“JUST A COUNTRY LAWYER”
By Colombo Telegraph –
“He did not complete his Advanced Level (“A levels”) education, instead leaving his job as a clerk at the library at Sri Jayawarendapura University in the Colombo suburbs in 1970 to run for his late father’s seat representing his native Hambantota in Parliament.” the US Embassy Colombo informed Washington.
The Colombo Telegraph found the related leaked cable from the WikiLeak database. The cable is classified as “CONFIDENTIAL” details biographic details on Sri Lanka’s fifth President Percy Mahendra Rajapakse. The cable was written on November 21, 2005 by the US Ambassador to Colombo Jeffrey J. Lunstead.
Under the subheading “JUST A COUNTRY LAWYER” Ambassador Lunstead wrote “ Percy Mahinda Rajapakse was born on November 18, 1945 in Verukatiya, Hambantota District, the third of SLFP founder-member D.A. Rajapakse’s eight children. (An older brother Chamal is also an SLFP MP, while two younger brothers, Godabhaya and Basil, had been living in the U.S. but returned to help with their brother’s campaign for the presidency.) He was educated at Richmond College in the southern district of Galle (where his father reportedly had to engage a Sinhala tutor to boost his son’s proficiency in his native tongue), as well as Nalanda College and Thurstan College in Colombo. He did not complete his Advanced Level (“A levels”) education, instead leaving his job as a clerk at the library at Sri Jayawarendapura University in the Colombo suburbs in 1970 to run for his late father’s seat representing his native Hambantota in Parliament. When he won at the age of 24, he became the youngest MP in Sri Lanka’s history to enter Parliament–a record that still stands. Taking advantage of a decision by the then-Justice Minister to allow MPs to enter law school–whether or not they had the necessary educational qualifications–Rajapakse graduated from Sri Lanka Law College in 1974.”
Below we give the relevant part of the confidential cable;
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 COLOMBO 001981 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/20/2015 TAGS: PINR PGOV CE SUBJECT: SRI LANKA: BIOGRAPHIC INFORMATION ON PRESIDENT MAHINDA RAJAPAKSE REF: A. COLOMBO 1853 ¶B. COLOMBO 1975 Classified By: AMB. JEFFREY J. LUNSTEAD. REASON: 1.4 (B,D). ----------------- MEET THE NEW BOSS ------------------ ¶1. (SBU) Percy Mahendra (aka "Mahinda") Rajapakse was sworn in as Sri Lanka's fifth President on November 18, 2005--his 60th birthday. Like his predecessor and rival Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, Rajapakse has the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) in his blood, with his father, D.A. Rajapakse, joining Chandrika's father S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike to form the SLFP in 1951, and an uncle serving as a Cabinet Minister in the 1970 government of Sirimavo Bandaranaike, Chandrika's mother. With his sterling SLFP credentials and with a brother and cousin also involved in politics--and with three young sons possibly contemplating political careers as well--Rajapakse is widely considered to represent the only real challenge to the Bandaranaike family's dynastic grip on the party. The left-of-center economic policies endorsed in his campaign manifesto, as well as the quasi-nationalist sentiment in his anti-federalist stand on the peace process (Ref A), may reflect a conscious effort by Rajapakse to move the party away from the centrist positions espoused by Kumaratunga over her 11 years as president and back toward its original Sinhalese socialist roots. Rajapakse has a reputation for astutely outflanking domestic political rivals--his longevity within the corrosively internecine SLFP bears indirect testimony to this talent--but his experience on the international stage is limited. Although clearly indebted to the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) for his narrow victory at the November 17 presidential polls, Rajapakse will likely try to limit the former Marxists' influence in his administration. How successful he is in doing so will be one of the most important tests of his legendary political savvy. --------------------- SOUTHERN STRENGTH: ALL POLITICS IS LOCAL ---------------------- ¶2. (SBU) Hailing from a politically prominent family from the southeastern district of Hambantota, Rajapakse is the first Sri Lankan president not from Colombo or its environs. (Late President Ranasinghe Premadasa's family is from the south, but he himself grew up in and was elected from Colombo.) Rajapakse identifies strongly with his rural southern Buddhist base (which, incidentally, is the same base eyed by the JVP), even though his family's wealth, education and political prominence obviously distinguish him from the typical Sinhalese farmer. With southern Sinhalese voters, the admiration appears to be mutual; Rajapakse won handy majorities in the six southern districts of Kalutara, Galle, Ratnapura, Moneragala, Kurunegala, Hambantota and Matara. ----------------------- JUST A COUNTRY LAWYER ----------------------- ¶3. (U) Percy Mahinda Rajapakse was born on November 18, 1945 in Verukatiya, Hambantota District, the third of SLFP founder-member D.A. Rajapakse's eight children. (An older brother Chamal is also an SLFP MP, while two younger brothers, Godabhaya and Basil, had been living in the U.S. but returned to help with their brother's campaign for the presidency.) He was educated at Richmond College in the southern district of Galle (where his father reportedly had to engage a Sinhala tutor to boost his son's proficiency in his native tongue), as well as Nalanda College and Thurstan College in Colombo. He did not complete his Advanced Level ("A levels") education, instead leaving his job as a clerk at the library at Sri Jayawarendapura University in the Colombo suburbs in 1970 to run for his late father's seat representing his native Hambantota in Parliament. When he won at the age of 24, he became the youngest MP in Sri Lanka's history to enter Parliament--a record that still stands. Taking advantage of a decision by the then-Justice Minister to allow MPs to enter law school--whether or not they had the necessary educational qualifications--Rajapakse graduated from Sri Lanka Law College in 1974. LUNSTEAD
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Orpheus / April 4, 2015
So what! There were many leaders who did not complete AL. There are lots of high court judges who did not complete AL to go to Medical faculty, Engineering or science. Our new president didn’t either. That is why he was working as a buying officer for a village coop and then as a Gramasevaka in a remote village for a very poor salary.So what! If you complete Sri Lankan AL you could go to a Sri Lankan Uni those days. If you have just simple passes or 3 AL’s British Universities will take you, but not Sri Lankan. American Universities will take u when you pass TOFAL and SAT Maths(OL Maths). Main thing is the leadership ability, Common Sense and the IQ. George W Bush had 130 IQ, poor Marilyn Monroe had 165. SHe was cleverer than GW Bush(Junior). She was did not have the leadership qualities(just the opposite- “Candle in the Wind”). I had a sister who had very good HSc, then a Degree, Post graduate Diploma and then a Masters(from Australia). She was not a clever person.
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