You forgot something, Mr. Blake!
There is hardly any difference between an aid-dependent country and a house of ill fame. Both have to leave their doors ajar so that the rich and powerful could enter at will. They have to shut up and entertain the unspeakable moneybags so that they will be paid for the services rendered, whether they like it or not. Else, they run the risk of losing the easy dosh of shame and being branded sinners and stoned in public.
When States are reduced to the level of women of easy virtue, the first thing they lose is their sovereignty and dignity. They end up being, as a local saying goes, bananas without the skin pecked by every crow––ambassadorial or otherwise. They have no alternative but to grin and bear it.
It is reported that US Ambassador Robert Blake met the Elections Commissioner Dayananda Dissanayake on Wednesday. What they discussed has not been made public but it is said that the former stressed the importance of conducting free and fair elections in the North Central and Sabaragamuwa provinces. The Foreign Ministry tells us that their meeting has led to no breach of protocol. So be it! After all, this is not the first time such an unusual meeting has taken place.
In 2005, we had President Mahinda Rajapaksa visiting the then Indian High Commissioner Nirupama Rao at her residence for a meeting! Earlier, an Indian High Commissioner had kept the late President J. R. Jayewardene under his diplomatic thumb. J. N. Dixit was his name. A vice president of the World Bank once treated President Chandrika Kumaratunga to a long lecture on good governance at an aid meeting which the latter attended by throwing protocol to the wind.
Read more,
http://www.island.lk/2008/08/22/editorial.html
When States are reduced to the level of women of easy virtue, the first thing they lose is their sovereignty and dignity. They end up being, as a local saying goes, bananas without the skin pecked by every crow––ambassadorial or otherwise. They have no alternative but to grin and bear it.
It is reported that US Ambassador Robert Blake met the Elections Commissioner Dayananda Dissanayake on Wednesday. What they discussed has not been made public but it is said that the former stressed the importance of conducting free and fair elections in the North Central and Sabaragamuwa provinces. The Foreign Ministry tells us that their meeting has led to no breach of protocol. So be it! After all, this is not the first time such an unusual meeting has taken place.
In 2005, we had President Mahinda Rajapaksa visiting the then Indian High Commissioner Nirupama Rao at her residence for a meeting! Earlier, an Indian High Commissioner had kept the late President J. R. Jayewardene under his diplomatic thumb. J. N. Dixit was his name. A vice president of the World Bank once treated President Chandrika Kumaratunga to a long lecture on good governance at an aid meeting which the latter attended by throwing protocol to the wind.
Read more,
http://www.island.lk/2008/08/22/editorial.html
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