Inaugural NDC symposium: Focus on contemporary security issues
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s two years in office – a period of unprecedented political turmoil, uncertainty and further deterioration of Parliament – should be thoroughly examined. In fact, the UNP, with the support of the then President Maithripala Sirisena, paved the way for Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s candidature, at the 2019 presidential election, by blocking Mahinda Rajapaksa’s path to contest another term. The yahapalana government brought in the 19th Amendment, in 2015,limiting the presidential terms to two, to deprive Mahinda Rajapaksa the opportunity to contest the presidency again. The 19th Amendment also prevented dual and foreign citizens from contesting presidential and parliamentary polls, under any circumstances. Gotabaya Rajapaksa, whose entry into active politics had been facilitated by civil society organizations, ‘Viyathmaga’ and ‘Eliya’, gave up his US citizenship, to enter the fray.
By Shamindra Ferdinando
The Defence Ministry couldn’t have chosen a better person than Lalith Chandrakumar Weeratunga (72), former Principal Advisor to ousted President Gotabaya Rajapaksa (73), to discuss contemporary security issues and related matters with the military, the police and the academia.
Weeratunga will deliver the keynote address at the inaugural National Defence College (NDC) symposium 2022 at the auditorium of the Faculty of Graduate Studies, Sir John Kotelawela Defence University, on August 17. Secretary to the Ministry of Defence, General (ret.) Kamal Gunaratne, will be the Chief Guest.
UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe, who received the parliamentary endorsement as the eighth President (to complete the remainder of Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s five-year term), re-appointed the battle-tested Gajaba Regiment veteran Gunaratne as the Secretary, Ministry of Defence. Perhaps, it was the first re-appointment of a Secretary to a Ministry, made by the new President, amidst unprecedented turmoil.
Colonel Nalin Herath, Officiating Director, Media, in a statement, dated August 03, stated: “The event is exclusively designed to promote defence research culture and create an environment to explore research ideas, related to the discipline of national security and strategic studies.”
As the Principal Advisor to the ex-President, Weeratunga, who had joined the Sri Lanka Administrative Service (SLAS), in 1977, can speak authoritatively of the entire gamut of developments since the last presidential election in Nov 2019, thereby helping the public understand what really went wrong, if he cares.
The NDC has allocated Weeratunga approximately 30 mts for his speech, to be delivered after Gen. Gunaratne addressed the gathering. The former General Officer, Commanding the 53 Division that had been credited with killing LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, on the morning of May 19, 2009, too, can help throw light on the issues that brought the curtain down on President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, in a worldwide shocking situation. Gunaratne is one of those ex-military personnel who campaigned for Gotabaya Rajapaksa, in the run-up to the November 2019 election, from his retirement.
As one of the key members of Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s team, Weeratunga, embroiled in controversial ‘sil redi’ case during the previous Rajapaksa administration, had been involved in the overall operation, at the highest level, and was seen almost at every meeting chaired by the ex-President at the Presidential Secretariat, the primary target of the public protest movement. Weeratunga had been always by the ex-President’s side, during the high profile ‘Gama samaga pilisandarak’ project, meant to provide relief to remote villages. Weeratunga accompanied the then President at the inauguration of the project, on September 25, 2020, at Welanwita, Haldamulla.
In spite of clear warning signs, the political leadership allowed the situation to deteriorate and absolutely no effort was made to address the issues at hand. Instead, the government engaged in a propaganda offensive meant to suppress the ugly truth. Unfortunately, even after public protests erupted, the government lacked the political and financial will to undertake reforms required to bring relief to the suffering and increasingly irate public.
Having blocked the Presidential Secretariat (old Parliament) in early April, protesters overran it on July 09, soon after they brought the President’s House under their control.
Contemporary security issues here cannot be discussed without taking into consideration how overall negligence, on the part of the administration, caused such rapid deterioration of the national economy, probably with a mysterious foreign hand, from behind the scene, activating the protest movement with unlimited funds and required intelligence, especially to keep its nerve centre at Galle Face going as an overt non-partisan and peaceful movement. It was more like a copy book case of what was done to oust Libyan Leader Muammar Gaddafi, by Western powers, with the help of their local quislings. The mistake Gaddafi made was to attempt a legitimate counter strike amidst overwhelming odds stacked against him by Western powers, who plotted his ouster. He stood no chance and he was lynched by Western-hired mobs, joined by ignorant locals, who fell for Western propaganda, in public, no sooner he was captured, despite him being such a benevolent leader to his people. Ousted Iraqi Leader Saddam Hussein was at least given a show trial and hanged, despite a majority of the members of the Western coalition, that invaded Iraq, abhorring capital punishment.
The well-orchestrated supposed public anger exploded at the private residence of the then President, at Pangiriwatta, Mirihana, on March 31. Wartime Secretary to the Ministry of Defence, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, had no other option but flee from the country and resign just 14 weeks after the first violent protest, without even a single bullet being fired against the violent mobs, whether on March 31, May 09 or July 09, whom interested parties painted as legitimate peaceful protesters, especially by the holy Western media.
Having served Mahinda Rajapaksa during his short tenure as the Prime Minister (April 2004 to Nov 2005) and President (November 2005 to January 2015), Weeratunga was then appointed as Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s Principal Advisor, a position that carried immense weight. Weeratunga once played the role of a journalist when he interviewed President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, in late April 2020. The interview dealt with the economic recovery, while battling Covid-19. By then, a section of the government knew the country was facing a rocky road ahead. Weeratunga certainly can share his experience, pertinent to the issues under discussion, at the NDC symposium.
IMF warning ignored
At the time of Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s triumph over Sajith Premadasa, Sri Lanka was already on the verge of experiencing a balance of payments crisis, mainly caused by the collapse of the vital tourist industry, in the aftermath of a series of suicide attacks by Muslim extremists, on Easter Sunday, 2019. Presidential Secretary, Dr. P.B. Jayasundera, a veteran central Banker and a long time Treasury hand, who advised the then President on economic matters, couldn’t have been unaware of the impending crisis. It would be pertinent to ask whether the ex-President consulted Weeratunga on matters relating to the economy, as well.
Appearing before the parliamentary watchdog, Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) on May 25, Central Bank Governor, Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe, didn’t mince his words when he explained the circumstances that led to the economic crash. The outspoken official described the political leadership’s response to the impending crisis. The then Premier Mahinda Rajapaksa cum the Finance Minister, though been briefed, in March-April 2020, on the developing situation of unprecedented magnitude, had foolishly chosen to ignore the dire warning.
The COPE was told how the IMF warned the then Governor of the Central Bank, Prof. W.D. Lakshman, and Treasury Secretary, S. R. Attygalle, of Sri Lanka’s inability to procure loans, unless the country undertook debt restructuring immediately. The IMF also asked the government not to go ahead with a massive tax cut that deprived revenue to the tune of Rs 500-600 bn.
Massive tax cut must have been granted with good intention to encourage new investments by the private sector that benefited from it. However, the unexpected coronavirus pandemic, that affected economies worldwide, should have alerted the then government to immediately reverse it.
May be all this happened because they relied too heavily on soothsayers’ advice as happened to the previous Rajapaksa administration. How are we to know whether soothsayers, too, were on foreign payrolls?
Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe declared that the IMF warning hadn’t been heeded at all. Dr. Weerasinghe stated that the relevant decisions should have been made by the Premier, in his capacity as the Finance Minister, and the entire Cabinet of Ministers. The IMF has made its position clear after having asserted Sri Lanka lacked debt sustainability.
Perhaps, the COPE should also take into consideration that the ruinous tax cut had been included in Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s much publicized election manifesto, thereby implicating every person either elected on the SLPP ticket or appointed on the SLPP National List. Weeratunga can discuss what really prompted the Rajapaksa administration to go ahead with a tax cut, in spite of economic difficulties caused by (i) sharp drop in foreign remittances due to Sri Lankan working, overseas, returning home, due to Covid-19 eruption (ii) Decrease in tourism arrivals as a result of Covid-19 hitting rich countries, as well, and the 2019 Easter Sunday massacre and (iii) drop in exports.
The Russia-Ukraine war, that erupted in late February, 2022, caused sharp increases in prices of crude oil, wheat and other commodities. Sri Lanka suffered badly.
Ali Sabry, PC, in early June, disclosed how those who had advised President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, on economic matters, deceived the leader and the Cabinet-of-Ministers. The reference clearly alluded to Dr. PBJ, Secretary to the Treasury S.R. Attygalle and CBSL Governors, Prof. W.A. Lakshman (November 2019-September 2021) and Ajith Nivard Cabraal (September 2021-March 2022).
The prohibition of chemical fertiliser imports, in May 2021, and the subsequent ban on agro chemicals, devastated the agriculture sector. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa never recovered from the utterly reckless decision on the fertiliser and agro-chemical ban. Instead of reversing the decision, the government pressed ahead with this project to substitute with organic fertiliser, overnight. The circumstances, leading to Sri Lanka having to pay USD 6.7 mn, in December, 2021, to a rejected Chinese carbonic fertiliser load, and accusations pertaining to the alleged interventions made by Dr. PBJ and Gamini Senarath, the then Secretary to Premier Mahinda Rajapaksa, in the import of fertiliser, from India and China, respectively, brought pressure on the government (both senior officials denied allegations made against them.)
Prez opens NDC
Lalith Weeratunga, Principal Advisor to the then President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, explains the status of high profile govt. project to meet the Covid-19 threat
The then President Gotabaya Rajapaksa inaugurated the NDC, located at the Mumtaz Mahal building (former UNP Headquarters), that had been under the purview of the Ministry of Defence, at Galle Road, Colombo 03, on November 11, 2021, at a time his government was grappling with the menacing economic issues. Defence Secretary Gen. (ret.) Gunaratne and Principal Advisor Weeratunga were among those present on that occasion. The NDC has been dubbed the highest seat of learning on national security and strategy.
In spite of warnings issued by the Opposition, the government proceeded with its activities. Warnings were ignored. Did those responsible for national security ever make an attempt to warn of the impending crisis the country was heading into? Political stability depends on responsible management of the economy. The pathetic performance, no doubt, came under extraordinary circumstances, caused by the Easter Sunday attack of 2019, followed by the pandemic and the Ukraine conflict delivering body blows to the economy. Those who had been waiting to undermine the Rajapaksa presidency, swung into action. The high profile destabilization project should be examined, taking into consideration the Swiss plot against President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, within a week after his triumph at the November 2019 presidential election. Things that happened to Gotabaya Presidency was more like a Greek tragedy with faults in his character compounding his fate.
The Swiss government made a despicable bid to trap President Gotabaya Rajapaksa by falsely implicating security authorities, in the staged abduction of a Swiss Embassy employee, Garnier Francis, former Siriyalatha Perera. The Swiss ended up with egg on their face and quietly gave up attempts to hold the government responsible for abduction and rape of an Embassy employee. The President thwarted an attempt by the Swiss to evacuate the Embassy employee in an air ambulance, which they had on standby at the BIA tarmac, no sooner the fake incident was reported. Had that happened, they would have been able to make highly damaging accusations stick from abroad. We, being a poor third world country, the Swiss got away with another dastardly act like how they always get away with handling blood money, even when their leading banks are exposed for some of those outright criminal acts.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa appointed retired Major General Amal Karunasekera as the first Commandant of the NDC. The President had to flee the country, within 10 months after the inauguration of the institute. Former infantryman and one-time Director of the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI), Karunasekera, were among those arrested by the CID in connection with the abduction and assault on Keith Noyahr in 2008. Karunasekera was taken in April 2018 just a couple of weeks after his retirement having served the Army for over 35 year in an unblemished military career.
Ranil Wickremesinghe, during whose premiership (January 2015-November 2019) the CID investigated the Noyahr abduction, is the President cum Minister in charge of the defence portfolio. At the time President Gotabaya Rajapaksa inaugurated the NDC, Wickremesinghe completed just six months as the UNP’s only National List Member of Parliament. A toxic combination of economic, political and social issues, some definitely caused by foreign actors, and their local quislings, forced President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee the country, thereby upended the political set up. The ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) has managed to somewhat consolidate its position by engineering Wickremesinghe’s victory at the July 20 presidential contest in Parliament. In spite of having just one seat (Wickremesinghe’s vote) in Parliament, the UNP leader secured 133 votes thanks to the majority SLPP support, despite its internal splits, that led to its dissidents fielding their own candidate, with the backing of the SJB.
Obviously, Wickremesinghe is the SLPP’s man, though lawmaker Mahinda Rajapaksa, for some strange reason, declared soon after the July 20 vote that the party backed the defeated SLPP dissident candidate Dullas Alahapperuma, the Matara District MP obtained 82 votes.
Clear re-assessment needed
The NDC can undertake real re-assessment of challenges faced by the country against the backdrop of major international controversy over Sri Lanka being forced to withhold permission for the docking of a high-tech Chinese research vessel at the strategic Hambantota port. New Delhi raised concerns over the Chinese move. New Delhi has been deeply upset over the then Premier Ranil Wickremesinghe’s government handing over the Hambantota port to China, in 2017 on a 99-year lease. The then Ports and Shipping Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe, who signed on behalf of Sri Lanka, has been rewarded with a plum diplomatic post as Sri Lanka’s top envoy in Washington.
The Chinese space and satellite tracking research vessel ‘Yuan Wang 5’ was scheduled to dock at the Hambantota Port from August 11 to 17. China received Sri Lanka’s permission on July 12 in the wake of the protest movement seizing control of the President’s House, Presidential Secretariat and the PM’s Office.
The forthcoming NDC sessions can be utilized for this purpose. The former Principal Advisor to the exiled President can certainly help in this endeavor. The sessions include a presentation on ‘post-independence foreign policy of Sri Lanka’ by Brigadier W.A.S.R. Wijedasa and SSP E.M.G. Seram and ‘National security concerns of Sri Lanka amidst current geo-strategic perspectives and economic crisis: challenges and vulnerabilities’ by Brigadiers, C.S. Munasinghe and R.K.N. C. Jayawardene.
New Delhi’s strategy, implemented in line with the overall Quad policy, has placed bankrupt Sri Lanka in an unenviable situation. Quad widely considered as Asia’s NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) consists of the US, Australia, Japan and India.
China, embroiled in a deadly ‘battle’ with the US, may not accept Sri Lanka’s stand on the research vessel. In fact, China may consider Sri Lanka action ‘hostile’ and respond accordingly. That would definitely jeopardize ongoing efforts at debt-restructuring in line with the understanding reached with the IMF.
