{"id":208110,"date":"2020-02-15T12:28:10","date_gmt":"2020-02-15T06:58:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=208110"},"modified":"2020-02-15T12:28:10","modified_gmt":"2020-02-15T06:58:10","slug":"lakshman-hulugalle-reappears-from-the-cupboard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/lakshman-hulugalle-reappears-from-the-cupboard\/","title":{"rendered":"Lakshman Hulugalle Reappears From The Cupboard"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Suranimala Umagiliya<\/a> –<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The current government was shaped and built on a well planned marketing strategy\u00a0well before the last Presidential election was called. Standing at the apex of this marketing\u00a0strategy was the promise of appointing persons of integrity and professionalism to\u00a0head State Owned Enterprises and other positions of immense importance. The initial\u00a0appointments were commendable only to be followed by “jobs for the boys”. The euphoria\u00a0that was created has disappeared. Some of the appointments have already come under severe criticism.\u00a0Relatives, in-law’s, outlaws, et al have joined the band wagon.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Lakshman Hulugalle and the President<\/p><\/div>\n

Diplomatic appointments are considered to be plum positions as pay back for\u00a0services rendered at election time. There of course have been exceptions to\u00a0this rule when such political appointees have excelled and even surpassed\u00a0expectations by conducting affairs in an exceptional manner to position\u00a0Sri Lanka well above the diplomatic pecking order vis a vis larger nations.<\/p>\n

Now comes the revelation that Lakshman Hulugalle<\/span><\/strong><\/a>, is being appointed as\u00a0Consul General to Sydney, Australia. Lakshman Hulugalle is no stranger\u00a0to controversy and has had a questionable past. ( Click here<\/span><\/strong><\/a> to read)<\/p>\n

MN Bandara, a senior career Diplomat is the existing Consul General in\u00a0Sydney, Australia. He has over 20 years experience and has served in many\u00a0overseas postings prior to his current billet. Diplomat Bandara has been\u00a0in his post as Consul General for barely four months and is being downgraded\u00a0to the position of Deputy Consul General to accommodate soon to be\u00a0appointed Lakshman Hulugalle.<\/p>\n

Sri Lanka Foreign Relations Ministry operates many Consulates across numerous\u00a0cities in the globe, but would be making history by crafting a position of Deputy Consul\u00a0General for the first time to accommodate a political appointee. And that\u00a0too in someone such as Lakshman Hulugalle. It must be noted that Hulugalle had\u00a0in a prior government under Mahinda Rajapaksa done a short stint in Canberra, Australia\u00a0as Deputy High Commissioner. Australia is an important ally of Sri Lanka and needs to\u00a0be respected by appointing persons of high calibre to represent Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n

A diplomat is the face of his Nation in another country and is the principal agent\u00a0in his or her host country. A person with a questionable past cannot hide his antecedents\u00a0with the current technology wherein facts and figures are available with click. It’s free too.<\/p>\n

The current governments lofty proclamations of appointing professionals have gone\u00a0with the wind and more is expected once the General Election is done and dusted.\u00a0Sri Lankan’s at home and overseas were searching for a messiah to turn the downward\u00a0spiraling tide and built their hopes and aspirations on the shoulders of Gotabaya Rajapaksa\u00a0when they believed in his pre – election pitch thereby appointing him with an overwhelming mandate to be the\u00a0CEO of Sri Lanka for the coming five years. This appears to be a misplaced judgement.<\/p>\n

The more Sri Lankan’s dream, the more remains the same.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[…]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":287,"featured_media":208113,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,2375],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-208110","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-stories"],"yoast_head":"\nLakshman Hulugalle Reappears From The Cupboard - Colombo Telegraph<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/lakshman-hulugalle-reappears-from-the-cupboard\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lakshman Hulugalle Reappears From The Cupboard - Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[…]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/lakshman-hulugalle-reappears-from-the-cupboard\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-02-15T06:58:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Lakshman-Hulugalle.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"960\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Suranimala\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Suranimala\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/lakshman-hulugalle-reappears-from-the-cupboard\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/lakshman-hulugalle-reappears-from-the-cupboard\/\",\"name\":\"Lakshman Hulugalle Reappears From The Cupboard - Colombo Telegraph\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/lakshman-hulugalle-reappears-from-the-cupboard\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/lakshman-hulugalle-reappears-from-the-cupboard\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Lakshman-Hulugalle.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-02-15T06:58:10+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/e600d23e2a883c0847b29bb2f1b4c8bf\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/lakshman-hulugalle-reappears-from-the-cupboard\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/lakshman-hulugalle-reappears-from-the-cupboard\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/lakshman-hulugalle-reappears-from-the-cupboard\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Lakshman-Hulugalle.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Lakshman-Hulugalle.jpg\",\"width\":960,\"height\":640,\"caption\":\"Lakshman Hulugalle and the President\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/lakshman-hulugalle-reappears-from-the-cupboard\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Lakshman Hulugalle Reappears From The Cupboard\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/\",\"name\":\"Colombo Telegraph\",\"description\":\"In journalism truth is a process\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/e600d23e2a883c0847b29bb2f1b4c8bf\",\"name\":\"Suranimala\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/03e45890f805186db8ab55e2172c34e9a7840aa146b59cb1457fe2d3757cf02b?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/03e45890f805186db8ab55e2172c34e9a7840aa146b59cb1457fe2d3757cf02b?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Suranimala\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/author\/suranimalauma\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Lakshman Hulugalle Reappears From The Cupboard - Colombo Telegraph","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/lakshman-hulugalle-reappears-from-the-cupboard\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Lakshman Hulugalle Reappears From The Cupboard - Colombo Telegraph","og_description":"[…]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/lakshman-hulugalle-reappears-from-the-cupboard\/","og_site_name":"Colombo Telegraph","article_published_time":"2020-02-15T06:58:10+00:00","og_image":[{"width":960,"height":640,"url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Lakshman-Hulugalle.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Suranimala","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Suranimala","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/lakshman-hulugalle-reappears-from-the-cupboard\/","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/lakshman-hulugalle-reappears-from-the-cupboard\/","name":"Lakshman Hulugalle Reappears From The Cupboard - Colombo Telegraph","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/lakshman-hulugalle-reappears-from-the-cupboard\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/lakshman-hulugalle-reappears-from-the-cupboard\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Lakshman-Hulugalle.jpg","datePublished":"2020-02-15T06:58:10+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/e600d23e2a883c0847b29bb2f1b4c8bf"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/lakshman-hulugalle-reappears-from-the-cupboard\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/lakshman-hulugalle-reappears-from-the-cupboard\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/lakshman-hulugalle-reappears-from-the-cupboard\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Lakshman-Hulugalle.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Lakshman-Hulugalle.jpg","width":960,"height":640,"caption":"Lakshman Hulugalle and the President"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/lakshman-hulugalle-reappears-from-the-cupboard\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Lakshman Hulugalle Reappears From The Cupboard"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/","name":"Colombo Telegraph","description":"In journalism truth is a process","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/e600d23e2a883c0847b29bb2f1b4c8bf","name":"Suranimala","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/03e45890f805186db8ab55e2172c34e9a7840aa146b59cb1457fe2d3757cf02b?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/03e45890f805186db8ab55e2172c34e9a7840aa146b59cb1457fe2d3757cf02b?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"Suranimala"},"url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/author\/suranimalauma\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Lakshman-Hulugalle.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208110","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/287"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=208110"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208110\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":208115,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208110\/revisions\/208115"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/208113"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=208110"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=208110"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=208110"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}