The United National Party today charged that the CHOGM 2013 hosted by Sri Lanka in November has gone down in history as the Commonwealth summit attended by the least number of heads of governments.
Even the Wikipedia website states that the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) held in Colombo was the summit attended by the least number of heads of state in the history of the Commonwealth, UNP MP Mangala Samaraweera said.
He stated that the government spent at least Rs 15.5 billion on the CHOGM alone and that a much higher amount was spent on External Affairs Minister G.L. Peiris’ foreign trips to envite commonwealth nations to participate.
Charged that the Foreign Minister’s policy on Africa has completely collapsed, Samaraweera stated that Professor G.L. Peiris should resign from his ministerial portfolio immediately “if his has any self respect”.
He further said that President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa should keep a photograph of Ranil Wickramasinghe and worship it day and night for not signing the Rome Statute when he was the Prime Minister.
