How the laws of relativity
affect the country
Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama is following in the great tradition of his boss Mahinda Rajapaksa, who believes in the Theory of Relativity (not the Albert Einstein theory), judging by all those family members and close relatives of his who are holding high places in government.
Bogols has appointed his brother-in-law as the deputy chief of mission in New Delhi; his sister-in-law as the new High Commissioner in Singapore, and his intended son-in-law as a diplomat in the Sri Lanka embassy in Washington DC. At this rate, says one Foreign Ministry official, Bogols will soon run out of “in-laws”. Perhaps he should now reach out to “outlaws” in his family circle.
Speaking of the Foreign Ministry, some of the recent appointments, transfers and administrative decisions are in violation of long sacrosanct financial regulations (FRs), administrative regulations (ARs) and also violations of basic human rights (HRs) warranting fundamental rights cases in law courts – all taking place under the Mahinda Rajapaksa (MR) administration. One Foreign Ministry wag says: “What matters these days is not FRs, ARs or HRs – but MRs.” What the executive President wants, the executive President gets.
Smarting from the
boomerang effect
When Sinhala chauvinist expatriate groups in the US and Europe began a campaign last month to prevent Dr. Navanetham Pillay, a South African of Tamil origin, from being appointed as the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, we predicted it would have a boomerang effect and help her clinch the post. (The Sunday Times of June 15).
The lobbying against her was on the grounds that she would be partial to the “Tamil cause”. Last week, Dr. Pillay was named the new High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the 192-member General Assembly, which includes Sri Lanka, will endorse her appointment next week.
The failed campaign was said to have been orchestrated by a Sri Lanka mission in Europe where the ambassador’s megaphone diplomacy has once again come in for questioning.
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