A senior Sri Lankan official claimed that The Elders, a group of senior luminaries founded by Nelson Mandela in 2007, have “become senile” or “deliberately twisted the facts about Sri Lanka” in a statement that lashed out at the organisation this week.
Sugeeswara Senadhira, the Director of International Media at the Presidential Secretariat in Colombo, was responding to an earlier statement that referenced Sri Lanka when the group spoke on US President Donald Trump’s refusal to “adhere to the protocols and processes governing the transition of power”.
Mary Robinson, Chair of The Elders and former President of Ireland, said, “it is shocking to have to raise concerns about US democratic processes as The Elders have previously commented on volatile and undemocratic situations in states such as Kenya, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe”.
“Robinsosn is the latest ‘democratic champion’ who was gullible enough to swallow hook, line and sinker all the fabricated stories spun by separatist Diaspora and their paid NGO lobbies,” remarked Senadhira in comments sent to the Daily Mirror for publication.
“God only knows why she thought fit to drag Sri Lanka into Trump’s refusal to concede defeat,” he added. “Either ‘The Elders’ has become senile or those who briefed Ms Robinson deliberately twisted the facts about Sri Lanka’s rich democratic traditions of peaceful transfer of power at every election since independence (sic).”
Last week, Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom also hit back at The Elders calling the reference to Sri Lanka “inaccurate and unacceptable”.
The Elders, an organisation made of independent global leaders has frequently commented in Sri Lanka in the past.
Last month, Freedom House highlighted the plight of democracy around the world during the coronavirus pandemic, stating that “Sri Lanka’s experience illustrates the global trends”.
