SLPP presidential candidate and former defence secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa said today said though he would work with the UN and human rights organisations in resolving contentious issues he could not recognize the UNHRC resolution on Sri Lanka because it was ‘illegal’.
The 30/1 UN resolution titled, ‘Promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka’ was co-sponsored by the present Sri Lankan government and adopted in 2015.
As the SLPP presidential candidate, he told his maiden news briefing at Shangri-La Hotel in Colombo that he will always work with the UN but would not recognize what it had signed with different governments. Mr. Rajapaksa was flanked by SLPP Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa and other party leaders.
“It was not a government of mine. My personal view is that it is not a legal document,” he said when asked how he would follow up with commitments made through the UN resolution in 2015 and added that as a party they had already rejected that resolution in public and said everyone knew that there was a stark difference between their policies and that of the incumbent government.
“We will work with UN and Human Rights organisations as well in solving issues but the resolution is not something we signed,” Mr. Rajapaksa said.
Clarifying this matter, SLPP Chairman Professor G.L.Peiris said the present government itself has stated categorically that some of the commitments given to the UNHRC were contrary to Sri Lanka’s Constitution.
(Daily Mirror)