{"id":192202,"date":"2018-07-21T02:50:12","date_gmt":"2018-07-20T21:20:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=192202"},"modified":"2018-07-26T23:50:41","modified_gmt":"2018-07-26T18:20:41","slug":"ian-paisley-jrs-luxury-sri-lankan-escapade-on-hypocrisy-foreign-affairs-mismanagement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/ian-paisley-jrs-luxury-sri-lankan-escapade-on-hypocrisy-foreign-affairs-mismanagement\/","title":{"rendered":"Ian Paisley Jr\u2019s Luxury Sri Lankan Escapade: On Hypocrisy & Foreign Affairs Mismanagement"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Chamindra Weerawardhana<\/a>\u00a0–<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Dr. Chamindra Weerawardhana<\/p><\/div>\n

On 19th<\/sup> July 2018, the session at the Westminster House of Commons was a sight that said a lot about the polities and politics of both Northern Ireland and Sri Lanka. Ian Paisley Jr MP, offspring of the late Dr Ian Paisley Sr MP<\/a> [later Lord Bannside] and the Baroness Paisley of St George<\/a>, delivered a \u2018personal\u2019, if not mea culpa<\/i> \u2018statement<\/a>\u2019, which concerned two luxury holidays in Sri Lanka, fully paid for by the Government of Sri Lanka, for himself and his family. In Paisley\u2019s own admission, \u201cit is with profound personal regret and deep personal embarrassment\u201d that he made his statement [the full text of the statement is available here<\/a>].\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Current Backdrop: Northern Ireland, the <\/b>Stormont stalemate<\/b><\/a> and the DUP \u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

To those new to the politics of Northern Ireland, Paisley Jr is the Westminster MP for North Antrim, one of the 18 Westminster constituencies in the Province. At the 2017 UK General Election, the results in Northern Ireland very clearly displayed the emergence of what can be termed a largely \u2018two-party\u2019 system in the province\u2019s polity, with 10 of the 18 seats going Paisley\u2019s Democratic Unionist Party<\/a> (DUP \u2013 founded by our protagonist\u2019s father, the late Ian Paisley Sr), the strongest Unionist voice, and 7 seats to Sinn F\u00e9in<\/a>, the strongest Irish Nationalist voice (Sinn F\u00e9in MPs practice a policy of abstentionism<\/a>, and do not take their seats at the Westminster House of Commons).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Northern Ireland Executive has been in a months-long stalemate over disagreements between DUP and SF<\/a>. Although the Good Friday Agreement\u2019s institutions and elite cooperation-focused political makeover was intended at collaborative governance by and representation of all political hues in the province, it eventually led to the somewhat\u00a0 <\/span>unexpected outcome of strengthening the strongest advocates of Unionism and Irish nationalism, a development that some analysts describe as the rise of \u2018tribune<\/a>\u2019 parties. Currently, the DUP\u2019s ten MPs hold a significant position in the Conservative Party\u2019s balance of power. Reaching an accord with the DUP<\/a>, to the tune of allocating \u00a3 1 billion of extra public funds to Northern Ireland over the next two years<\/a>, was Prime Minister Theresa May\u2019s main strategy to form a \u2018minority government\u2019 and remain in power after the 2017 general election resulted in a hung parliament<\/a>. Consequently, the DUP currently gets more national British media coverage than usual, and is in the limelight on a constant basis.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In hot water for a sunny holiday?\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

To the ardent Unionist and leading DUP figure, things certainly do not look good<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The House of Commons Committee on Standards (HCCS)has produced a damning report<\/a> of Paisley Jr\u2019s Sri Lankan escapade. There is a likelihood that he could be forced to stand down and face a by-election.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On the 19th<\/sup> of July 2018, and as per standard practice, the recommendation of the HCCS to suspend Mr Paisley Jr went before the House, in the form of a motion moved by the Leader of the House.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A Commons vote then suspended<\/a> Paisley Jr from the House of Commons for a period of seven weeks, the longest suspension issued for a sitting MP in 15\u00a0 <\/span>years. This ban is also estimated to be one of the longest bans issued by the House of Commons in 70 years<\/a>. Given the DUP\u2019s current arrangements with the British Conservatives, the suspension [to begin on 4th<\/sup> September 2018], affects Theresa May\u2019s parliamentary majority by one vote, which risks affecting key Brexit votes to come in the autumn of 2018. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As a consequence of legislative changes made in 2015, this ban risks triggering a petition calling for Mr Paisley to stand down [often referred to as a \u2018Recall Petition\u2019]. If 10% of the electorate signs the said petition within a duration of six weeks, a by-election should be called in Paisley\u2019s constituency of North Antrim<\/a>.\u00a0\"\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Calls for such a recall petition concerning Paisley are already under way in full swing<\/a> in Northern Ireland. A few examples from social media, which demonstrate how the Paisley Jr suspension has affected the political sphere of Northern Ireland, appear below:\u00a0\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Some journalists have also zoomed in on Paisley Jr\u2019s hypocrisy and inclination to provide false information, which have been part and parcel of \u2018PaisleyGate\u2019 from the beginning.\"\"<\/a>\u00a0\"\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The trips: Lankan hospitality in style?\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

The two 2013 trips in question cost the Government of Sri Lanka up to a staggering 100,000 GBP. The first trip, according to the HCCS Report, took place from 30 March to 5 April 2013. The second trip was in July 2013, and in a strange coincidence (!), Paisley Jr. apparently had great trouble recalling the exact dates of the visit. According the HCCS Report,\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He [Paisley Jr] told me that he had been in his constituency on 6 April 2013 and that his diary entry for that date confirmed this.35 He said he \u201cdid not disagree\u201d that he had returned home sometime early on 5 April 2013. Mr Paisley said again that he was less clear about the dates of his second visit to Sri Lanka in 2013. He said he departed on 1 July and his diary was \u201cblank\u201d for that week. From memory, the itinerary had \u201cchopped and changed<\/i>\u201d but he was home [in Northern Ireland] for the 12 July parades. He said his diary showed he had been in New York City on 13 July and he would not have arrived home in Northern Ireland on 11 or 12 July and then departed the same day for New York. He said he would have returned from Sri Lanka on either 8 or 9 July 2013. Mr Paisley said that \u201cFor a whole host of other reasons I try not to tie down my scheduling in such a precise manner as I do not want too many people getting hold of my daily engagements and movements for security reasons and that is even more pronounced when I travel abroad where I have even less control over such matters as personal security.<\/i>\u201d (p. 22).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The discreet luxury trips came to public attention when The Telegraph<\/i> published an article on 8 September 2017, emphatically entitled \u201cThe MP, the \u00a3100k gifts and the Brexit trade deal: Questions over Ian Paisley Jr\u2019s register of interests after Sri Lanka trip<\/a>\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Some sections of this article are worth quoting:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Documents seen by the\u00a0Telegraph show that Mr Paisley took his wife and four children to the country.<\/i><\/p>\n

They flew business class, stayed in the finest hotels and were provided with a chauffeur-driven Mercedes, all paid for by the Sri Lankan government.<\/i><\/p>\n

During discussions with [Sri Lankan] officials, he offered to help the state broker an oil deal, saying he had \u201csignificant arrangements with national oil suppliers\u201d in Oman and Nigeria.<\/i><\/p>\n

When the investigation began, Paisley Jr. was quite reluctant to produce accurate information. To quote the HCCS Report:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On 30 October 2017 Mr Paisley wrote to the Commissioner.30 He said that he believed he had left for Sri Lanka on 29 March 2013 and returned seven days later. He said that he believed the value of the flights was approximately \u00a35,000, quoting economy flights on Sri Lanka Airlines at approximately \u00a3800 per person. Mr Paisley said that the dates for his July trip were \u201cless certain<\/i>\u201d. He believed that he had travelled out on 2 July and was back in the UK by 8 July 2013. He estimated the flight costs at approximately \u00a34,000. Mr Paisley said his visits had been to enable him \u201cto gain a wider knowledge of the political and social situation on the ground in Sri Lanka\u201d although he had no doubt had some free time. His family had accompanied him but had not attended his official meetings. (p. 20).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Evidence that the HCCS obtained from The Telegraph is quoted in full below. It is of importance to expose in detail the sheer lavishness of these (futile) expenses, incurred on Sri Lankan tax payers\u2019 money:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2026an itinerary for a visit from 30 March to 5 April 2013, which had been authorised by the Deputy Chief of Protocol and bore the stamp \u201cMinistry of Foreign Affairs\u00a0 <\/span>Minister\u2019s Secretariat<\/i>\u201d;\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

– the itinerary included \u201cair transportation from London-Colombo-London\u201d; a Mercedes and a luxury van for the same dates; hotel accommodation from 30 March to 5 April; and \u201cground transportation\u201d. The cost of the flights was noted to be 8,000 US dollars;\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n