{"id":2842,"date":"2011-12-19T05:20:00","date_gmt":"2011-12-19T05:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/colombotelegraph.com\/?p=2842"},"modified":"2011-12-19T05:20:00","modified_gmt":"2011-12-19T05:20:00","slug":"wikileaks-karu-said-he-and-his-colleagues-will-be-named-ministers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikileaks-karu-said-he-and-his-colleagues-will-be-named-ministers\/","title":{"rendered":"WikiLeaks: Karu said he and his colleagues will be named ministers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By Colombo Telegraph-<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cJayasuriya told the Ambassador that he is leading a group of 17 reformists within the UNP and hopes he and some of his colleagues will be named ministers when President Rajapaksa announces a new cabinet, probably after a January 19 SLFP executive committee meeting. He noted that the UNP members who accept government posts will retain their party affiliation.\u201dthe US Ambassador Robert O. Blake informed Washington eleven days before Karu Jayasuriya\u00a0 joined Mahinda Rajapaksa government with a group of UNP parliamentarians.<\/strong><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_2846\" style=\"width: 360px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/karu-2-colombotelegraph.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2846\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2846\" title=\"ENTER YOUR HEADLINE HERE\" src=\"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/karu-2-colombotelegraph.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"350\" height=\"467\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/karu-2-colombotelegraph.jpg 350w, https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/karu-2-colombotelegraph-224x300.jpg 224w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-2846\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Karu was confident the majority of UNP members would support the government within parliament, and together, the two parties could convince the bulk of voters to accept a devolution proposal to bring a peaceful end to Sri Lanka&#039;s ethnic conflict<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The Colombo Telegraph found the related leaked cable from the WikiLeak database. The cable is classified as \u201cCONFIDENTIAL\u201d and written on January 17, 2007 by the US Ambassador to Colombo Robert O. Blake.<\/p>\n<p>Ambassador wrote &#8220;Jayasuriya pointed out that the MoU so far has produced few tangible results, other than assuring UNP support for the government&#8217;s budget. He criticized party leader Ranil Wickremesinghe for signing the MoU without insisting on an implementing mechanism. He posited that even if Wickremesinghe abrogates the MoU, it will have no material effect. Jayasuriya assessed that most UNP members &#8211; in or out of the government &#8211; will consider the greater national interest and support a strong devolution proposal if the government presents it in parliament, whether or not the MoU is in effect.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAccording to Jayasuriya, taking ministries will give the UNP a voice in governance and permit genuine cooperation on the peace process. He was confident the majority of UNP members would support the government within parliament, and together, the two parties could convince the bulk of voters to accept a devolution proposal to bring a peaceful end to Sri Lanka&#8217;s ethnic conflict.\u201dambassador Blake further wrote<\/p>\n<p>Under the subheading &#8220;Need for Internal Reform&#8221; ambassador he wrote\u00a0 \u201cJayasuriya believed that UNP members are seeking government posts out of a sense of frustration with their own party. He noted that since 1994, when Wickremesinghe came to power, the party has lost 14 out of 16 elections and lost much of its support in agrarian districts. He added that in 1995, Wickremesinghe implemented a new regulation that makes it almost impossible to oust the party leader, who appoints members to all key party positions, including the only working group that might remove him from office. Despite Wickremesinghe&#8217;s tight grip on the party and his predicted displeasure with &#8220;cross-overs&#8221; who join government, Jayasuriya said, he was confident UNP members taking cabinet posts will not hinder efforts to revive the peace process.\u201d .<\/p>\n<p>Read the\u00a0cable below\u00a0for further details;<\/p>\n<pre>C O N F I D E N T I A L COLOMBO 000099\n\nSIPDIS\n\nSIPDIS\n\nE.O. 12958: DECL: 01\/17\/2017\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\/PHUM_0.html\">PHUM<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/wikileaks.org\/tag\/PTER_0.html\">PTER<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/wikileaks.org\/tag\/CE_0.html\">CE<\/a>\nSUBJECT: SRI LANKA: OPPOSITION WILL COOPERATE WITH\nGOVERNMENT ON PEACE PROCESS REGARDLESS OF INTERNAL RIFTS\n\nClassified By: AMBASSADOR ROBERT O. BLAKE, JR. FOR REASONS 1.4(b) and (\nd)\n\n<a id=\"par1\" href=\"http:\/\/wikileaks.org\/cable\/2007\/01\/07COLOMBO99.html#par1\">\u00b6<\/a>1. (C) The Ambassador met with Karu Jayasuriya, former deputy\nleader of the opposition United National Party (UNP), on\nJanuary 17 to discuss whether the likely \"cross-over\" of UNP\nmembers to accept cabinet slots in the government would\ndamage the MoU between the UNP and governing Sri Lanka\nFreedom Party (SLFP).  Jayasuriya pointed out that the MoU so\nfar has produced few tangible results, other than assuring\nUNP support for the government's budget.  He criticized party\nleader Ranil Wickremesinghe for signing the MoU without\ninsisting on an implementing mechanism.  He posited that even\nif Wickremesinghe abrogates the MoU, it will have no material\neffect.  Jayasuriya assessed that most UNP members - in or\nout of the government - will consider the greater national\ninterest and support a strong devolution proposal if the\ngovernment presents it in parliament, whether or not the MoU\nis in effect.\n\nNeed for Internal Reform\n-------------------------\n\n<a id=\"par2\" href=\"http:\/\/wikileaks.org\/cable\/2007\/01\/07COLOMBO99.html#par2\">\u00b6<\/a>2. (C) Jayasuriya told the Ambassador that he is leading a\ngroup of 17 reformists within the UNP and hopes he and some\nof his colleagues will be named ministers when President\nRajapaksa announces a new cabinet, probably after a January\n19 SLFP executive committee meeting.  He noted that the UNP\nmembers who accept government posts will retain their party\naffiliation.  According to Jayasuriya, taking ministries will\ngive the UNP a voice in governance and permit genuine\ncooperation on the peace process.  He was confident the\nmajority of UNP members would support the government within\nparliament, and together, the two parties could convince the\nbulk of voters to accept a devolution proposal to bring a\npeaceful end to Sri Lanka's ethnic conflict.\n\n<a id=\"par3\" href=\"http:\/\/wikileaks.org\/cable\/2007\/01\/07COLOMBO99.html#par3\">\u00b6<\/a>3. (C) Jayasuriya believed that UNP members are seeking\ngovernment posts out of a sense of frustration with their own\nparty.  He noted that since 1994, when Wickremesinghe came to\npower, the party has lost 14 out of 16 elections and lost\nmuch of its support in agrarian districts.  He added that in\n1995, Wickremesinghe implemented a new regulation that makes\nit almost impossible to oust the party leader, who appoints\nmembers to all key party positions, including the only\nworking group that might remove him from office.  Despite\nWickremesinghe's tight grip on the party and his predicted\ndispleasure with \"cross-overs\" who join government,\nJayasuriya said, he was confident UNP members taking cabinet\nposts will not hinder efforts to revive the peace process.\n\n<a id=\"par4\" href=\"http:\/\/wikileaks.org\/cable\/2007\/01\/07COLOMBO99.html#par4\">\u00b6<\/a>4. (C) COMMENT: While many analysts greeted the MoU between\nthe UNP and SLFP as an important foundation for building a\n\"southern consensus,\" Jayasuriya is correct that it has\nyielded little to date.  While Wickremesinghe will balk at\nthe president's \"raid\" of UNP members, the majority of UNP\nparliamentarians have voter bases that strongly support a\nnegotiated settlement to the ethnic conflict.  Jayasuriya is\nright that most UNP parliamentarians will likely support a\nstrong devolution proposal in parliament, not simply in the\nnational interest, but also in order to cater to their voters.\nBLAKE<\/pre>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p> [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":2846,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,63,27],"tags":[1139,1635,1636,1298,1638,1639,1647,1263],"class_list":["post-2842","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-politics-2","category-wikileaks","tag-democracy","tag-karu-jayasuriya-crossover","tag-ranil-wickremesinghe-leadership","tag-sri-lankans-in-wikileaks","tag-unp-dissidents","tag-unp-internal-crisis","tag-unp-leadership-struggle","tag-us-embassy-cables-on-sri-lanka"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.3 - 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