Decades of corrupted
governance have led Sri Lanka into a devastating Economic crisis. 17 years of
Rajapaksa governance has marked the worst so far.
The Gotabhaya government
has successfully destroyed all forms of relations with various foreign nations
and is now unable to reach out to obtain necessary financial assistance during
a crisis.
Crown Prince of Saudi
Arabia Mohamed Bin Salman has questioned if Sri Lanka has a concrete plan on
the matter. When contacted by the Maldivian Speaker Mohamed Nasheed on
financial assistance for Sri Lanka, the Saudi Crown Prince has said not to
raise the matter until Sri Lanka draws up a concrete plan for resolving its
economic crisis.
The Ruler of the United
Arab Emirates (UAE) His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum has said
he will consider the matter if Sri Lanka can send a list of things that remain
to be sold.
India has questioned why
Sri Lanka needs more aid after providing aid worth millions of Dollars
repeatedly. India extended their hands when China refused to provide a US$ 1.5
billion loan to Sri Lanka, while Japan has openly refused to commence talks
with Sri Lanka.
The government chased away and ended all
dealings with the United States of America and they also have fallen out with
the European Union (EU), where it is unsure if Sri Lanka can even save its GSP+
program.
The
politicization of Sri Lanka's foreign service began after 1977. It has reached
its maximum today. Gotabhaya Rajapaksa came to power in 2019 and declared that
he will be creating a new political culture and standardized foreign service. But
he has broken all records and appointed many of his close allies as
ambassadors. Gotabaya Rajapaksa is the younger brother of Sri Lanka’s Nepotism
king Mahinda Rajapaksa. What else could we expect from a Rajapaksa?
Rajapaksa
brothers always wanted to claim the credit for finishing the LTTE war. In 2012
C. A Candraprem wrote the “Gota’s War” by developing an admiring personality
toward Gotabhaya Rajapaksa. I return, C. A Candraprem was appointed as the
Permanent Representative and Consul General in Geneva in 2021. Also, Sri Lankan
Ambassador to Japan Sanjeev Gunasekara and Ambassador to Abu Dhabi Malraj de
Silva are some of President Gotabhaya's close allies. Every country in the
world appoints highly qualified officials to their missions. But Sri Lankan
ambassadors are political henchmen.
In addition,
most of the higher positions in embassies are filled by children, siblings, and
relatives of a politician, children of those involved in Gotabhaya Rajapaksa's
election campaign. Minister Bandula Gunawardena daughter and MP Thissa
Aththanayaka’s Daughter were appointed in foreign service recently. Likewise,
Sri Lanka had spent $ 59 million in 2019 on foreign service salaries, housing,
and other benefits.
We have exposed Mahinda Rajapaksa’s
Relative and Loyalist, Jaliya Wickramsuriya. he is the Former Sri Lankan
Ambassador to the USA who attempted to misappropriate $332,027during the Sri
Lankan government’s 2013.
Indeed, Sri Lanka must have a
concrete plan. Not only the Saudi Crown prince, but the International Monitory
Fund (IMF)Also stated such requirements in article number four.
Sri Lanka's foreign
service allocation for the year 2021 is 10,985 billion LKR. But what is the
outcome? See the current situation without sufficient forex. Sri Lankan
ambassadors are failed to get support from fuel-producing countries. The
Russian government is a close friend of Sri Lanka. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey
Lavrov is a former Russian Ambassador to Sri Lanka. He holds a Post Graduate
Degree in Sinhala.
The Russian
government agreed to lend fuel to Sri Lanka. But due to Indian opposition, our
politicians were unable to get oil from Russia. Although, India gets fuel from
Russia and sells to us at a higher margin.
Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Russia Prof. Janitha Liyanage Former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Kelaniya. She is a member of Gotabhaya’s “Viyathmaga” movement. Milinda Moragoda is also the Ambassador of India. To what extent was her intervention for the sake of the country? None of them used their diplomatic service properly for the sake of the country.
How Much does Sri Lanka spend on its overseas diplomatic missions?
How do Sri Lanka’s expenses stand in comparison to the expenses
on foreign missions by its South Asian neighbors?
The data shows that overseas mission expenses of a
country, at least in South Asia, are dependent on how large the country is, in
population and in size. The size of the population and the land area also
seemed to determine the number of overseas missions maintained in other
countries. Sri Lanka’s expenses on foreign missions are lower than its larger
South Asian counterparts like India and Pakistan.
The entire world is asking for a concrete plan for the
current issues. Government should cancel all political appointments in foreign
service and deploy new officials with systematic recruitments.
Do we need a foreign service to Sri Lanka? We Leave you to link the dots of this story and build your judgment. Let’s Make a positive social transformation.
By Polito
0 comments:
Post a Comment