British Tamils Forum: Issued for Immediate Release!
No Independent Election Monitors Invited – Sri Lanka Foreign
Minister!
Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama this morning confirmed to the
Liberal Democratic Party Shadow Foreign Secretary Edward Davey MP that no
independent election monitors have been invited to oversee the credibility and
legitimacy of the Eastern ‘elections’ that the Government of Sri Lanka is
planning to conduct during the month of May 2008.
Mr. Davey, we understand has said “credibility and legitimacy of any election
depended on the presence of observers - be they from the EU or the
Commonwealth”.
Mr. Bogollagama apparently agreed to take that message back to Colombo.
It is also worth noting that the Party in Government, which the Foreign
Minister represents is contesting these ‘elections’ jointly with an armed
paramilitary group called the Tamil Makkal Viduthali Pulikal (TMVP) which is
widely blamed for various killings, abductions and human rights violations.
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) which currently holds the majority of the Tamil
constituencies (22 seats) in the Sri Lankan Parliament is boycotting the so
called ‘elections’.
At a separate event two days ago at the International Institute for Strategic
Studies in London, Mr. Bogollagama was asked by Richard Beeston, Foreign
Editor of The Times, why the authorities were not allowing foreign
correspondents to travel to Sri Lanka, if as the minister had insisted Colombo
wanted to engage with the international community and hold free and
transparent elections. The minister had stated that apart from two districts,
Mullaitivu and Kilinochi, foreign media were allowed to visit other areas of
Sri Lanka. Mr. Beeston said that this was not the experience of The Times,
which had had several visas applications blocked by the authorities. Other
Western media had reported similar experiences.
Sri Lankan Foreign Minister has also told Mr. Davey that the Cease Fire
Agreement (CFA) that was signed by the Government of Sri Lanka and the
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in 2002 was flawed and that it
favoured the LTTE.
Many distinguished persons and foreign governments have said that if the
internationally sponsored CFA was flawed in any form, then a responsible
government would re-negotiate the agreement rather than unilaterally
abrogating from it. The Government of Sri Lanka was condemned by various
Governments such as the US, UK, European Union and UN Secretary General for
abrogating from the CFA unilaterally, in January 2008. On 04/01/2008 UK
Foreign Minister responsible for Africa, Asia and the United Nations Lord
Malloch Brown commenting on the unilateral abrogation of the CFA by the
Government of Sri Lanka said that “There can be no military solution to the
conflict. It is vital now that the Government lives up to its commitment to
address the grievances of Tamil people”
Media Contact:
Suren Surendiran Tel: +44 (0) 7958 590 196
Email: surensurendiran@yahoo.co.uk
Notes to Editors:
British Tamils Forum exists to harness the skills and the knowledge of the
members of the forum, well-wishers and significant others including mainstream
decision makers in the UK with the aim of alleviating the sufferings of the
Tamils community in the Island of Sri Lanka and to further their right to self
determination within a democratic frame work under pinned by international
law, its covenants and conventions. The forum was set-up in 2006 when, with
the support 88 British Tamil community organisations, it also published an
open letter in the Times newspaper. For more information admin@tamilsforum.com
and/or visit:
www.tamilsforum.com
- visagaperumal_vasanthan@yahoo.co.uk |