Geneva players will meet their waterloo:

President’s victory at polls will silence critics

by Manjula Fernando

The Geneva players will meet their waterloo when President Mahinda Rajapaksa scores a resounding victory at the forthcoming election, Plantation Industries Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe told the Sunday Observer.

Asked what would happen if the President loses power in the face of the probe by the UN Human Rights Council, instituted at the behest of certain member states, the Minister said, he did not want to speculate on such a probability.

“We are convinced that the President will score a resounding victory,” he said adding that this will be a sufficient answer for Geneva.

He said he had associated himself with the UNHRC more than any other Sri Lankan Minister and observed how it has been transformed into a political entity. “It’s all about playing a political agenda, which is useful for certain powerful entities.”

He said the progress achieved by Sri Lanka is irrelevant to those who are trying to destabilise your country at the UNHRC. The Minister said that he believed that the Opposition was trying to mislead the masses yet again by offering unrealistic promises that are impossible to accomplish.

The Government has a two-thirds majority in Parliament and if the Opposition is keen on implementing some of its pledges, the forum is open even now. “But we believe, these are mere election gimmicks,” he said.