Is Sarath Fonseka’s Opportunism In Joining The Maithri- Ranil Coalition Ahead Of The UN backed Special Courts Probe-Showing ?
Posted on February 5th, 2016
In Retrospect By Sarath Kumara
Feb. 4th, 2016
Is Former Army Chief Sarath Fonseka showing the opportunism he has long since been suspected of by many, in joining the ruling coalition Wednesday as it appears to be a a multi pronged attempt and perhaps a ploy towards clearing the way for him to secure a key position in the government ahead of special courts to investigate alleged war crimes as well as avoiding related liabilities that could be directed at him?
There may be depositions from him to attempt avoiding any liability towards the accusations levelled at the Armed Forces under his command but the fact of the matter is, regardless of his attempts to be exonerated of liability, he still was the Army Chief who continues to insist that it was under him alone that the war against the LTTE terrorists was won and somewhat naive on his part which involves a glaring double standard based on the statements he has made to the media if he beleives that by finger pointing at Fmr. Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and using the excuse that he was away in China at the time the conflict ended he could shrug off the heavy responsibility that it was under his leadership that the alleged attrocities were committed.
Former army chief Sarath Fonseka (left) with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe at Temple Trees.
It appears to be a pathetic revelation of his true nature of attempting to survive as an innocent party when the true facts stare him right between the eyes!
Obviously there will be perks attached to his joining the UNP as he will accomplish many objectives he was not able to previously as a politician- a failed one at that who has apparently turned his back on former President Mahinda Rajapaksa where everything points to a conniving, and calculating individual who would stop at nothing towards his self centered goals and ambits.
As reported in the latest bulletin on the issue of Fonseka signing an agreement with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe at Temple Trees to support the United National Front for Good Governance, there was no immediate word on what portfolio would be offered to him although it is quite likely a substantial and important one will handed to him. With no pun intended it just might be fair to say “hopefully it will be no tiger by the tail! where the end result could be getting chewed up!”
When the bulletin continues as quoted that: “The decorated soldier told reporters that he supported any investigation into allegations that at least 40,000 Tamil civilians were killed by government forces in the final stages of the war that ended in May 2009. Is he trying to suggest that he was ignorant of the fact or simply admitting he was an unwilling accessory?
“I have always said that I am ready to face any investigation,” Fonseka said. “We have nothing to hide. I feel that the allegations must be investigated. I have always maintained that.” And does he realise that such bravado could easily backfire on him as most of the Armed Forces offensive was indeed under his command !
Fosenka’s entry into the government also coincides with the visit to the Island by UN human rights chief Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein which adds further to the speculation that the timing seems quite uncanny and no simple coincidence!
Fonseka maintains that no attrocities were committed under his command, but in the final days of the war he was away in China and the then defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa had been giving direct orders to field commanders, which further points to his credibilities towards passing the buck and confusing the issue further
He fell out with the then president Mahinda Rajapakse over sharing credit for the spectacular military success in crushing Tamil Tiger rebels by May 2009 and ending a 37-year-old separatist war but today his rhetoric seems veiled in innuendo leaving many to beleive it must be Fonseka that needs investigation regardless of the glory bequeathed upon him and all the felicitations as it is he who must bear the brunt of all the attrocities if they can be proven as being exactly that.
Soon after defeating the Tiger rebels who were known for their trade-mark suicide bombings, Fonseka mounted a challenge at Rajapakse in a failed election bid in January 2010 which was defiitely no show of gratitude towards his former Commander in Chief as no loyalties seemed to be showing. Simply ingratitude.
Fonseka was arrested two weeks after losing the election and was jailed for two and a half years following a controversial court martial and a criminal prosecution in civilian courts.
After getting out of jail, he supported Maithripala Sirisena, toppled Rajapakse at his third attempt at the presidency in January 2015 and has since been made Sri Lanka’s first Field Marshall by the new government.
Fonseka’s fledgling Democratic Party failed to secure any seats at the August parliamentary elections, but officials said he was likely to be nominated to a vacancy in the legislature in exchange for his support to the ruling party” end quote
Apparently the Maithri- Ranil coalition seems to have just laid bare their vulnerabilities in these patronage like concessions afforded Fonseka who seems to be a dangerous and desperate individual for any party to be consorting with where the last laugh just might belong to fmr. President Rajapaksa said to be having a hearty chuckle at the goings on .
February 5th, 2016 at 6:19 am
How about the opportunists during MR – all the thugs in UNP who joined him and basically derailed his presidency
February 5th, 2016 at 10:10 am
”Fonseka who seems to be a dangerous and desperate individual for any party to be consorting….”
This is absolutely the case. This man was responsible for bringing down the respect and dignity of all Military Generals both before and after him.
He simply is a misfit weirdo who went by an imaginary ”raaja yoga” and tried to kick out his boss for giving him a job, that too by pulling out of retirement.
His name will undoubtedly be mentioned among those most ungrateful traitors Sri Lanka ever had, due to his attempts to bring down GR by using the white flag incident.
February 5th, 2016 at 2:58 pm
Sena,
UNP TROJAN HORSE entered MR’s cabinet and RUINED him from within.
e.g Rajitha, SB, Hack-him, Karu and MANY others.
February 6th, 2016 at 7:54 am
Sarath Fonseka did a marvellous job in leading ground forces to defeat the brutal Tamil terrorists and I remember how he used to even announce a daily count of terrorists killed in battle. As he says, during the last stages of the war he was in Sri Lanka leading the army to Victory.
He is supposed to be a vicious man and a shameless man and this is the danger.
Without any self respect he has joined the very people who ridiculed and condemned the armed forces when they were engaged in a life and death battle with the terrorists. One cannot imagine how he could join ranks with the UNP leaders, who criticised his army but did not have the courage to condemn LTTE atrocities. Can anyone respect a man like this, if he creates any false stories against the leaders who backed him during the war and created the necessary conditions to liberate the nation from the grip of Tiger terrorists.
He could probably be still a target of the unforgiving Tigers. We know what the Tigers did to similar targets like Janaka Perera and Lucky Algama, two great army generals, who too after retirement joined the UNP lead by the current UNP leaders. They were campaigning at elections on UNP platforms, on separate occasions, both occasions without the attendance of UNP leaders who are now in power, when suicide bombers attacked and killed them.
February 6th, 2016 at 11:49 am
Sooriarachi has told it like it is. Honest to a fault explicitly accurate and exposed the real Sarath Fonseka for who he really is.
How could the Nation respect such a duplicitous and directionless opportunist given his overall track record.
His victories have been sullied through his indiscretions which are many and are truly worthless from many perspectives. It mus be borne in mind that it took a collective team of clever strategists to defeat the terrorist tiger outfit where he was only a small part of but tries to claim overall credit which is a load of tosh!
February 6th, 2016 at 1:11 pm
Question:
Why did the UNP, under RW leadership, always side with the LTTE ? Strange that a person who sided with a ruthless terrorist group is the Exec PM of Lanka today.
Mahinda Rajapakse and Family and the Armed Forces who got rid of the LTTE terrorists are being harassed over an year now; and MR’s son Yoshitha is in jail oon trumped up charges …..
MS who was part of the earlier MR govt is now Prez, working with the UNP !
Why has Lanka fallen to such a idiotic and sorry situation ?
February 6th, 2016 at 3:33 pm
Janaka Perera should have become the PRESIDENT of SL.
IF he survived that bomb attack he would have contested in 2010 instead of SF and WON. He was EXTREMELY popular. Some villagers in the NORTH CENTRAL AREA used to worship him for saving them from Tamil terrorists.
Sometimes he DISREGARDED orders to do the right thing to save people. CBK didn’t like it. SF was his JUNIOR and undercut him.
February 6th, 2016 at 5:03 pm
Lorenzo and Fran,
Question- Why did Janaka Perera joined UNP than joining MR ? I was thinking why… those days. I though it was betrayal.
War was being won those days, he was made Australian High Commissioner but after returning back he joined UNP instead of SLFP. Why ?
Is it because he was sacked by MR from High Commissioner post ?
If so why MR sacked him ? Scared of “IC” ?
February 6th, 2016 at 5:04 pm
Whoever comes into power in Lanka, the problem remains the same. That is, the Tamil Dalit problem. Even if ten Eelams are formed, if the birth certificates of Tamil Nadu states the Caste of Dalits, and Tamil Dalit numbers continue to grow in Tamil Nadu, nothing of real worth will happen. The Caste rage will be continued, wherever Tamils go. … Poor Lanka gave so much to Tamils, yet gets murdered for that ! Strange are the ways of some human beings – what a waste of lives.
How sad, how senseless ….
So, what is the UNHRC doing about that ? Is the UNHRC going to issue birth certificates to Tamils of Tamil Nadu, sans Dalit caste ?
February 6th, 2016 at 5:54 pm
Dham,
High Commissioners come and High Commissioners go – no one hangs onto those posts forever. We do notice that you appear to go out of your way to down MR. Why is that ? Please let us know the reasons why you (appear) to do so.
Are you disappointed that MR did not go and conquer Tamil Nadu Dalits problems ? MR cannot handle the Tamil Dalit problems of Tamil Nadu. He has no jurisdiction over Tamil Nadu problems. Their law forbids it. Shenali’s article states that 19% of TN are Tamil Dalits and 70% of them are Christians (I think probably Catholic). Yet they remain Dalit. If MR, Ranil, CBK, MS, go to Tamil Nadu and reside there, they will all be classified under Scheduled Castes (lower rungs) of TN for all Census purposes. TN and all of India are governed through the Caste System. This has gone on for some 3,000 yrs.
May be the UNHRC should handle this problem.
February 6th, 2016 at 5:55 pm
Dham,
JP is a traditional UNPer. He was removed from the HC post by MR because he could NOT be politically manipulated. NOTHING WRONG in that. Every diplomat MUST do what he is TOLD TO DO. He cannot what he thinks.
JP became an Australian PR!!! How can he be SL’s HC after that!!
JP planned to contest the 2005 presidential election INDEPENDENTLY if MR did NOT agree to JHU demands. MR agreed. Then JP decided against it.
Had JP contested in 2005, Run-nil would have won.
JP entered politics from UNP because UPFA did NOT INVITE him. SF and JP were SWORN ENEMIES. IF UPFA took him in SF would have been SERIOUSLY ANGERED. You know what that means!!
JP asked the SUPREME COURT to provide him STF security. Court agreed but govt. FAILED to do it.
This is how we treat ALL war heroes. No surprise. Use them and dump them. What a country!
Sacking a diplomat needs NO widely accepted REASONS.
e.g. Chris Nonis
(I gave reasons for his sacking. Good he was sacked I say but most would disagree with me.)
February 6th, 2016 at 6:53 pm
Lorenzo,
Thanks a lot for the answer. I learned from it. My respect goes to him.
Fran,
You have noticed only that, that is your mental blindness. I condemn all current politicians because of current terrible situation of my country thanks to all of them ( despite thousands sacrificing lives to save it). Who is the most responsible person for this debacle ? Ban Ki Moon ? ask yourself.
February 6th, 2016 at 7:10 pm
Dham,
You are blaming Lanka leaders who have sacrificed so much in terms of lives, funds, family wellbeing etc. Why hammer them ?
So, what troubles Lanka ? It is the conditions of Colonisation, Cold Wars, Tamil Caste Wars, proximity to troubled Tamil Nadu & Delhi govt., Ports, location of Lanka, the way the Economy is measured, etc.
Presently, we think the UN is used by colonists and their supporters to do their bidding. Tamil Caste problems are being exploited for various outside purposes. It is that simple.
Please do not blame Lanka Leaders who lay their lives on line to save the country. RW/CBK are damaged folk coming in as leaders because all others have been assassinated (by LTTE mostly, and by JVP and a monk too as far as CBK is concerned), or discarded/pushed aside, for various reasons by the powers that be.
What would you have done as a Leader of Lanka, if you were President or Exec PM ?
February 6th, 2016 at 8:14 pm
Fran,
Dham didn’t blame Lanka leaders who have sacrificed so much in terms of lives, funds, family wellbeing etc.
He only blames LEADERS WHO CLAIMED TO BE ENDIAN RELATIVES.
That is exactly what you say.
February 7th, 2016 at 2:30 am
Lorenzo,
Thanks for answering for me. Actually I wish I will live to see ONE (politician) leader “who sacrifice so much in terms of lives, funds, family well being “. What I find is many live for ” funds, family well being “.
Fran whould like to open his eys and read what Gnanasara Thero wrote – QUOTE
සුළු ජාතික, සුළු ආගමික කණ්ඩායම්වල ප්රශ්න තමන්ගේ ගෙදර ප්රශ්නවලටත් කලින් විසදීමට යුහුසුළුවන දේශපාලකයෝ සිංහල සංවිධාන පෙන්වාදී ඇති කිනම් කරුණකට විසඳුම් ලබාදී තිබේද? උදාහරණ ලෙස හලාල් ප්රශ්නය, කූරගල ප්රශ්නය, අන්යාගමික කරන පනත, නැගෙනහිර පුරාවස්තු සංහාරය වන්ද්යාකරණ, වැඩපිළිවෙළ, ත්රිවිධරත්නය යනු මැණික්ගල් තුනකි. බුදු හාමුදුරුවෝ මිනී මස් කෑවේය. මැණික් ගල්වලට වඳින්නේ මෝඩයෝය යනාදි වශයෙන් සීඩීපට පවා නිකුත් කොට බෞද්ධයන් කුපිත කරවීමේදී ඔබලා ගත් ක්රියාමාර්ගය කුමක්ද?
Problems of minorities ( races and religious) were quickly solved by politicians even before solving their problems at home but have they solved any issues raised by Sinhalese ?
Fore example Halal issue, Kuragala issue, religious conversion act , destruction of archaeological relics in the east and when the insults as “Tipple Gem is simply precious stones , Buddhs was a cannibal , those who worship stones are fools” were thrown at Buddhism not only verbally but by means of issuing CDs what was the action you people took ? – UNQUOTE
All these issues he was talking about were not the work of Ranil , My3 , CBK or this governement. But even after getting the services of monks to win the war at a great expense what did the “war wining politicians ” did for them ?
Scarificed their wealth and families ?
I have no time to argue with people like Fran. This is the LAST.
February 7th, 2016 at 3:42 am
Dham,
I’m amazed how SL politicians are in EXCELLENT HEALTH.
NO heart attacks, no cancer, no other life threatening sicknesses, etc.
Obviously NO accidents either.
What a healthy and fortunate bunch of people are politicians!! Even their wives and kids are VERY HEALTHY.
February 7th, 2016 at 5:32 am
Dham said “I condemn all current politicians ….”. not “leaders who claim to be Endian relatives ….”. I said before that MR did not create the war situation – why blame him ?
It was not the ‘Endian Relatives’ people who foisted the FALSE War Crimes part on the Armed Forces (Dham’s grouse) & MR govt. It were the Tamil Leaders, Tamil Diaspora, UN & neo-Colonial aspirants, Indians, etc.
For some reasons of his own, Dham wants everyone who writes in here to condemn MR. As President, MR was Commander of the Armed Forces and when he was in command, the Armed Forces were well looked after, were they not ? MR is part of the WAR HEROES group. Without the Commander in Chief (MR), there is no Army. MR, GR, etc are all part of the Armed Forces that Dham protects.
I just wanted to know what Dham would have done if he was Pres or Exec PM, after the war with the UNHRC after him with a FALSE war crimes charge. The question to ask here is : Who is responsible for the FALSE war crimes charge ?
I am glad that opinions are being exchanged. Solutions will come only after debate.
What we say is to : Remove the Tamil language (N&O) – then no one in the Armed Forces will ever have to die (Dham’s grouse) over Tamil Leaders & Diaspora claiming Lanka N&E for neo-colonists.
February 7th, 2016 at 7:23 am
Lorenzo,
ENDIAN RELATIVES are BAD Relatives at present. That is because of their draconian Caste System governing the entire Indian sub-continent, and sub-division of India via Languages. No one wants to go and settle down in ENDIA and be classified as low caste ! Everyone classified as low caste in Endia wants to LEAVE Endia ! That is how numbers of Tamil folk keeps increasing in Lanka and Lanka cannot cope with that problem !
COLONISTS are equally bad. We know the killings, forced conversions, forced subjugations, take over of all Resources of Lanka, etc. that they did when in power in Lanka.
Ranil’s Plan to agree to a Chunnel to Tamil Nadu is the worst thing for Lanka.
———–
For a lasting political Peace in Lanka :
Lanka has to have a standing Army with a strong Coast Guard to stop illegal migrants into Lanka. Lanka has to also train every citizen to be part of a Citizens Army, as done in Switzerland.
Lanka has to train all here into PATRIOTISM, starting young in all schools. Also Self Defense Arts through Kung Fu, etc.
Lanka should consider introducing MEDITATION to all schools for Inner Peace training at a young age.
February 7th, 2016 at 10:16 am
Sarath Fonseka was given a USA green Card when he contested MR (They said he won it in a Lotto ???). He probably did not know that he had to live in the USA a certain period of time to keep his green card valid. He lost it during the period he lived in SL. Recently he wanted to travel to the USA and requested a visa. His request was denied. Now he has joined the RW/CBK/Sirisena group to curry favor with the USA. This man is very selfish and thinks of only personal gain, not to serve the country.
February 7th, 2016 at 11:57 am
Clarification: what I mean by ‘Indians’ here re War Crimes charge on MR, Armed Forces etc., are the Tamil Nadu
‘Indians’.
February 7th, 2016 at 1:04 pm
MR is NOT leaving the SLFP which is GOOD. But what’s the plan to take back the SLFP? Without taking it back MR, etc. are DOOMED and the country too.
Soon FCID will go after the remaining Rajapakshas as well.
February 7th, 2016 at 1:07 pm
Fran,
MOST SLs are exposed to some form of MEDITATION than other countries but it has NOT worked.
PATRIOTISM cannot be trained. It has to come.
NO politician elected from people’s vote will do what you say. MR did not do.
MR is NOT leaving the SLFP which is good but he has to have a plan to take back the SLFP. Otherwise FCID will go on taking one by one into custody.