Before the coronation of King Charles, Ranil’s uncle’s newspaper published a news story. It stated that as a request made by Ranil to Commonwealth Secretary General Patricia Scotland, it has been decided to hold a meeting between King Charles and the heads of state of the Commonwealth countries. Before fulfilling Ranil’s request, why did the Commonwealth Secretary General not ask Ranil to hold the local government election respecting the Supreme Court’s decision to give money to hold the local government election, has been puzzling those who cherish the ‘Latimer House Principles’ which is the convention of commonwealth values.
The Commonwealth Secretary General came to Sri Lanka for the first time in 2018 when Ranil Wickremesinghe was the Prime Minister to participate in the Commonwealth Justice Ministers Conference held in Colombo. There she said that ‘A Justice system that is fair is an indispensable precondition for democracy’. Ranil Wickremesinghe as the Prime Minister also listened to that speech in which she said the importance of the justice system for democratic governance.
After that, she meets Ranil at Queen Elizabeth’s funeral. There, she does not raise any question about the way Ranil suppressed the struggle, the detention of the activists under the Terrorism Act. Here, Ranil invites her to come to Sri Lanka’s Independence Day celebration. She came to Sri Lanka regardless of the protests against Sri Lanka’s Independence Day celebrations.
Even when she came to Sri Lanka, Ranil and the government were disrupting the Election Commission’s decision to hold local government elections. But she didn’t say a word about it. Ranil, disrupted the election commission and adjourned the Parliament. When he convened it he mentions in his inaugural speech a meeting between the Commonwealth Secretary General and the youth of Sri Lanka. At Ranil’s request, she arranged a meeting between King Charles and Commonwealth heads of state. It is only after this that Ranil’s uncle’s newspaper mentions it.
There are many parallels between the appointment of Commonwealth Secretary General Patricia Scotland and Ranil becoming President. Hugh Segal, the Canadian former special representative of the Commonwealth, points out that she is unfit for the post of Commonwealth Secretary, as she has given a well-paying brief to the anti-democratic junta government in the Maldives on how to deal with the Commonwealth. After completing her term of office, she contests for the position again in 2022, while several countries including Britain are against her.
She is appointed to the post for the second time due to the inability to hold a Commonwealth Conference as a result of Covid. When several countries voted against her, she managed to regain the position. Countries including Britain are against her. Her time in office has been dogged by allegation of poor leadership, including over a lavish refurbishment of her official lodgings in London, the award of a lucrative contract to a friend and other scandals that have been widely reported in the British media.
Former Commonwealth Secretaries-General have suspended undemocratic countries that do not respect judicial independence. But Patricia Scotland enjoys her position and its privileges and has become the defender of undemocratic heads of state who do not respect judicial independence.