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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