Protocol disaster at
SAARC ceremony
By Dilrukshi Handunnetti
There is no disputing the fact that the
BMICH appeared impressive in all its
splendour, the beautifully created stage and
the head table, the expensive flowers and
the ambience adding to the wholesome picture
to the unsuspecting eye. But all of the
above did not manage to conceal the truth
that the SAARC summit inauguration ceremony
failed to reach the mark in event
management.
The far from perfect event to start with,
the SAARC seating arrangement was one huge
mess and an abysmal failure in protocol.
Former President Chandrika Kumaratunga was
not ushered to an allotted seat and was
first relegated to the third row when
someone had the good sense to gently move
her to a front row seat.
Causing a regional embarrassment, the first
ladies were ushered into the main hall,
minutes before the sessions commenced, but
were made to stand and wait until seats were
sorted. There was Mrs. Manmohan Singh
showing an empty chair in the second row and
they had to queue up and wait until a chair
was indicated.
Much earlier, an unescorted Opposition
Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe occupied a fifth
row seat until an embarrassed Chief
Government Whip and Minister Dinesh
Gunawardene and Minister Mano Wijeratne
personally ushered Wickremesinghe to the
front row.
Early bird ministers Dr. Sarath Amunugama
and Gamini Lokuge were seen looking for
their seats in an uncertain manner and
finally they had to decide on their own
seats.
Some flags were messed up with the reporters
from the respective countries opposing the
colours used on their national flags,
alleging that the green shade on the
Bangladeshi flag and the orange colour on
the Indian flag being inaccurate!
Besides, the car park too had been a mess
with all cars excluding the heads of state
and diplomats being parked together in a
jumble.
As for the long suffering journalists who
were transported as early as 6.45 a.m. for a
10 a.m. event under tight security were
inconvenienced when officials requested that
the front row be cleared for foreign camera
crews, two hours after they were settled in
their seats.
Then there were hundreds of local
journalists who could not do their coverage
properly due to the lack of simultaneous
interpretation of the speeches made, a far
cry from SAARC summit experiences anywhere
else.
Adding insult to injury, journalists were
surprised to find former parliamentarian
Somakumari Tennakoon happily settled in the
media gallery.
The media center too turned out to be a
nightmare with internet getting disconnected
every half hour making scribes lose their
typed copies and lens men unable to mail
their photographs.
Also, there were attempts by the Foreign
Ministry to rewrite history in flawed
English. Brief documentaries on member
countries were shown on wide screen as each
head of state arrived and interestingly, the
documentary on Sri Lanka claimed that Sri
Lanka had a population of two billion!
The documentary on
Afghanistan
was no better. In raw English, the
documentary noted “America and its allies
came looking for Osama Bin Laden.”
To cap it all, while the invitation cards
said the ceremony would start at 10 a.m.,
President Mahinda Rajapakse made his entry
shortly after 11 a.m.
Diplomatic faux pas
FM's daughter sits in at SAARC Ministers
meeting
Sri Lanka
created a diplomatic stir last week when
Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama's
daughter Dilshani sat in on the SAARC
Council of Ministers meeting in violation of
diplomatic protocol.
The Council of Ministers meeting was held at
the VIP room in the BMICH Thursday, July 31.
The Sunday Leader learns the Minister's
daughter had walked into the meeting and sat
behind the Sri Lankan delegation leading to
muffled protests from diplomats of member
nations.
Informed sources said prior to the
commencement of the Council of Ministers
meeting in the VIP room, there were several
heads of mission present and were requested
to leave the room by the protocol division
of the Foreign Ministry.
However, the sources said the Minister's
daughter had continued to sit in on the
confidential meeting without being asked to
leave.
It is learned some diplomats who were asked
to leave the room in keeping with protocol
had protested over the incident.
The Sunday Leader also learns the Minister's
son Dakshitha had also participated at some
of the other official meetings but was not
present at the Council of Minister's
meeting.
Queries role of STF
Indian PM expresses concern over civilians
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has
expressed concern over the plight of the
civilians caught in the northern theatre of
war and questioned the role of the Special
Task Force (STF) in his discussions with
the minority party leaders on Friday, The
Sunday Leader learns.
Prime Minister Singh had separate meetings
with the TNA, TDNA, SLMC, ACMC and the UPF
where the current political developments,
the situation in the Eastern province,
plight of the refugees, human rights, the
APRC process and a political settlement to
the ethnic conflict came to be discussed.
Informed sources said the Prime Minister was
told by TDNA leader V. Anandasangaree an
interim administration was essential until a
final political solution was forwarded by
the Government and that the A9 must be
opened for the people who want to flee the
fighting to come into Government controlled
areas.
The minority party leaders had also said the
Tamil people have not had any breathing
space for the last 30 years due to the
conflict and that the displaced persons were
undergoing tremendous suffering.
Asked by the Prime Minister about their view
on the STF, it is learned Anandasangaree had
said the new head of the organisation lacks
credibility and that they were not satisfied
with their role.
Thondaman declines
pardon offer
Minister of Youth Employment and CWC Leader
Arumugam Thondaman has declined an offer by
President Mahinda Rajapakse to pardon him
and two other senior members convicted of
contempt of court by the Nuwara Eliya
magistrate, The Sunday Leader learns.
The Nuwara Eliya Magistrate on Tuesday, July
29 convicted Minister Thondaman, Deputy
Minister Muthu Sivalingam and Provincial
Council member P. Radhakrishnan for contempt
of court over a party property dispute and
sentenced them to three months simple
imprisonment, which was suspended for six
months.
A Rs. 1000 fine was also imposed.
The Sunday Leader learns the President had
on Tuesday night at 9.30 p.m telephoned
Thondaman and offered to pardon the three
members. The offer it is learned was
declined but Presidential sources informed
the media that a pardon was granted and it
was reported accordingly.
Informed sources said, following these
reports Thondaman had informed President's
office the three members do not intend to
accept the offer as reported to the media.
It is learned the President had met a CWC
delegation headed by Thondaman on Wednesday,
July 30 and insisted on accepting the offer
of pardon but it was once again declined.
Minister Thondaman, sources said had
explained to the President the importance of
the three members getting their names
cleared in court by way of an appeal since
it was a matter of principle for the party.
"The President refused to accept our
explanation but the meeting ended without
the three members accepting the President's
kind offer," the sources said.
Dialog slashes rates
Dialog GSM on Friday introduced a new tariff
platform where its subscribers are offered
50% discounts on call charges.
The Lifetime Discount Programme commenced
from August 1 and would offer the Dialog GSM
customer base of 4.5 million a range of
discount offers.
According to Dialog GSM, the Lifetime
Discount programme gives its subscribers a
50% discount on charges for all local
outgoing calls from the third minute onwards
whilst a 25% discount is offered on the
second minute.
The Lifetime Discount offers customers a
string of benefits valid for the
subscriber's lifetime.
Dialog GSM has stated that in order to enjoy
the Lifetime Discount, the subscriber has to
sign up for an all-inclusive one-time
subscription of Rs. 477. The service is
activated via an SMS by typing in the word
DISCOUNT and sending it to 678. The one-time
all inclusive payment of Rs. 477 will be
charged to the subscriber's monthly bill, or
debited from the prepaid credit balance.
Janaka hits out at conspiracy to create
dissension in UNP
UNP chief ministerial candidate for the
North Central Province (NCP), Janaka Perera
has hit out at what he has called an
insidious attempt to create dissension in
the UNP due to fears by the government that
the party was marching towards victory in
the two provincial council elections
scheduled for August 23.
Vehemently rejecting a report that appeared
in a news website on July 31 alleging there
is a serious rift between the UNP leadership
and the UNP chief ministerial candidate,
Perera said it was a desperate attempt to
stall the party's march to victory by
projecting non existent dissension based on
imaginary conversations.
Speaking to The Sunday Leader, the former
army chief of staff and diplomat said, "It
is an ugly plot hatched by conspirators who
want to create a non existing rift and a
malicious attempt to create a crisis."
Perera completely denied the contents of the
news story as a 'malicious fabrication' and
denied a purported conversation that appears
as part of the story as a 'complete figment
of some mischief maker's imagination.'
In a statement issued, Major Gen. Janaka
Perera (retd.) states that the fourth
paragraph of the said story to be completely
false and the purported conversation to be
something that never took place.
"The fabricated story further attributes
malicious motive in not holding the press
conference scheduled to be held after the
Supreme Court ruled on my security measures.
It was cancelled with the consent of all as
the interim order was fair and this was soon
made public knowledge. There was no further
need to hold a press conference," he said.
