U.N. General Assembly Votes for Israel-Hamas Cease-Fire, Countering U.S. Veto

 

About three-quarters of the UN members voted in favour of the nonbinding resolution.

UNGA demands ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza: 

The non-binding, symbolic resolution passed with 153 votes in favour, 10 against, and 23 abstentions.

AJ 13 Dec 2023

The United Nations General Assembly has passed a nonbinding, symbolic resolution to demand an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire” in Gaza, with the United States and Israel voting against it but an overwhelming number of member states in favour of an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

A total of 153 countries voted in favour( Sri Lanka, India abstained in October, but voted yes.....) of the resolution on Tuesday, 10 countries voted against (A: Austria C: Czech Republic G: Guatemala I: Israel L: Liberia M: Micronesia N: Nauru P: Papua New Guinea, Paraguay U: United States) it, while 23 (Ukraine, United Kingdom,... )abstained.

Ambassadors and other diplomats burst into applause at the vote count, which showed much higher support than an October 27 Arab-sponsored resolution that called for a “humanitarian truce”. At that time, 121 countries voted in favour, 14 against, and 44 abstained – Iraq, citing technical difficulties, changed its vote to yes after the tally was recorded.

 

U.N. General Assembly Votes for Israel-Hamas Cease-Fire, Countering U.S. Veto

About three-quarters of the body’s members voted in favor of the nonbinding resolution. The result underscored the isolation of Israel and the United States.

NYT By Farnaz Fassihi Dec. 12, 2023

The U.N. General Assembly demanded an immediate cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war in an overwhelming vote on Tuesday that highlighted much of the world’s desire to bring the bloody conflict to an end.

About three-quarters of the body’s members voted in favor of the nonbinding resolution, underscoring the isolation of Israel and the United States, which last week blocked a cease-fire resolution in the Security Council.

Resounding applause and cheers erupted after the vote was announced: 153 in favor, 10 against and 23 abstentions. The resolution required two-thirds majority for passage.

“How many more thousands of lives must be lost before we do something?” Dennis Francis, a diplomat from Trinidad and Tobago currently serving as president of the General Assembly, said in an address to the chamber before the vote. “No more time is left. The carnage must stop.”

The resolution was put forth by the U.N.’s Arab Group and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, which represents Arab and Muslim countries.

More than 15,000 people, many of them women and children, have been killed in Gaza, according to local health officials, since Israel declared war on Hamas after the militant group launched a terrorist attack on Oct. 7, killing more than 1,200 people and taking 240 others hostage.

General Assembly resolutions are never legally binding, but they carry political weight and are a symbolic reflection of the wider perspective among the U.N.’s 193 members.

The countries that joined the U.S. and Israel in rejecting the cease-fire resolution on Tuesday were Austria, the Czech Republic, Guatemala, Liberia, Micronesia, Paraguay and Papua New Guinea and Nauru. Among the countries that abstained were Britain, Hungary, South Sudan and Germany.

Israel’s ambassador to the U.N., Gilad Erdan, sharply criticized the United Nations and said that passing the resolution made the institution more irrelevant. He said that calls for a cease-fire aimed to “tie Israel’s hand and to continue Hamas’s reign of terror.”

The Assembly convened the emergency session after the U.S. vetoed a binding Security Council resolution for a cease-fire on Friday, saying that halting the fighting would allow Hamas to regroup and plan more terrorist attacks similar to the devastating assault on Israel it led from Gaza on Oct. 7.

Pressure to halt the bloodshed has increased as the war between Israel and Hamas has battered civilians in Gaza. The U.N.’s senior leadership and humanitarian aid agencies have said that a cease-fire is the only viable way to ease the suffering of Gaza’s 2.2 million people.

Vast swaths of homes and infrastructure have been destroyed, more than 85 percent of the population is displaced, hunger is widespread and disease is now rampant, according to the World Health Organization.

President Biden has long pledged that the United States would continue to support Israel’s quest to eradicate Hamas, but earlier on Tuesday, it appeared that a rift had opened between Mr. Biden and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on what happens after the war.

Mr. Biden, speaking at a fund-raiser, warned Mr. Netanyahu that his country was losing international support, citing “the indiscriminate bombing that takes place.” Hours before, Mr. Netanyahu rejected a U.S.-backed plan for the Palestinian Authority, which administers part of the Israeli-occupied West Bank — to play a role in Gaza’s reconstruction.

The resolution passed on Tuesday said Gaza faced a “catastrophic humanitarian” situation, emphasized that both Palestinian and Israeli civilians must be protected under international humanitarian laws and demanded that all parties abide by these laws.

The resolution also called for the immediate release of hostages held in Gaza and humanitarian access to the enclave. But it stopped short of condemning Hamas’s terrorist attacks on Oct. 7.

The U.S. and Austria proposed amendments to the resolution to condemn Hamas’s attacks, but they failed to garner the required two-thirds majority. Some who opposed the amendment, like Pakistan, said they could not support language that condemned Hamas but did not call out Israel as perpetrating crimes in Gaza.

“I think most U.N. member states have lost patience with the U.S. stance on the war, even if many were initially repulsed by Hamas’s atrocities,” said Richard Gowan, an expert on the U.N. at the International Crisis Group. He said that, earlier in the war, many Arab diplomats had been keen to engage with the United States to find common ground on humanitarian issues.

“Now, by contrast, the Arab group has been on a campaign to highlight how few countries back the U.S. in opposing a cease-fire,” he said.

Farnaz Fassihi is a reporter for The New York Times based in New York. Previously she was a senior writer and war correspondent for the Wall Street Journal for 17 years based in the Middle East.

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COP28 Agreement Signals “Beginning of the End” of the Fossil Fuel Era

 

13 December 2023

UN Climate Press Release

The United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) closed today with an agreement that signals the “beginning of the end” of the fossil fuel era by laying the ground for a swift, just and equitable transition, underpinned by deep emissions cuts and scaled-up finance.

In a demonstration of global solidarity, negotiators from nearly 200 Parties came together in Dubai with a decision on the world’s first ‘global stocktake’ to ratchet up climate action before the end of the decade – with the overarching aim to keep the global temperature limit of 1.5°C within reach.

“Whilst we didn’t turn the page on the fossil fuel era in Dubai, this outcome is the beginning of the end,” said UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell in his closing speech. “Now all governments and businesses need to turn these pledges into real-economy outcomes, without delay.”

The global stocktake is considered the central outcome of COP28 – as it contains every element that was under negotiation and can now be used by countries to develop stronger climate action plans due by 2025.

The stocktake recognizes the science that indicates global greenhouse gas emissions need to be cut 43% by 2030, compared to 2019 levels, to limit global warming to 1.5°C. But it notes Parties are off track when it comes to meeting their Paris Agreement goals.

The stocktake calls on Parties to take actions towards achieving, at a global scale, a tripling of renewable energy capacity and doubling energy efficiency improvements by 2030. The list also includes accelerating efforts towards the phase-down of unabated coal power, phasing out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies, and other measures that drive the transition away from fossil fuels in energy systems, in a just, orderly and equitable manner, with developed countries continuing to take the lead.

In the short-term, Parties are encouraged to come forward with ambitious, economy-wide emission reduction targets, covering all greenhouse gases, sectors and categories and aligned with the 1.5°C limit in their next round of climate action plans (known as nationally determined contributions) by 2025.

Helping countries strengthen resilience to the effects of climate change

The two-week-long conference got underway with the World Climate Action Summit, which brought together 154 Heads of States and Government. Parties reached a historic agreement on the operationalization of the loss and damage fund and funding arrangements – the first time a substantive decision was adopted on the first day of the conference. Commitments to the fund started coming in moments after the decision was gavelled, totalling more than USD 700 million to date.

There was more progress on the loss and damage agenda with an agreement also reached that the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction and the UN Office for Project Services will host the secretariat of the Santiago Network for Loss and Damage. This platform will catalyse technical assistance to developing countries that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change.

Parties agreed on targets for the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA) and its framework, which identify where the world needs to get to in order to be resilient to the impacts of a changing climate and to assess countries’ efforts. The GGA framework reflects a global consensus on adaptation targets and the need for finance, technology and capacity-building support to achieve them.

Increasing climate finance

Climate finance took centre stage at the conference, with Stiell repeatedly calling it the “great enabler of climate action.”

The Green Climate Fund (GCF) received a boost to its second replenishment with six countries pledging new funding at COP28 with total pledges now standing at a record USD 12.8 billion from 31 countries, with further contributions expected.

Eight donor governments announced new commitments to the Least Developed Countries Fund and Special Climate Change Fund totalling more than USD 174 million to date, while new pledges, totalling nearly USD 188 million so far, were made to the Adaptation Fund at COP28.

However as highlighted in the global stocktake, these financial pledges are far short of the trillions eventually needed to support developing countries with clean energy transitions, implementing their national climate plans and adaptation efforts.

In order to deliver such funding, the global stocktake underscores the importance of reforming the multilateral financial architecture, and accelerating the ongoing establishment of new and innovative sources of finance.

At COP28, discussions continued on setting a ‘new collective quantified goal on climate finance’ in 2024, taking into account the needs and priorities of developing countries. The new goal, which will start from a baseline of USD 100 billion per year, will be a building block for the design and subsequent implementation of national climate plans that need to be delivered by 2025.

Looking ahead to the transitions to decarbonized economies and societies that lie ahead, there was agreement that the mitigation work programme, which was launched at COP27 last year, will continue until 2030, with at least two global dialogues held each year.

Event participation and inclusivity

World leaders at COP28 were joined by civil society, business, Indigenous Peoples, youth, philanthropy, and international organizations in a spirit of shared determination to close the gaps to 2030. Some 85,000 participants attended COP28 to share ideas, solutions, and build partnerships and coalitions.

The decisions taken here today also reemphasize the critical importance of empowering all stakeholders to engage in climate action; in particular through the action plan on Action for Climate Empowerment and the Gender Action Plan.

Strengthening collaboration between governments and key stakeholders

In parallel with the formal negotiations, the Global Climate Action space at COP28 provided a platform for governments, businesses and civil society to collaborate and showcase their real-world climate solutions.

The High-Level Champions, under the Marrakech Partnership for Global Climate Action, launched their implementation roadmap of 2030 Climate Solutions. These are a set of solutions, with insights from a wide range of non-Party stakeholders on effective measures that need to be scaled up and replicated to halve global emissions, address adaptation gaps and increase resilience by 2030.

The conference also saw several announcements to boost the resilience of food and public health systems, and to reduce emissions related to agriculture and methane.

Looking ahead

The negotiations on the ‘enhanced transparency framework’ at COP28 laid the ground for a new era of implementing the Paris Agreement. UN Climate Change is developing the transparency reporting and review tools for use by Parties, which were showcased and tested at COP28. The final versions of the reporting tools should be made available to Parties by June 2024.

COP28 also saw Parties agree to Azerbaijan as host of COP29 from 11-22 November 2024, and Brazil as COP30 host from 10-21 November 2025.

The next two years will be critical. At COP29, governments must establish a new climate finance goal, reflecting the scale and urgency of the climate challenge. And at COP30, they must come prepared with new nationally determined contributions that are economy-wide, cover all greenhouse gases and are fully aligned with the 1.5°C temperature limit.

“We must get on with the job of putting the Paris Agreement fully to work,” said Stiell. “In early 2025, countries must deliver new nationally determined contributions. Every single commitment – on finance, adaptation, and mitigation – must bring us in line with a 1.5-degree world.”

“My final message is to ordinary people everywhere raising their voices for change,” Stiell added. “Every one of you is making a real difference. In the crucial coming years your voices and determination will be more important than ever. I urge you never to relent. We are still in this race. We will be with you every single step of the way.”

“The world needed to find a new way. By following our North Star, we have found that path,” said COP28 President, Dr. Sultan Al Jaber during his closing speech. “We have worked very hard to secure a better future for our people and our planet. We should be proud of our historic achievement.”

IMF urges SL to speed up MOUs with external creditors

Post-Executive Board support, IMF urges SL to speed up MOUs with external creditors

Daily FT Thursday, 14 December 2023

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) yesterday (13-12) stressed the importance of timely conclusion of agreements between Sri Lankan authorities and the official creditors on the external debt restructuring. 

“It is now important for the Sri Lankan authorities and the official creditors to sign the respective Memoranda of Understanding. Timely implementation of the agreements, together with reaching a resolution with external private creditors, should help restore Sri Lanka’s debt sustainability over the medium term,” IMF’s Senior Mission Chief for Sri Lanka Peter Breuer told journalists yesterday. 

He said that the IMF staff will continue to assist the authorities with creditor coordination in line with the IMF’s policies.

The IMF commended Sri Lanka for reaching important milestones in putting debt on the path towards sustainability. Sri Lanka’s agreements-in-principle with the Official Creditors Committee and the Export-Import Bank of China on debt treatments are consistent with the program targets, IMF said. 

Remarks by Breuer were after the IMF Executive Board on Tuesday completed the first review under the 48-month Extended Fund Facility with Sri Lanka, providing the country with access to SDR 254 million (about $ 337 million). This brings the total IMF financial support disbursed so far to SDR 508 million (about $ 670 million) out of the total amount of SDR 2.286 billion (about $ 3 billion). 

Breuer said the program continues to support Sri Lanka’s efforts to restore macroeconomic stability and debt sustainability, safeguard financial stability, and enhance growth-oriented structural reforms.

He emphasised the IMF Board approval recognises the challenging policy actions implemented by the Sri Lankan people to put the crisis behind them. Sri Lanka’s performance under the program was satisfactory. All quantitative performance criteria for end-June were met, except the one on expenditure arrears. All indicative targets were met, except the one on tax revenues. Most structural benchmarks were either met or implemented with delay by the end-October 2023. These macroeconomic policy reforms are starting to bear fruit and the economy is showing signs of stabilisation, with rapid disinflation, significant revenue-based fiscal adjustment, and reserves build-up.

He said the key to transitioning from stabilisation to a full and swift recovery is sustaining the reform momentum amid strong ownership by the authorities and the Sri Lankan people more broadly. 

“We encourage the authorities to continue to build on these hard-won gains and further advance revenue mobilisation, align energy pricing with costs, strengthen social safety nets, rebuild external buffers, safeguard financial stability, combat corruption and enhance governance,” Breuer said. 

Re-enforcing the revenue-based fiscal consolidation with revenue administration reforms is critical to recover from program slippages and to fund the provision of essential government services. 

According to the IMF, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka should continue to focus on the multi-pronged disinflation strategy to safeguard the credibility of its inflation targeting regime. Accumulating reserves, supported by exchange rate flexibility, remains an important priority under the EFF. Implementing the bank recapitalisation plan and strengthening the financial supervision and crisis management frameworks are crucial to safeguarding financial sector stability. We encourage the authorities to remain steadfast on their reform commitments.

The publication of a Governance Diagnostic Report, the first in Asia and a structural benchmark under the program, is another commendable step taken by the authorities. Continued commitment to improving governance and timely implementation of the report’s recommendations can deliver tangible economic gains to the citizens of Sri Lanka. We look forward to further engagement and collaboration with stakeholders and civil society organisations on this critical reform area.

IMF also welcomed the authorities’ firm commitment to strengthen social safety nets, including through a minimum spending floor, the selection of beneficiaries through objective eligibility criteria, and well-targeted spending through the dynamic social registry. 

“We emphasise the importance of continuing to support the poor and the vulnerable,” Breuer added. 

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IMF clears second tranche of $337 million for Sri Lanka

 

IMF clears second tranche of $337 million for Sri Lanka 

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has cleared the second tranche — of about $337 million — of the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) to Sri Lanka, based on the debt treatment plan drawn up by the crisis-battered island nation and its bilateral creditors. With the second tranche coming in, Sri Lanka has received about $670 million of the total $3 billion it hopes to receive from the Fund, to recover from last year’s historic financial crash that put citizens through acute shortages and long power cuts, while pushing the country into bankruptcy.

The Hindu December 13, 2023 Meera Srinivasan

Sri Lanka’s agreements in principle with the Official Creditors Committee and Export-Import Bank of China on debt treatments are consistent with the EFF targets, the Fund has noted.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has cleared the second tranche — of about $337 million — of the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) to Sri Lanka, based on the debt treatment plan drawn up by the crisis-battered island nation and its bilateral creditors.

“Sri Lanka’s agreements-in-principle with the Official Creditors Committee and Export-Import Bank of China on debt treatments are consistent with the EFF targets. They are an important milestone putting Sri Lanka’s debt on the path towards sustainability,” a senior official in Washington DC told a virtual press conference late on Tuesday.

With the second tranche coming in, Sri Lanka has received about $670 million of the total $3 billion it hopes to receive from the Fund, to recover from last year’s historic financial crash that put citizens through acute shortages and long power cuts, while pushing the country into bankruptcy.

Sri Lanka reaches agreement with India, Paris Club on debt treatment

In November, Sri Lanka reached an “agreement-in-principle” with India and the Paris Club group of creditors including Japan to recast its debt owed to them. China, too, is said to have agreed to treat its Sri Lanka loans on comparable terms. The government is yet to make the terms of either agreement public. “A swift completion and signature of the Memoranda of Understanding with the official creditors is important,” the IMF said.

While China, India and Japan are Sri Lanka’s top three bilateral creditors, the largest chunk of the island’s debt, accumulated through International Sovereign Bonds (ISBs), is owed to private creditors. Emphasising the need for “timely implementation” of the agreements with the official lenders, the Fund also urged Sri Lanka to reach a resolution with external private creditors “on comparable terms”.  

Meanwhile, the Fund noted that Sri Lanka has made “commendable progress” towards restoring debt sustainability, raising revenue, rebuilding reserves buffers, reducing inflation, and safeguarding financial stability. “Strong commitment to improving governance and protecting the poor and vulnerable remains critical,” the IMF said, even as scores of Sri Lankans grapple with the impact of the austerity measures taking effect.

In addition to higher, mostly across-the-board indirect taxes, citizens are struggling to keep up with spiralling utility bills, especially electricity, following a three-fold increase in rates. The Ceylon Electricity Board recently said it disconnected some five lakh power connections owing to non-payment of bills by consumers. 

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2024 Budget passed in Parliament: Vigneswaran abstained from voting.

 

adaderana.lk/ December 13, 2023 

The Third Reading of the Appropriation Bill (Budget) for the financial year 2024 was passed in Parliament today (13) by a majority of 41 votes. 

Accordingly, the 2024 Budget was passed in Parliament with 122 votes in favour of the Bill, while 81 MPS had voted against it and MP C.V. Vigneswaran abstained from voting.

Incidentally, former Minister and SLPP MP Roshan Ranasinghe was amongst those who voted against the Bill.

The vote for the Third Reading of the 2024 Appropriation Bill was held at 06:40 p.m. today.

After the vote on the Third Reading of the Budget concluded, Parliament was adjourned until 09 January 2024 by the Speaker.

The division on the Third Reading of the 2024 Appropriation Bill was held this evening (13 Dec.) following the concluding of the Committee Stage debate.

On 13 November, President Ranil Wickremesinghe, in his capacity as the Minister of Finance, presented 2024 Budget, the country’s 78th Budget Speech, to parliament as part of the broader economic plan.

Subsequently, the debate on the second reading of the Appropriation Bill commenced the following day and continued for seven days. The second reading was passed by a majority of 45 votes with 122 parliamentarians in total voting in favour and 77 voting against it.

Following the Committee Stage debate of the Appropriation Bill for the year 2024 which was held for 19 days from November 22nd excluding Sundays, the Third Reading vote was held today.

According to the Appropriation Bill of 2024, the total government expenditure has been set at a record Rs. 6,978 billion, an increase of nearly 33% compared to 2023.

Meanwhile, the budget deficit for the fiscal year 2024 is estimated at Rs. 2,851 billion or 9.1 as a percentage of the GDP. This is higher than the revised 8.5% of GDP in the current year. The original target for 2023 was 7.9%.

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இந்திய ரணகளத்தில் ரகளை!

 

Major security breach in Lok Sabha on Parliament attack anniversary, visitors jump from gallery, burst canisters

Dec 13, 2023, 01:43PM IST Source: TOI.in

There was a scary breach of security in the Lok Sabha on the 22nd anniversary of Parliament attack. Two visitors who were in the visitors’ gallery, jumped into the Lok Sabha and burst some gas canisters, leading to smoke in the House. The House was immediately adjourned as MPs rushed for safety. The two attackers have been detained.

Two unidentified men entered the MP chambers in India’s lower house of parliament on Wednesday and threw smoke bombs in a major security lapse.

independent.co.uk/asia/india/ 13-12-23

Two men jumped into the well where lawmakers were sitting during the zero hour from the visitors’ gallery and opened smoke canisters, filling the space with yellow smoke.

Prime minister Narendra Modi was not in parliament at the time.

The apparent security breach comes on the 22nd anniversary of a deadly 2001 terrorist attack on parliament that killed 14 people, including security officers and five gunmen.

Live televised footage of the proceedings showed lawmakers stunned by the incident attempting to catch the men as they climbed from desk to desk.

Both Houses were adjourned briefly moments later.

Two suspects have been taken into custody following the security breach, police said.

Two more people, a man named Anmol from Maharashtra and a woman named Neelam from Haryana, were detained from outside the parliament complex for staging a protest and opening a smoke bomb.

Police said they are trying to ascertain if the two incidents are linked.

“Both of them have been nabbed and the materials with them have also been seized. The two people outside the parliament have also been arrested by police,” said Om Birla, Speaker of the lower house, known as Lok Sabha.

An investigation has been launched into the incident and instructions have been passed to the Delhi Police, he added.

“In the primary investigation, it has been found that it was just smoke and there is no need to worry about the smoke,” he said.

Congress MP Gurjeet Singh Aujla, who took control of the two men who intruded, said they heard the commotion during the last moments of zero hour.

“He had something in his hand which was emitting yellow-coloured smoke. I snatched it away and continued throwing it outside... This is a major security breach,” Mr Aujla said.

BJP MP Rajendra Agarwal, who was presiding over the session, told reporters: “There is a loophole for sure. When the first person came down, we thought he might have fallen but when the second person started coming down, all of us became cautious.”

“The person tried to open his shoes and took something out after which smoke came out. Action will be taken against this. The Speaker and responsible people will make the decision on this.”

“On this day, India‘s parliament has been attacked again,” lawmaker Karti Chidambaram told reporters outside parliament.

Members in the Lok Sabha said the suspects shouted the slogan ‘tana shahi nahi chalegi’ (dictatorship will not be tolerated).

On 13 December 2001, five heavily armed terrorists breached the security of parliament complex and opened fire indiscriminately, targeting security personnel and lawmakers in a standoff that went on for hours. The attack resulted in the deaths of nine people, including eight security personnel, and five terrorists.

Earlier in the day, president Droupadi Murmu, Mr Modi and other leaders, including from the Congress party, had paid tribute to the victims of the attack.

“Today itself, we paid floral tribute to our bravehearts who sacrificed their lives during the Parliament attack and today itself there was an attack here inside the House. Does it prove that we failed to maintain a high level of security?” Mr Birla asked. He also praised MPs for their fearlessness in catching the two intruders.

The incident also comes just months after Mr Modi inaugurated the newly built parliament building, a project that cost £97m to move to a modern complex from a colonial-era building.

The triangular-shaped parliament complex is just across from the old, circular heritage building built by British architects Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker in 1927.

But the move drew intense criticism from opposition politicians, architects and heritage experts, many of whom called the expensive project environmentally irresponsible and a threat to cultural heritage.

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GTF தமிழீழத் தனியரசை ஆதரிக்காது-பேச்சாளர்

GTF won’t support separate state, Surendiran tells MPs

 Global Tamil Forum (GTF) Spokesman Suren Surendiran yesterday (12) said that if he supported a separate state he wouldn’t have been in Sri Lanka.

The UK based GTF representative said so when SLPP MP Sarath Weerasekera, a former Chief of Staff of the Navy asked him whether he supported the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) that waged war for a separate state in Northern and Eastern Provinces of the country.

The former Public Security Minister raised the issue at a meeting held in the Committee Room 2 of Parliament, chaired by Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena.

The GTF delegation is here for talks with the government and other political parties to reach post-war consensus on how to bring communities together.

Political sources said that the GTF met members of Parliament to brief them about the ongoing process. Surendiran has explained the circumstances leading to them seeking a consensus with the Buddhist clergy as they spearheaded protests against some previous initiatives, including the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, enacted in 1988, meant to solve the ethnic issue.

MP Weerasekera has pointed out that the Buddhist clergy came forward whenever the unitary state of the country was threatened. Pointing out that the Buddhist clergy protected the country for the last 2500 years — a period during which we experienced 17 invasions, the Navy veteran said that the LTTE fought for a separate state.

Weerasekera said: “Terrorism is defined as killing innocents to achieve a political aim. So whether the cause for terrorism is justifiable or not terrorism cannot be justified. Although we comprehensively defeated terrorism we find that western countries allow commemoration of the LTTE.”

When MP Weerasekera asked Surendiran whether he supported the LTTE, the GTF official said that they were not for a separate state. If they were for a separate state, he wouldn’t have been here, he has said (SF)

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