how best to deal with the UN Panel report, the ruling United National Party (UNP) seems to have decided on how best to address the issue.
Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe who spoke after Minister Peiris said the UNP was putting the country first when dealing with this issue setting aside partisan politics.
Describing the situation that has ensued after the release of the report, the UNP leader said, “this was perhaps the most difficult phase the country has ever faced since the Indian airdrop in 1987”.
“We need to be unified and dignified in our response to what is a major challenge to our nation,” he said, emphasizing that Sri Lanka should maintain dialogue with the UN.
There was no such support for the government from the Democratic National Alliance (DNA) with its MP Vijitha Herath blaming President Mahinda Rajapaksa for leaving the door open for the UN to interfere in the country’s affairs. “When the UNSG visited Sri Lanka after the end of the war, the President agreed to allow the UN to inquire into matters in Sri Lanka. This was the first mistake the government made,” he charged.
Parliament also once again debated the extension of the emergency and despite reports that some of the harsher emergency regulations may be relaxed this month to ease the pressure caused by the release of the UN report, this did not happen.
Most UNP and Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MPs called on the government to relax emergency regulations as it was nearing two years since the end of the war with the LTTE.
UNP Kurunegala district MP Dayasiri Jayasekera said that lifting the emergency regulations would help boost the government image. ”Unfortunately emergency regulations are being used to undermine democracy, good governance and media freedom,” he noted.
While the ruling party had no problem getting the emergency regulations approved by Parliament, a bigger battle may be on the cards when the private sector pension bill comes up for debate in Parliament next month.
However, the major hurdle to the Bill becoming law was cleared when the Supreme Court notified Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa that the Employees’ Pension Benefits Fund Bill was not inconsistent with the Constitution. Several trade unions had challenged its constitutionality in the Supreme Court.
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