The Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN), Ban Ki-moon, accompanied by Mrs Ban Soon-taek, is expected to arrive in Sri Lanka today for a three-day visit at the invitation of the Government. He will meet with President Maithripala Sirisena, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, and other members of the Government and of the Parliament.
The Secretary-General will travel to Galle on September 1, where he will participate in an event involving youth under the theme ‘Reconciliation and Coexistence: Role of Youth’. On September 2, the Secretary-General will travel to Jaffna, where he is expected to visit a resettlement site.
During the visit, the Secretary-General will also meet with several Cabinet Ministers including the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mangala Samaraweera; the Speaker of the Parliament Karu Jayasuriya and Political Party Leaders; and civil society representatives.
At the invitation of the Chairperson and Board of the Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute for International Relations and Strategic Studies (LKIIRSS), the Secretary-General will speak at an event in Colombo on 2 September on ‘Sustaining Peace – Achieving Sustainable Development Goals’, focusing in particular on Goal 16, namely, the promotion of peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development.
Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa is due to vacate his official residence at Wijerama Mawatha, Colombo this morning, a Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) source said.
The Presidents’ Entitlements (Repeal) Bill was passed by a majority of 150 in parliament today. However the opposition MP’s were absent during the voting.
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