Daily Archive: September 4, 2015

Rear Admiral (Dr.) Sarath Weerasekera VSV,RWP,USP,Ndc,Psc 

2015 April 15th

To:  Hon. Chamal Rajapaksa,

Speaker,

Parliament of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka.

Hon. Speaker,

POST OF OPPOSITION LEADER

I write in regard to the proposal to designate Mr. R. Sampanthan Opposition Leader.  I am firmly opposed to any such step.  Mr. Sampanthan, both as a result of public statements made by him, as well as his membership in the Illangai Tamil Arasu Kadchi (ITAK), has identified himself with certain agendas antithetical to the State, and making him Opposition Leader will put him in a position to pursue those agendas with greater ease, to the detriment of the State.

I wish to place on record the following concerns, which I trust will inform any decision to appoint Mr. Sampanthan Opposition Leader.

On the 31st March 2011 a panel of lawyers appointed by Ban Ki-Moon submitted a review of the Sri Lankan War IV without ever visiting the island. The report was composed in the manner of a prosecuting team rather than a judicial assessment. It was as slipshod in its methodology as flawed in several of its conclusions. Nevertheless, it is widely cited in a number of quarters, quarters hostile to the admittedly distasteful Rajapaksa Regime and happy to have any cane to beat up their activities.

A headmaster wielding a cane must have judiciousness on his side. Moral crusaders such as, say, Amnesty International must adhere to ethics in presentation and quotation. But, as it happens, the last four years have seen blatant dishonesty in quotation as well as interpretation.