President Maithripala Sirisena has expressed an opinion on the final accountability mechanism and both the President and the Prime Minister would look at all the available alternatives before making a final decision which will be acceptable to the majority of all stakeholders, Foreign Affairs Minister Managala Samaraweera said on Wednesday (July 6). Minister Samaraweera was speaking to the media after his return to the country from attending the 32nd session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. He arrived in the country on Friday. The minister said on the envisioned Court Accountability Mechanism that it will be a type that every stakeholder can agree. “Finally,” he said, “We know that President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe will look at all the options available and take a decision which will be agreeable to majority of the stakeholders.” “The Consultations are continuing regarding the Truth Seeking process,” the minister said,” Once the truth seeking process is arrived at we will move on to the area of Accountability .” “The government is setting up needed institutions to achieve Accountability. The minister said they have already finalized establishment of a Permanent Office on Missing Persons. This is due to be debated in Parliament in the following month,” he said. “The government thinks reconciliation is the most important factor for development. This is one of the reasons why the government decided to co-sponsor the resolution,” he stated. “Foreign expertise was sought in the past as well to look into the assassination of Prime Minister S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike. The President only opposed to the involvement of foreign judges. There are many opinions. A majority including the President expressed sentiments against foreign judges while the TNA and others support the involvement of foreign judges. But, we think there are several alternatives between these two. There is no need to worry. In the final outcome, if this is to work, this must be a credible alternative not an attempt to satisfy ourselves. I’m confident that we can come up with such a mechanism once the consultations are over,” he said.
