Rajapaksa Visit Dragged Malaysia Government in a Predicament

Rajapakshe and his delegations originally planned to undertake a visit to Italy during the period 65^th SLFP convention scheduled. His delegation members applied for visa. They were told that they are liable to be arrested on arrival in Italy for war crimes. Hence, idea of visiting Italy abandoned. Instead they planned to undertake a trip to Malaysia to participate in the International Conference of Asia Pacific Parliament Members Union (ICAPPMU) from 01 to 04 of September. Other members of the delegation are MPs Dinesh Gunawardena, Lohan Ratwatte and Johnston Fernando. ICAPPMU members are Japan, Republic of Korea, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Mongolia, Republic of the Philippines, Taiwan and Thailand, while Vietnam is an observer. Sri Lanka has never taken part in the ICAPPMU, and no South Asian nation is its member or holds observer status. Observers say that this planned visit is nothing but to avoid the 65th anniversary celebration of the SLFP and the visit by UN chief Ban ki Moon to Sri Lanka.

However, in the event Rajapaksa does make a visit, Tamils in Malaysia are planning to stage protests against him as well as the Malaysian government. This has brought the Malaysian government in a dilemma regarding a planned tour of the country by former Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa, diplomatic sources say.