State Minister Vidura Wickramanayaka said yesterday, it was first necessary to convert some citizens of this country into accepting and honouring the country as a sovereign state.
He told this to the Sunday Observer when asked about his views on the Tamil National Alliance Leader R. Sampanthan’s remarks to the press that Sri Lanka should avoid making fresh presentations to UNHRC as it had already co-sponsored a resolution.
Wickramanayaka said, “It is my personal view that the previous government probably did not know that we are a sovereign nation. They would have thought we were a colony.”
“At that particular time they may have thought it was the best thing to do, drawing that line with America that originally sponsored it,” he said.
“Now that the US has withdrawn from operations there, they are no longer there, and so are we without the sponsor,” he said.
On the contrary, as a sovereign state, we cannot let UNHRC or any other organization or anyone else take us for a ride.
“To say that we are going to or would make any fresh presentations in this regard has absolutely no meaning, because making a presentation on behalf of the country and the people is what is expected of us at these forums,” he said.
“It has to be said here that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa or any President of Sri Lanka or any President anywhere cannot afford to act on behalf of R. Sampanthan, because Sampanthan is not a country, he is not ‘Sri Lanka’ but of it,” he pointed out. “President Gotabaya Rajapaksa can only act on his mandate,” he explained.
“Sampanthan, though, is free to express his views,” he added.