President won’t go to New York

President Mahinda Rajapakse has cancelled a proposed visit to New York in September to address the UN General Assembly. Instead, he will be substituted by Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayaka, The Sunday Ttimes learns.

President Rajapaksa will attend the annual Conference of the International Labour Organization (ILO) on June 15 and will address the conference. He will be among the six heads of state and government and two crown princes who have been invited to address the conference.

At the closing plenary of the conference, the first annual ILO Decent Work Research Prize will be awarded to former South African president and Nobel prize laureate Nelson Mandela and Pittsburgh University Economics Professor Carmelo Mesa-Lago.