A spokesperson for the Commonwealth Secretary General Kamalesh Sharma has said that Sri Lanka will not be on the agenda at the forthcoming Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group.
Several countries have tried to include Sri Lanka on the agenda, especially due to November’s controversial Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, hosted by Colombo.
However, spokesperson Richard Uku told Sri Lanka’s Sunday Leader that Sri Lanka will not feature in discussions next month.
“I can confirm to you that Sri Lanka is not on the agenda for the next scheduled meeting of CMAG on 26 April. A discussion of CHOGM is not on the agenda for the 26 April CMAG meeting either. It was the Commonwealth Heads of Government that made the decision to hold the 2013 meetings in Sri Lanka. Such decisions are made at the Commonwealth Heads of Government level and not by CMAG.
“It is important to understand that the CMAG route is not the first option of action in such circumstances. It is one that is resorted to only when intervention efforts through the Commonwealth Secretary-General’s good offices have been exhausted,
“Sri Lanka’s Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) Report is a pivotal national plan for moving forward, to achieve a multi-ethnic nation at peace with itself. We have urged the report’s expeditious implementation, which the Commonwealth remains committed to supporting,” he said.