As Colombo descends into crisis, British parliament held an urgent debate on the state of Sri Lanka with growing calls for a new pluralist constitution, the recognition of self-determination for Tamils, the ratification of the Rome Statute, the arrest of Gotabaya Rajapaksa and justice for the Tamil genocide.
Contributing to Parliament debate, Ed Davey, leader of the Liberal Democrats, placed blame for the “horrible appalling situation for the people of Sri Lanka” on the “corruption of the Rajapakse government”. Noting that “their populist unfunded tax cuts their, skyrocketing defence expenditure, the draconian police powers and the cronyism corruption the like we’ve rarely ever seen”.
He called for an economic package with the IMF with the caveat that such support should include “ a political package which includes an international arrest warrant for President Rajapaksa and his cronies. Can it also include a demand for political freedom, the respect of rights and human rights of everyone on the island of Sri Lanka; including the Tamil and Muslim minorities.”
Meanwhile, Stephen Timms MP raised the issue of Sri Lanka’s non-compliance with the UNHRC resolution noted that the resolution was intended as “a mechanism for resolving the legacy of the issues we’ve heard about today”.
He further asked if aid for Sri Lanka should be conditional on compliance with the UNHRC resolution.
Source: Tamil Guardian
