A Sri Lankan government minister told parliament on Friday that President Maithripala Sirisena is to be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Tourism and Christian Affairs Minister John Amaratunga said that Mr Sirisena’s nomination was being discussed by several countries, as he told MPs “we can all go and witness President Sirisena accepting the Nobel Peace Prize if we work together for the betterment of the country”.
Mr Sirisena, who was elected as Sri Lanka’s president in January, is the former secretary general of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, who was also sworn in as the acting defence minister in May 2009 as Sri Lankan troops carried out their final assault during the armed conflict.
With the release of a United Nations report into mass atrocities that took place last month, a UN Human Rights Council resolution was passed mandating an accountability mechanism to prosecute those responsible for crimes committed. Though a mechanism is yet to be put in place, Mr Sirisena vowed that he would “not allow anyone to disgrace” the military victory and would “will not allow anyone to degrade the armed forces in any way”.
See our earlier posts:
Sri Lankan president assures ‘dignity of country will be safeguarded’ at meeting on UN resolution (18 Nov 2015)
Sri Lankan president vows to protect 'hard-earned dignity' of army (26 Oct 2015)
Sri Lanka president vows he will ‘not allow anyone to disgrace war victory’ (21 Oct 2015)
Also see:
Who is Maithripala Sirisena? (23 Nov 2014)