Canada PM says won’t back off Commonwealth summit boycott
Submitted by Walter Jayawardhana
OTTAWA: Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Tuesday held firm on his threat to boycott the Commonwealth summit in Colombo later this year, rejecting calls to make nice with Sri Lanka.
“I have indicated that unless changes occur in Sri Lanka I will not be attending the Commonwealth summit there,” Harper told parliament.
“I am concerned with further developments, since I made that statement, which are taking that country in a worse direction,” he added.
Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma has urged Canada to drop its threat to boycott November’s meeting in Sri Lanka over allegations of war crimes committed there during the civil war.
Instead, Canada stepped up pressure, reporting Sri Lanka to the Commonwealth for allegedly violating the organization’s democratic values by ignoring two court rulings and sacking Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake in January.
Bandaranayake had given rulings which were thought unfavorable to President Mahinda Rajapakse’s regime, which is also accused of failing to probe the war crimes allegations.
Harper has warned that he may refuse to attend the Commonwealth’s next summit unless Sri Lanka addresses allegations of atrocities during the closing battles of the war against separatist Tamil rebels in 2009.
Sri Lanka has denied allegations from international rights groups that government troops killed up to 40,000 civilians while battling Tamil rebels (Source: Times of India)
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There are two issues here.
1. Mr Sharma appears to changed his views after his recent visit to Colombo. He was breathing fire before the visit but now apparently calmed. He is an Indian and Indians generally can be bought with that brief case full of Greenbacks. Maybe Mr Sharma found one in his hotel room in Colombo !!!
2. Are we worried that Canada will not be attending CHOGM? Canada is a socio-economic non entity in the World similar to Australia. Both countries are controlled by white invaders who are raping the resources of the natives and enjoying lives. Sri Lanka should bring a resolution in CHOGM condemning the white rulers of Australia and Canada and give them a time period for returning control to the natives of the land. We would like to see an Aboriginal/native Indian Governer General and Prime Minister in those lands before the next CHOGM.
All these threats are created by Mr. President and his thugery copanions. Global condemnations came after sacking of CJ, Mrs. Shirani Bandaranaike. Now Sri Lanka has named as a lawless country. UN will condemn Sri Lanka on 1st of March in Geneva and the whole world can see the civil status of our country. Now it is time for Mr. President to resign or othervise the government will be toppled by a military coup. The end of this goverment is not very far.
Dayaratne Bandara.
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Mr Dayaratne Bandara,
Yes, you would dare to say that Mr President wiped out the LTTE terrorists and extricated the island country from thirty years of killings, mayhem and ruination and he would not have done that. Had he not done it Sri Lanka would have been safe and sound before the UN.
On the other hand, if the former CJ was corrupted what else would have been done without sacking her?
If the President is to resign at this juncture it is also similar act as the former CJ Mrs Shirani Bandarnaike’s walking out of the inquiry panel and is tantamount to accepting the charges bringing out by the US.
If former General SF was still there in the army a military coup would have taken place but no need to fear that the government will be toppled by the military, now.
well done Nihal,Mr.D.B. is a bloody singhala kotty..Because of mr.president we can live peacefully and without any fear from the bloody tamil tigers.God bless Srilanka..
Harper, it is a good idea to not to show up at Sri Lanka. You are not welcome, since enemies of Sri lanka are not welcome by Sri Lankans.
Mr. Bandara (or whoever behind that Sinhala looking name), Are you a person who is eating an ear by sitting on the horns (Ange indan kana kanawada?) or are you spitting while looking up (Uda balagena kela gahanawada??
Either way, you have studied in Sri Lanka for free, had food and medicines for free and brought up to the level who you are now, just to regret that you have become an enemy within. What a shame on you and also your family who depends on an ungrateful person’s money? Why don’t you pack up with your family and leave Sri lanka and live in Saudi Arabia? And please don’t even look at Sri Lanka after that. They are so bad, aren’t they?
Everyone who crossed current SL government are right for you and everyone in the SL government are wrong for you. This shows who exactly you are. Either you are an enemy of Sri Lanka pretending to be a friend or you appear to be suffering from some type of mental illness.