Opposition leaders meet foreign diplomats for special discussion 

Opposition leader Sajith Premadasa together with other leaders of the opposition met with foreign diplomats representing 12 countries for a special meeting in Colombo on Wednesday. The meeting was held with the aim of briefing the diplomats on the current situation in Sri Lanka. 

The need to protect the country’s democracy and constitution as well as the conduct of Local Government elections were discussed at length during the meeting. Premadasa during the meeting requested the international community to support Sri Lanka’s rebuilding efforts. 

The meeting was attended by  High Commissioner for the United Kingdom Sarah Hulton, EU Ambassador Denis Chaibi, New Zealand Ambassador Michael Appleton, US Ambassador Julie Chung, Netherlands Deputy Ambassador Anouk Baron, Italian Deputy Head of Mission Francesco Perale, Indian Deputy High Commissioner Vinod Jacob, Japanese Deputy Head of Mission Katsuki Kotaro, Australian Deputy High Commissioner Lalita Kapur, French Deputy Head of Mission Aurélien Maillet, Canadian counsellor Daniel Bloo and Japanese First Secretary Ozaki Takeshi. 

The opposition was represented by opposition leader Sajith Premadasa, Secretary General of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya Ranjith Madduma Bandara, Leader of the Freedom People’s Congress Dullas Alahapperuma and its members Prof. G. L Peiris, Prof. Charitha Herath and Dr. Nalaka Godahewa, Tamil National Alliance spokesman M. A Sumanthiran, Leader of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress Rauff Hakeem, Leader of the Democratic People’s Front Mano Ganesan and others.