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CBK, Ranil battle before the world
By Shelani Perera
The President vs the Prime Minister tug-of-war is now to be waged at no less a place than the United Nations with a tussle as to who is to address the General Assembly later this month.

President Chandrika Kumaratunga is insisting that she should address the New York based General Assembly and has directed the Sri Lankan Mission at the United Nations to convey her position to the UN Secretariat.

President Kumaratunga has also directed the Foreign Ministry to officially inform the UN that it will be she , who will be addressing the UN General Assembly instead of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe whose name has already been submitted to the UN Secretariat.

The President having accepted an invitation to address a UN special session on HIV AIDS was awaiting a reply from the United Nations to address the General Assembly on behalf of the Governmnet of Sri Lanka.

However, the Presidential Secretariat was informed that the Prime Minister's name had already been submitted for the role. Presidential Spokesperson Harim Peiris told The Sunday Times that the President was under the impression that she was addressing the UN General Assembly as she was already taking part in the HIV AIDS conference.

" The Government cannot nominate a person without consulting the President. This is a gross violation of the basic principles of governance. The President confirmed her participation for the AIDS conference a year ago .We were under the impression that the President's name will automatically be included for the General Assembly," he said.

"This is a deliberate attempt by the mission at the UN to leave the President out. The President is not going to claify with the UN as to who will be addressing the General Assembly. The Sri Lankan Mission and the Foreign Ministry will have to resolve the problem,” he said. Meanwhile Foreign Ministry Secretary Nihal Rodrigo told The Sunday Times that the Prime Minister's name was nominated by the Foreign Ministry, but added that the practice was that one representative attends the General Assembly.

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