IMPLEMENT LLRC PROPOSALS NOW: UNP

The main opposition United National Party (UNP) yesterday urged the government to implement the LLRC recomendations immediately and resolve the national question because failure to do so would result in an international inquiry and sanctions against Sri Lanka.

“The country will be in an enormous political and economic mess if we do not implement the LLRC recommendations amid international groups advising the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to avoid giving more time to Sri Lanka,” UNP Senior Vice President Lakshman Kiriella said referring to the Us-led resolution which was adopted at the UNHRC sessions in Geneva. He said we should carry out our own investigations this year and implement the recommendations before being forced to face an international inquiry.

Mr. Kiriella said otherwise it would be a case of the country slowly killing itself before the world community.

“The government has used power and suppression to get its own way. This time they have failed and we have fallen to the level of Somalia,” he charged. He said India’s vote against Sri Lanka was a sign that the country was gradually losing the support of other countries and that the

The country will be in an enormous political and economic mess if we do not implement the LLRC recommendations amid international groups advising the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to avoid giving more time to Sri Lanka

government had failed to abide by the country’s key foreign policy provisions, which state that the country’s ties with India should remain strong.

“Since gaining independence Sri Lanka has continued to receive India’s support in international affairs up until this moment,” he said. “In 2009 Sri Lanka won a motion against the country by a large majority but could not do it again -- a clear sign that the government has failed to win the hearts and minds of international players.”

Mr. Kiriella said the government was responsible because it had not fulfilled the promises made to the international community -- to disarm paramilitary groups, to give a list of detain- ees and to implement the 17th Amendment.

He said the LLRC would not be implemented if the government was not pressured by the international community.mr. Kiriella said those who carried out mass protests against the US resolution had promoted the white van phenomenon as they did not know what the LLRC recommendations entailed. He said assassinations and abductions could be prevented and independent commissions with regard to the police, the judiciary, and other state institutions could become a reality if the LLRC recommendations were implemented.