October 23 special day for Wigneswaran

Come October 23, it would be a special day for Northern Chief Minister C. V. Wigneswaran for two different reasons. One, he would turn 78 and the other, the Northern Provincial Council (NPC) would be meeting for the very last time since its term expires on October 25. With much criticism of inefficient administration coupled with parochial party politics leading to the poor performance of the council, the council’s term comes to an end without addressing the immediate needs of the war-affected people.

In its 134 Council sittings, at least 450 resolutions that were related to various subjects were passed in the council. One of the last of such resolutions passed last Tuesday was to call on the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to refer Sri Lanka to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for failing to implement UN resolutions and seeking a UN monitored referendum in North and East provinces to know the ‘political preferences of Tamil speaking people’.

The resolution also calls upon all member countries of the UN to impose military sanctions on Sri Lanka and deny entry visa to Sri Lankan military personnel implicated in ‘war crimes’, and explore other avenues, including the application of universal jurisdiction as proposed by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in his annual report of March 2018.

Interestingly enough, locals are of the view that if there is anything that the NPC executed effectively in the past, it would be the record number of resolutions passed within its five-year term, unlike any other Provincial Councils in the country.