Ranil calls for APC to face UNHRC resolution

19 March 2013 02:06 am

Some international organisations are planning to call for a boycott of Sri Lankan tea and apparels and to urge tourists not to visit Sri Lanka if the US-led resolution on Sri Lanka was adopted at the UNHRC sessions on Friday, Opposition UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe said today.

He told a news conference that there would be a severe impact on the country’s economy if the demand for our tea and apparels declined by even a meagre 10 per cent and more problems if tourist arrivals drop by a similar percentage.

Mr. Wickremesinghe urged the government to fix dates for an All Party Conference aimed at establishing a mechanism to implement the LLRC recommendations.

He said it was based on a request made by the UNP-led Vipakshaye Virodaya for an All Party Conference to draw a mechanism to face the fallout from the UNHRC resolution.

“We have called for an APC conference because we don’t want to see the country as a result of the wrong decisions made by this regime,” Mr. Wickremesinghe said.

He said the opposition would give the government time till March 21 and then take to the streets to force the government to implement the recommendations of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC).

Mr. Wickremesinghe said the government should respect the undertaking it gave to the international community that the LLRC recommendations would be implemented.

Members of the Vipakjshaye Virodaya -- NSSP Leader Wickramabahu Karunaratne, Nawa Sihala Urumaya Leader Sarath Manamendra, Ruhunu Janatha Party leader Aruna Soysa and Tamil Muslim Alliance Leader Asath Sally were present at the news conference. (Yohan Perera and Lahiru Pothmulla)