{"id":2309,"date":"2011-12-02T11:15:10","date_gmt":"2011-12-02T11:15:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/colombotelegraph.com\/?p=2309"},"modified":"2012-05-07T21:08:23","modified_gmt":"2012-05-07T21:08:23","slug":"wikileaks-mahinda-rajapaksa-is-not-so-bad-mangala-to-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikileaks-mahinda-rajapaksa-is-not-so-bad-mangala-to-us\/","title":{"rendered":"WikiLeaks: Mahinda Rajapaksa Is \u201cNot So Bad\u201d \u2013 Mangala To US"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By Colombo Telegraph &#8211;<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cSamaraweera had no faith in the Rajapaksas to address meaningfully the questions of national reconciliation and accountability, despite their great importance for the health and future of Sri Lanka. Mahinda Rajapaksa was \u2018not so bad,\u2019 but his family ( that is, brothers Gorabhaya and Basil) had made him a prisoner of the worst racist and chauvinist elements in society.\u201d the US Embassy Colombo Informed Washington.<\/strong><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_2312\" style=\"width: 260px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/mangala-colombotelegraph.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2312\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2312\" title=\"mangala - colombotelegraph\" src=\"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/mangala-colombotelegraph.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"250\" height=\"369\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/mangala-colombotelegraph.jpg 250w, https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/mangala-colombotelegraph-203x300.jpg 203w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-2312\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mangala - Sri Lankans were \u2018too laid-back,\u2019 and the Buddhist belief in karma would make them accept even a stolen election as what was \u2018meant to be.\u2019<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The Colombo Telegraph found the leaked cable from the WikiLeak database. The cable classified as \u201cCONFIDENTIAL\u201d \u00a0recounts details of a meeting \u00a0Ambassador Patricia A. Butenis has had with General Sarath Fonseka\u2019s chief campaign strategist Mangala Samaraweera on January 6, 2010.<\/p>\n<p>Ambassador Butenis wrote \u201c Samaraweera said that in the event of a Fonseka victory, the general would not be content to assume a figure-head role after the abolition of the executive presidency in line with opposition campaign promises. He had made it clear that he wanted to remain chairman of the security council and wanted to oversee the re-organization of the armed forces. Samaraweera said he was not concerned, however, about the general reneging on his promises about abolition of the executive presidency and establishing a military dictatorship once in office.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe also expressed concern about Fonseka\u2019s personal safety, noting that he knew Mahinda Rajapaksa intimately and would not put it past him to facilitate an assassination attempt on Fonseka if the campaign increasingly went in the general\u2019s favour. Given Rajapaksa\u2019s penchant for high drama and theatrics, he also thought the president was not above shooting himself then publishing photos of his wounds and \u00a0blood to gain sympathy as a victim of alleged opposition violence. If these or other such scenarios led the opposition to believe the election as stolen,\u00a0 Samaraweera said they would strongly object and the JVP would likely take to the streets. But he did not believe this reaction push Sri Lanka to its own Orange Revolution, as Ukraine. Sri Lankans were \u2018too laid-back,\u2019 and the Buddhist belief in karma would make them accept even a stolen election as what was \u2018meant to be.\u2019&#8221; the ambassador further wrote.<\/p>\n<p>Below we give\u00a0a part of the confidential cable;<\/p>\n<pre>VZCZCXRO3099\r\nOO RUEHAG RUEHROV RUEHSL RUEHSR\r\nDE RUEHLM #0008\/01 0061154\r\nZNY CCCCC ZZH\r\nO 061154Z JAN 10 ZDK\r\nFM AMEMBASSY COLOMBO\r\nTO RUEHC\/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 1075\r\nINFO RUCNMEM\/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE PRIORITY\r\nRUEHKA\/AMEMBASSY DHAKA PRIORITY 2233\r\nRUEHIL\/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD PRIORITY 9255\r\nRUEHKT\/AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU PRIORITY 7510\r\nRUEHLO\/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 5350\r\nRUEHNE\/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI PRIORITY 3666\r\nRUEHNY\/AMEMBASSY OSLO PRIORITY 5275\r\nRUEHOT\/AMEMBASSY OTTAWA PRIORITY 0136\r\nRUEHSM\/AMEMBASSY STOCKHOLM PRIORITY 0808\r\nRUEHKO\/AMEMBASSY TOKYO PRIORITY 4397\r\nRUEHCG\/AMCONSUL CHENNAI PRIORITY 9817\r\nRUEHBI\/AMCONSUL MUMBAI PRIORITY 7106\r\nRUEHON\/AMCONSUL TORONTO PRIORITY 0131\r\nRHEFDIA\/DIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY\r\nRUEHGV\/USMISSION GENEVA PRIORITY 3973\r\nRHHMUNA\/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI PRIORITY\r\nRUEHBS\/USEU BRUSSELS PRIORITY\r\nRHEHAAA\/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY\r\nRUEKJCS\/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY\r\nC O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 COLOMBO 000008\r\n\r\nSIPDIS\r\n\r\nDEPARTMENT FOR SCA\/INSB\r\n\r\nE.O. 12958: DECL: 01\/06\/2020\r\nTAGS: <a href=\"http:\/\/wikileaks.org\/tag\/PGOV_0.html\">PGOV<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/wikileaks.org\/tag\/PREL_0.html\">PREL<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/wikileaks.org\/tag\/PREF_0.html\">PREF<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/wikileaks.org\/tag\/PHUM_0.html\">PHUM<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/wikileaks.org\/tag\/PTER_0.html\">PTER<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/wikileaks.org\/tag\/EAID_0.html\">EAID<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/wikileaks.org\/tag\/MOPS_0.html\">MOPS<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/wikileaks.org\/tag\/CE_0.html\">CE<\/a>\r\nSUBJECT: CAMPAIGN STRATEGIST SAYS FONSEKA WANTS TRUTH AND\r\nRECONCILIATION COMMISSION\r\n\r\nCOLOMBO 00000008  001.8 OF 003\r\n\r\nClassified By: AMBASSADOR PATRICIA A. BUTENIS.  REASONS: 1.4 (B, D)\r\n\r\n<a id=\"par1\" href=\"http:\/\/wikileaks.org\/cable\/2010\/01\/10COLOMBO8.html#par1\">\u00b6<\/a>1. (C) SUMMARY: In a meeting with Ambassador, chief\r\nopposition campaign strategist and one-time Rajapaksa\r\nconfidante Mangala Samaraweera said he was \"pleasantly\r\nsurprised\" that General Fonseka believed accountability was\r\nimportant for Sri Lanka, that he agreed with Samaraweera that\r\nthe country needed a truth and reconciliation process, and\r\nthat he had ordered the campaign to start working out the\r\nlogistics of a truth and reconciliation commission.\r\nSamaraweera was \"increasingly optimistic\" about the Fonseka\r\ncampaign, noting opposition polls showing the general's\r\nnumbers increasing from 43 percent just after nomination in\r\nmid-December to 52 percent now.  But Samaraweera was worried\r\nabout rising violence of pro-government thugs and suggested\r\nthe president was not above ordering Fonseka's assassination\r\nor even wounding himself to gain public sympathy.  If Fonseka\r\nwon, the general had made clear he wanted to remain chairman\r\nof the security council and wanted to oversee the\r\nre-organization of the armed forces.  Samaraweera was not\r\nconcerned about the general reneging on his promises about\r\nabolition of the executive presidency and establishing a\r\nmilitary dictatorship.  Indeed, Samaraweera argued it was the\r\nFonseka campaign that had brought questions of democracy and\r\nminority rights to the center of the presidential race,\r\nsupplanting the war triumphalism and budding \"national\r\nsocialism\" of the Rajapaksas.  END SUMMARY.\r\n\r\nRAJAPAKSA'S BRAIN ABANDONS HIM\r\n------------------------------\r\n\r\n<a id=\"par2\" href=\"http:\/\/wikileaks.org\/cable\/2010\/01\/10COLOMBO8.html#par2\">\u00b6<\/a>2. (C) If General Fonseka was the heart of the Sri Lankan war\r\neffort that \"betrayed\" the president, Mangala Samaraweera was\r\nthe Rajapaksa campaign brain that also deserted him.  Having\r\na long history with the president's SLFP, Samaraweera was a\r\nclose confidante of President Chandrika Kumaratunga, the\r\narchitect of Rajapaksa's successful 2005 presidential\r\ncampaign, and the GSL foreign minister during the first year\r\nand a half of the Rajapaksa government.  He lost his position\r\nas FM to Bogollagama when the latter crossed over from the\r\nUNP, and Samaraweera soon broke with the Rajapaksas to form\r\nhis own party, the SLFP (Mahajana Wing).  Samaraweera is now\r\nthe strategic architect of the campaign of joint opposition\r\ncandidate Fonseka.\r\n\r\nCAMPAIGN VIOLENCE, FONSEKA SECURITY BIGGEST WORRIES\r\n--------------------------------------------- ------\r\n\r\n<a id=\"par3\" href=\"http:\/\/wikileaks.org\/cable\/2010\/01\/10COLOMBO8.html#par3\">\u00b6<\/a>3. (C) Samaraweera said he was \"increasingly optimistic\"\r\nabout the Fonseka campaign, noting opposition polls showing\r\nthe general's numbers increasing from 43 percent just after\r\nnomination in mid-December to 52 percent now.  He claimed\r\nthat polls by GSL domestic intelligence were similarly\r\nshowing a 51-Fonseka\/49 Rajapaksa breakdown.  This was most\r\nsurprising in the north and east, where the opposition had\r\nnot expected to do so well.  At the same time, however,\r\nSamaraweera said he was worried about campaign violence and\r\nintimidation -- that is, attacks by pro-government thugs on\r\nopposition rallies and offices -- which were quickly\r\nescalating, including in his home district of Mahara in the\r\nsouth.  He expected the situation to get worse as election\r\nday approached, though he thought the violence was\r\nback-firing on the Rajapaksas by turning people against them.\r\n\r\n<a id=\"par4\" href=\"http:\/\/wikileaks.org\/cable\/2010\/01\/10COLOMBO8.html#par4\">\u00b6<\/a>4. (C) He also expressed concern about Fonseka's personal\r\nsafety, noting that he knew Mahinda Rajapaksa intimately and\r\nwould not put it past him to facilitate an assassination\r\nattempt on Fonseka if the campaign increasingly went in the\r\ngeneral's favor.  Given Rajapaksa's penchant for high drama\r\n\r\nCOLOMBO 00000008  002.4 OF 003\r\n\r\nand theatrics, he also thought the president was not above\r\nshooting himself then publishing photos of his wounds and\r\nblood to gain sympathy as a victim of alleged opposition\r\nviolence.  If these or other such scenarios led the\r\nopposition to believe the election was stolen, Samaraweera\r\nsaid they would object strongly and the JVP would likely take\r\nto the streets.  But he did not believe this reaction would\r\npush Sri Lanka to its own Orange Revolution, as in Ukraine.\r\nSri Lankans were \"too laid-back,\" and the Buddhist belief in\r\nkarma would make them accept even a stolen election as what\r\nwas \"meant to be.\"\r\n\r\nIF FONSEKA WON\r\n--------------\r\n\r\n<a id=\"par5\" href=\"http:\/\/wikileaks.org\/cable\/2010\/01\/10COLOMBO8.html#par5\">\u00b6<\/a>5. (C) Samaraweera said that in the event of a Fonseka\r\nvictory, the general would not be content to assume a\r\nfigure-head role after the abolition of the executive\r\npresidency in line with opposition campaign promises.  He had\r\nmade clear that he wanted to remain chairman of the security\r\ncouncil and wanted to oversee the re-organization of the\r\narmed forces.  Samaraweera said he was not concerned,\r\nhowever, about the general reneging on his promises about\r\nabolition of the executive presidency and establishing a\r\nmilitary dictatorship once in office.  The UNP and JVP\r\nalready had been working hard against the Rajapaksa\r\ndictatorship, and the whole thrust of the Fonseka campaign\r\nwas against the \"national socialism\" that raised its ugly\r\nhead at the end of the war.  Samaraweera claimed that Fonseka\r\nwas chosen by the opposition as one of the original war icons\r\npurposefully to arrest this development and, indeed, the\r\ncampaign had brought questions of democracy and minority\r\nrights to the center of the presidential race, supplanting\r\nthe war triumphalism the Rajapaksas preferred.\r\n\r\nRECONCILIATION AND ACCOUNTABILITY\r\n---------------------------------\r\n\r\n<a id=\"par6\" href=\"http:\/\/wikileaks.org\/cable\/2010\/01\/10COLOMBO8.html#par6\">\u00b6<\/a>6. (C) Samaraweera had no faith in the Rajapaksas to address\r\nmeaningfully the questions of national reconciliation and\r\naccountability, despite their great importance for the health\r\nand future of Sri Lanka.  Mahinda Rajapaksa was \"not so bad,\"\r\nbut his family (that is, brothers Gotabhaya and Basil) had\r\nmade him a prisoner of the worst racist and chauvinist\r\nelements in society.  Mahinda himself also was firmly opposed\r\nto any devolution of power and had argued in closed\r\ngovernment meetings that he wanted Sri Lanka to be a\r\n\"unitary\" not just a \"united\" country.\r\n\r\n<a id=\"par7\" href=\"http:\/\/wikileaks.org\/cable\/2010\/01\/10COLOMBO8.html#par7\">\u00b6<\/a>7. (C) Fonseka, on the other hand, had made reconciliation\r\nand accountability centerpieces of his campaign.  Samaraweera\r\nnoted the 10-point plan the general had just signed with the\r\nTNA leader Sampanthan on political rights and economic\r\nre-development of the war-affected areas.  He also said\r\nFonseka had been \"surprising me with his liberalism\" and\r\nnoted that the general himself had come up with the idea of\r\nensuring freedom of religious belief under a new regime.  On\r\nthe very sensitive issue of accountability, Samaraweera again\r\nsaid he was \"pleasantly surprised\" that Fonseka believed\r\naccountability was important for Sri Lanka, agreed with\r\nSamaraweera that the country needed a truth and\r\nreconciliation process, like the South Africans, and had\r\nordered the campaign to start working out the logistics of a\r\ntruth and reconciliation commission.  Samaraweera thought\r\nthat if Fonseka won, the Rajapaksas would be marginalized in\r\nthe SLFP and the SLFP mainstream would want to work with the\r\nnew government on reconciliation and accountability.<\/pre>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p> [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":2315,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[53,1,27],"tags":[1315,1143,1139,1161,1134,1135,1547,1548,1206,1257,1263],"class_list":["post-2309","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-global-politics","category-news","category-wikileaks","tag--transitional-justice-and-reconciliation","tag-authoritarianism","tag-democracy","tag-foreign-affairs","tag-human-rights","tag-mahinda-rajapakse","tag-managala-samaraweera","tag-orange-revolution","tag-presidential-election-2010","tag-sarath-fonseka-in-wikileaks","tag-us-embassy-cables-on-sri-lanka"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.3 - 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