{"id":215724,"date":"2021-01-07T04:23:10","date_gmt":"2021-01-06T22:53:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=215724"},"modified":"2021-01-07T04:23:10","modified_gmt":"2021-01-06T22:53:10","slug":"sajith-slaps-voters-activists-in-the-face-appoints-rajapaksa-ideologue-dayan-j-as-international-relations-advisor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/sajith-slaps-voters-activists-in-the-face-appoints-rajapaksa-ideologue-dayan-j-as-international-relations-advisor\/","title":{"rendered":"Sajith Slaps Voters, Activists In The Face: Appoints Rajapaksa Ideologue Dayan J As International Relations Advisor"},"content":{"rendered":"

Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa<\/a><\/span> delivered a resounding slap in the face to civil society representatives and the Tamil constituency that got behind his presidential candidacy in 2019, when he appointed former Rajapaksa Ambassador Dr\u00a0Dayan Jayatilleka<\/a><\/span> as his international affairs observer on Tuesday (5).<\/p>\n

The SJB released a photo soon after the appointment was made, where Jayatilleka was shaking hands with Sajith Premadasa, while SJB MPs Eran Wickremaratne<\/a><\/span> and Dr Harsha de Silva<\/a><\/span> stood beside them. Both opposition legislators are advocates of a liberal economic policy and reform antithetical to Jayatilleka\u2019s positions on same issues. Ironically Jayatilleka has also been a vocal critic of Sri Lanka\u2019s Ministry of Foreign Affairs when Dr Harsha De Silva was Deputy Foreign Minister.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Jayatilleka, a staunch Rajapaksa supporter for years, famously backed the failed coup attempt by President Maithripala Sirisena and the Rajapaksa family in October 2018.<\/p>\n

In an email<\/a><\/span> advising former President Mahinda Rajapaksa how to execute the coup, Jayatilleka charged that \u201creactionary forces\u201d \u2013 namely the legitimate Government led by the UNF in which Sajith Premadasa was a minister \u2013 should never be allowed to consolidate and sustain a parallel power centre\/command centre at Temple Trees.<\/p>\n

At the time, political observers noted that Jayatilleka who was then Ambassador to Moscow, appointed by President Sirisena, was practically advocating the removal of PM Wickremesinghe from Temple Trees by forcible means, turning the constitutional manoeuvre into a hard coup. Jayatilleka admitted to writing the email and stood by his advice to the illegal prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa about forcing the coup through despite its patent illegality, as ruled by Sri Lanka\u2019s highest courts.<\/p>\n

But Jayatilleka\u2019s dalliance with the Rajapaksa cabal and ideology has been a prolonged affair. In February 2015, Jayatilleka took up the mantle of chief theologian of the \u2018Mahinda Sulanga\u00a0movement\u2019 and repeatedly undermined the will of 6.2 million voters who defeated President Rajapaksa in the January 8, 2015 because they were not Sinhalese nationalist votes.<\/p>\n