Blake clings to LLRC while Rajapaksa scoffs at regime-change paradigm

[TamilNet, Monday, 17 September 2012, 00:36 GMT]
Concluding his visit to Colombo with a press conference on Friday, the US Asst. Secretary of State, Robert Blake, came out with the expected rhetoric on LLRC implementation, provincial council election in the North, ‘reducing’ the role and profile of the SL military in the ‘North’ and resumption of talks with the TNA on ‘provincial devolution’. While the zest was missing in the statement of Blake, Rajapaksa with an obvious hint at the current predicament of the USA mocked at the boomerang effect of the regime change paradigm. Rajapaksa’s tirade against the USA is unnecessary, since how could the Obama Administration that doesn’t think of even changing the South Asia desk would think of a regime change in Sri Lanka, commented political observers.

There were those “who seem to think of regime change as the necessary path to democracy, without seeing the consequences of such action that stare at us today,” Rajapaksa addressing the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association in Colombo was cited by The Hindu, on Wednesday, the day when Mr. Blake arrived in Colombo.

Rajapaksa was indirectly hitting out at the US and its allies, The Hindu further said.

Meanwhile, Xinhua was hinting at Britain for sending a parliamentary team to Sri Lanka, while calling for international investigations of war crimes in the island and while retaining a travel advice to British nationals against visiting the island.

Chronology: