The Hon. R.M. Ranjith Madduma Bandara
R.M. Ranjith Madduma Bandara said the absence of Middle Eastern ambassadors at an Iftar ceremony held at the President’s Office reflected their reaction to the Government’s foreign policy. Referring to past approaches under J.R. Jayewardene and Sirimavo Bandaranaike, he urged the President to take the lead in resolving the resulting diplomatic crisis and correcting foreign policy.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Hon. Deputy Speaker, these days there are Iftar ceremonies. One was held at the President’s Office; you may also have attended. Not a single ambassador from a Middle Eastern country participated. That is how Middle Eastern countries are reacting to the Government’s foreign policy.
¶ 02 Looking at our history, as Hon. Kabir Hashim said regarding President J.R. Jayewardene’s approach and Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike’s non-aligned approach, today other countries assess this Government, its leader, and its policies in such a way that it is evident when not even one representative from a single Middle Eastern country came to the Iftar ceremony. Therefore, we tell the President today: take the lead to resolve this crisis and correct your foreign policy.
¶ 03 Thank you very much.
Provenance
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- Hansard, Friday, 20 March 2026 ·No. 23396 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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/lk/speeches/8424
Cite as: The Hon. R.M. Ranjith Madduma Bandara. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 20 March 2026. No. 23396. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/8424