Sri Lanka Likely To Come Off As "Comedy Country" At 40th UNHRC Session with Two Groups Of Delegation Pushing For Diametrically Opposite Outcomes

Sri Lanka is likely to come off as a "comedy country" at the 40th session of the UNHRC with two groups of the Sri Lankan government delegation pushing for diametrically opposite outcomes. 

President Maithripala Sirisena, addressing a meeting with media heads and newspaper editors yesterday, said he would send UPFA MPs Mahinda Samarasinghe, Dr. Sarath Amunugama and Nothern Province Governor Suren Raghavan to Geneva as his representatives to the 40th session of the UNHRC. 

The President said his representatives would make an appeal to the UNHRC to allow Sri Lanka to resolve its own problems. 

However, the Foreign Ministry also issued a statement yesterday confirming that Sri Lanka would co-sponsor a roll-over resolution this year seeking an extension of the timeline of resolution 30/1 of October 01, 2015. 

The statement added the move to co-sponsor the resolution would further attest to Sri Lanka’s ownership of the implementation process and to its continued policy of constructive engagement and dialogue with the UN and bilateral partners.

This indicates that there would be a sharp division between President Sirisena's representatives and the members of Sri Lanka's official delegation as the two parties will have conflicting agendas at the session.