Sri Lanka seeks early return of democracy in Fiji
Minister of Foreign Affairs Rohitha Bogollagama emphasised the need
for a time bound approach to facilitate Fiji’s return to democratic
rule, while addressing the 30th meeting of the Commonwealth Ministerial
Action Group (CMAG) held in New York on September 27.
The Minister referred to the Commonwealth stipulated deadline of
March 2009 for elections to be held in order that a democratically
elected Government could be established. He further observed that in the
event this condition was not fulfilled, the Commonwealth would have to
consider further action after taking ground realities into account and
apply the Millbrook Plan of Action.
The Minister pointed out that while the Initiative of a “President’s
Forum” to facilitate political dialogue for electoral reforms was a
positive initiative, the envisaged role had been stymied due to a number
of disagreements among the stakeholders. He said that the issues are not
insurmountable, but needed the sincere political will to this end.
Minister Bogollagama said that the role being performed by the
Pacific Island Forum is important in bringing about a democratic
solution to the question of governance in Fiji.
He stated that Sri Lanka supports the continued regional and
international efforts to achieve legitimate constitutional rule in Fiji
and requested the Commonwealth Secretary General to continue his
engagement in this endeavour. The CMAG decided to meet in early 2009 to
review the progress and consider further measures if necessary,
consistent with the Millbrook Plan of Action.
Minister Bogollagama also met with the British Secretary of State for
Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, David Miliband on the sidelines of the
CMAG meeting. He outlined the action taken by the Government in
re-establishing democratic rule in the Eastern Province after having
cleared the LTTE from that area through targeted military engagement.
He referred to the conduct of the Local Government and Provincial
Council elections in the East resulting in the election of a Chief
Minister, a former child soldier, initially of the LTTE and now
representing the political faction of its renegade group the TMVP.
The Minister recalled the meeting between Lord Mark Malloch Brown,
Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and the Chief
Minister of the Eastern Province during his recent visit to Sri Lanka.
He explained that the strategy which was followed in the Eastern
Province is being replicated in the North and that military engagement
was necessary to eradicate terrorism from that region, in order to
create the necessary ground conditions for the establishment of
democratic institutions.
The Minister also took the opportunity to refer to Sri Lanka’s
application for the extension of the EU GSP+ facility. He pointed out
that having successfully overcome the challenge of terrorism and
re-established democracy in the Eastern Province, the empowerment of the
people is a major priority for the Government.
Therefore, obstacles which hinder Sri Lanka’s market access to the EU
would only serve to hurt the people. In this context, he hoped that the
EU would consider this aspect when examining Sri Lanka’s application for
the extension of the EU GSP+ facility. |