Western envoys meet Speaker ahead of vote on new Prez

By Shamindra Ferdinando

A high-level diplomatic delegation has raised issues pertaining to the conduct of the secret vote to elect a new President to complete the remainder of Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s term (two years and four months) with Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena.

The Speaker’s Office confirmed the meeting that had taken place in the parliamentary complex on Monday (18), the day before Secretary General of Parliament Dhammika Dasanayake received nominations for Wednesday’s contest.

The delegation consisted of US Ambassador Julie Chung, UK HC Sarah Hulton, Canadian HC David McKinnon, Australian HC David Holly, New Zealand HC Michael Appleton and EU Ambassador Dennis Chaibi.

The group met Speaker Abeywardena in the wake of the declaration that Parliament would conduct a vote in terms of the relevant provisions of the Constitution.

The Speaker’s Office said that Abeywardena had assured the delegation that the process would be conducted in a transparent manner. Secretary General of Parliament Dhammika Dassanayake, the Returning Officer, had explained the process.

The Island

asked several missions that received a briefing from the Speaker as to why the heads of missions met the Speaker. The Canadian HC McKinnon told The Island that he along with some of his colleagues met the Speaker of Parliament at his invitation. The Canadian envoy said that the Speaker wanted to brief the diplomatic community on the mechanics of the voting process in Parliament to choose an Acting President. “We appreciated the opportunity.”

The Island

received the Canadian response soon after Parliament declared UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe the winner. In spite of him being the sole UNP MP in Parliament, Wickremesinghe secured 133 other votes.

Political sources said that the US Ambassador’s visit to Parliament was her first since National Freedom Front (NFF) Leader Wimal Weerawansa alleged in Parliament that Chung interfered in government efforts to control the growing Galle Face protest. Weerawansa alleged that the US envoy had forced the then government to drop plans to forcibly remove protesters. Since then the US denied the then President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s request for a visa.