As I said to Parliament on 15 September, the
Sri Lankan parliamentary elections in August were the freest, fairest and least violent in living memory. The
Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (
Mr Cameron) and The
Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) congratulated the
Government of Sri Lanka on the peaceful elections and reiterated that the United Kingdom remains a steadfast partner on reconciliation and peace. The August elections in Sri Lanka have resulted in a government committed to reconciliation and peace building. President Sirisena set out his government’s priorities to Parliament on 1 September. These included constitutional reforms; abolishing the Executive Presidency; electoral reform; strengthening institutions; and reforming the public sector and welfare systems. While we recognise that more needs to be done there has been some early progress with constitutional reforms strengthening democratic checks and balances, some land previously under military use being returned and military Governors in the north and east being replaced by civilians. Within this context, on 16 September I welcomed the publication of the Office of the
High Commissioner of
Human Rights report into allegations of serious violations and abuses of human rights in Sri Lanka.