Members of the Joint Opposition (JO) lashed out at certain Western foreign embassies for their unwarranted interference into the country’s domestic affairs.
American Ambassador Alaina Teplitz recently visited the chief prelates of the Asgiriya and Malwatte Chapters and she said democracy must be restored in the country but it is on their terms. “She says that the Millenium Fund will only be released if democracy is restored,” UPFA MP and JO member Keheliya Rambukwella said.
Addressing a media briefing with JO Member and UPFA MP Dilan Perera at the Western Province Aesthetic Resort in Colombo, he questioned as to why the American Ambassador did not take into account democracy when Provincial Council elections were delayed for the last 2.5 years.
“These ambassadors and high commissioners are showing immense interest in our domestic affairs now, but did not have the nerve to go and ask the prelates to ask them to restore democracy by having elections,” Rambukwella said. The former Minister observed that the country had educated and knowledgeable people to manage its own affairs, “We cannot live like frogs in the well.We need assistance from others but not at the cost of our own sovereignty, right of franchise or the rights of the people”.
He remarked that the UNP which was working closely with these embassies was trying to create an Arab Spring in the country, “We all know what happened to those countries where America interfered”.
I would not be surprised if Ranil Wickremesinghe tomorrow points to all the court cases and asks the UN to intervene in the country, Rambukwella said as he stressed that it was not about party politics now but the need to defend the country’s sovereignty from foreign interference.