Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) media spokesman MP Mahinda Samarasinghe said the President made a notable impression among the international community and it was his political will which afforded Sri Lanka ample time to make its submissions to the Office of United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Reflecting on President Maithripala Sirisena’s achievements during the last four years, he said there had been a lot of concerns over how Sri Lanka would face challenges in Geneva. For a long time, the international community questioned the political will and if it was genuinely committed to peace and reconciliation,” Samarasinghe said.
“It was the President’s political will that enabled Sri Lanka a grace period of one year to make its submissions. At the time even the TNA supported the government in a way they had not done before.”
He said the President was averse to the notion of having foreign judges and members of the international community meddling in Sri Lanka’s internal affairs. “The President never betrayed this country, he went out of his way to ensure that the Security Forces who toiled so much to win this war were not cast in a negative light.”
Samarasinghe reiterated that the President who promised to prune the powers of the executive went as far as ensuring the enactment of the 19th Amendment to the constitution knowing full well that his powers would be restricted by passing of the Act.“The President said he was ready to do away with the executive presidency. He even secured the majority in Parliament to pass the 19th Amendment to the Constitution.
“We find this act commendable as there has been no other President who curtailed his own powers to ensure that a promise and mandate was fulfilled.”
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