Weeratunge/S.P. has done grave disservice to the country not only by jeopardising Sri Lanka’s relationship with her vital neighbour but also by providing the international community with even more ammunition to indict the Sri Lankan state...!!!

Statement by Mangala Samaraweera – Co-Campaign Spokesman, Gen. Sarath Fonseka

Reaction to scandalous interview by President’s Secretary Lalith Weeratunge

2010-01-15

In a frankly scandalous turn of events, Secretary to the President and the country’s top public servant Lalith Weeratunge today made the astonishing proclamation in a newspaper interview that the Sri Lankan government ceased using heavy weapons against the LTTE in April 2009 at the request of the Indian government, in order to help the re-election bid of India’s ruling Congress Party.

Speaking to a reporter of a daily newspaper, Mr. Weeratunge said that New Delhi had requested the complete halt in the offensive against the LTTE because it would adversely affect the Congress chances in the state of Tamil Nadu.

Secretary to the President Weeratunge said that while the President did not want to stop the offensive against the LTTE he had offered the India’s government a compromise – to stop the use of heavy weaponry to “ensure the victory of the Congress Party.”

To quote directly from the interview:

"OK, what do you want me to do to ensure victory of the Congress Party?," the president had asked. They requested that the use of heavy weaponry be stopped... With the halt in use of heavy weaponry, the Congress gained strength and the victory in Tamil Nadu can be attributed to this decision by the government of Sri Lanka."

Lalith Weeratunge’s careless statement has wide ranging repercussions for Sri Lanka to begin with and is a serious indictment on President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s bona fides. To begin with, Weeratunge’s grand act of bravado on behalf of his political master will no doubt cause a great deal of embarrassment for the Congress Party, which is now faced with the situation of the Mahinda Rajapaksa government taking credit for its election victory. India’s main opposition Bharathiya Janatha Party (BJP) has already reacted to Mr. Weeratunge’s statement, expressing their serious concern about what is undoubtedly an open admission that the Sri Lankan government interfered directly in the domestic politics of another sovereign nation.

In the words of Mr. Weeratunge, the Sri Lankan government has been party to an election gimmick that was aimed at boosting the election chances of the Indian National Congress, a political party in India. The President has acquiesced to the explicit request of the incumbent Indian ruling party which itself was contesting the national election. It is shocking that a public servant with as long a career as Mr Weeratunge has failed to realise that the Sri Lankan government’s action of taking a side in the national election of another country is a flagrant violation of all basic norms and principles governing the relations between nation states, and explicitly that of non-interference in the domestic politics of another state. These are simplest principles of international practice and norms of diplomacy. Mr Weeratunge has admitted that the Sri Lankan government headed by his boss President Mahinda Rajapaksa flouted all norms of diplomatic courtesy and actively engaged in assisting a particular regime to take office in India
In addition to being a completely embarrassing and appalling admission by a top ranking bureaucrat the statement is also interesting given the fact that during this election campaign the government has made baseless and widely speculative allegations that the campaign of the main presidential challenger Gen. Sarath Fonseka is manipulated by international vested interests. Mr. Weeratunge’s political masters have bleated constantly about international conspiracies to topple this government, in their bankruptcy for political argument to counter an imminent victory for Gen. Fonseka at the January 26 poll. Today, it has been made clear to every single citizen of this country that the only party engaged in massive scale international conspiracies is none other than that of the present President.

Weeratunge’s admission also lays bare the claim that has now been proven entirely false that the Rajapaksa administration did not bow to the dictates of any foreign powers while fighting the war against the LTTE. It is a clear indication that while our brave troops were called upon to lay down their lives in the ditches of the Wanni, President Rajapaksa and his family who rule this country were very busy playing politics with the government of a foreign land.

Even more seriously Weeratunge’s assertion to the newspaper indicates that despite claims to the contrary, both to the public of this country and to UN Under General Secretary for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes in February 2009, in fact the government had sanctioned the use of heavy weapons until April when the Indian general election was in full swing. There is no doubt that Weeratunge’s admission will bring the UN down even harder on Sri Lanka, and this time around the government will have nobody to blame but themselves. The only ‘international conspiracy’ this time around, will be one of its own making.

There will be no opportunity to lie because Weeratunge’s audio-visual admission has already caused ripples all over the world. This is what comes of public servants making the conscious choice to play politics and campaign for a particular candidate at a crucial election. It reveals how bankrupt the once proud public service of Sri Lanka has become under the watch of the Rajapaksa administration. Weeratunge has also been instrumental in carrying forward this regime’s policy to decimate and dilute Sri Lanka’s professional Foreign Service which has resulted in just this type of diplomatic faux pas, which could have been avoided if the regime was inclined to consult with professionals tasked with the subject of foreign affairs.

Weeratunge has done grave disservice to the country not only by jeopardising Sri Lanka’s relationship with her vital neighbour but also by providing the international community with even more ammunition to indict the Sri Lankan state.

Lanka News Web.com