Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath stunned Parliament, declaring that he refused to waste public money chasing Geneva votes because past governments knew they would lose, yet still spent lavishly while resolutions collapsed.
Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath delivered a fiery statement in Parliament, criticizing the wasteful spending of past governments on Geneva battles that he argued were doomed from the start. Addressing lawmakers during a special session on Sri Lanka’s latest experience at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), Vijitha bluntly declared: “I did not spend money to seek votes because I knew the Geneva resolution would never win.”
The Minister explained that since 2010, when the Sri Lankan government itself submitted a resolution that passed, every resolution that followed has either been defeated at the vote or withdrawn under pressure. He reminded the House that it was in 2010, in the immediate aftermath of the war, that the government managed to pass a resolution in its own favor. But thereafter, he said, no anti-Sri Lankan resolution submitted to the Human Rights Council succeeded when put to a vote.
Vijitha emphasized that Western and European countries have traditionally voted as a bloc, making it extremely difficult for Sri Lanka or any other nation to overcome their collective stance. Despite this reality, he argued, successive governments continued to spend vast sums of public money lobbying for support, sending delegations of ministers and MPs across the world in futile attempts to sway votes.
According to the Foreign Minister, the number of countries openly supporting Sri Lanka in Geneva has been shrinking with each passing year. At the same time, he noted an increase in the number of nations abstaining or declining to declare a position, signaling growing international hesitation toward Sri Lanka’s stance.
Herath strongly criticized the wasteful tradition of turning every Geneva resolution into an expensive diplomatic circus. He alleged that public funds were squandered on overseas trips, lobbying missions, and propaganda campaigns, despite the clear trend of diminishing support. He contrasted his approach, refusing to allocate money for such efforts, with that of his predecessors who, in his view, chose theatrics over substance.
The Minister further argued that forcing votes on these resolutions backfired, as it internationalized the issue further and deprived Sri Lanka of the chance to address the concerns domestically. “By demanding votes under circumstances where defeat was certain, the chance to resolve these matters locally was lost,” he said.
Herath’s statement comes amid renewed debate over how Sri Lanka should handle its obligations and accusations at the UNHRC. His comments underline a shift in strategy from spending heavily on foreign lobbying to focusing on internal accountability and local mechanisms.
The Foreign Minister’s stance signals a controversial yet pragmatic approach — one that distances his government from the practices of the past and highlights a willingness to admit that Geneva resolutions are unlikely to be won with financial muscle. Instead, he suggested, Sri Lanka should confront its issues domestically, strengthening sovereignty rather than wasting resources on battles that cannot be won abroad.
