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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 000338 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/INS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/28/2017 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS ECON CE
SUBJECT: SRI LANKA: FORMER PRESIDENT KUMARATUNGA EXCORIATES 
HER SUCCESSOR 
 
REF: COLOMBO 337 AND PREVIOUS 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Robert O. Blake, Jr., for reasons 1.4(b, d). 
 
¶1.  (C) SUMMARY:  Former President Chandrika Kumaratunga 
expressed strong disapproval of President Rajapaksa's 
approach to governance in a meeting with Ambassador on 
February 26.  She feared that the current government was 
committed to trying to resolve the country's ethnic conflict 
through purely military means, but said she did not think 
this would succeed.  The recent cabinet reshuffle had 
produced further instability, she said, noting that there was 
an undercurrent of unease in the ruling party about the 
President's autocratic style and the influence of his 
brothers.  She thought the government's popularity would sag 
as the consequences of inappropriate economic policies began 
to take hold.  She denied harboring any further political 
ambitions, adding that the President had advised her to 
reside abroad.  End summary. 
 
GOVERNMENT COMMITTED TO WAR? 
---------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (C) Former President Chandrika Kumaratunga told 
Ambassador on February 26 that her successor Mahinda 
Rajapaksa clearly intended to lead the country down the path 
of war.  He and his advisors had opted to try for a military 
solution to the problem posed by the ethnic conflict, she 
thought.  However, she was convinced that they would not 
succeed in this.  She claimed that she had always supported 
maximum power sharing as the way to bridge the ethnic divide. 
 However, Rajapaksa, "quite unnecessarily" in her view, had 
sought an alliance with the radical Sinhalese nationalist 
parties JVP and JHU, thus sharpening the conflict.  She noted 
that support for devolution by the Sinhalese majority had 
undergone wide fluctuations, depending on the messages sent 
by the country's leaders.  At the moment, sentiment for 
power-sharing was at a low ebb. 
 
DEVOLUTION OF POWER THE ONLY ANSWER 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (C) Kumaratunga noted that the current constitution 
requires a two-thirds majority to make major institutional 
changes.  Sri Lanka's proportional representation electoral 
system meant that only cooperation between the two major 
parties could produce this constitutional majority.  The 
recent political maneuvering may have brought the President 
short-term advantages, but a devolution proposal would still 
need the support of the principal opposition UNP.  She said 
that the sacking of two SLFP ministers, including former 
Foreign Minister Samaraweera, had only brought further 
instability.  Regional party meetings called to endorse the 
president's move had not produced a single resolution 
endorsing the firing of the ministers, she noted. 
 
¶4.  (C) Kumaratunga predicted that the government would run 
into serious political problems within a few months because 
"they are having trouble running the economy properly."  She 
believed that accelerating inflation and anemic job creation 
would sap the government's present high popularity with the 
Sinhalese majority. 
 
NOT SEEKING A COMEBACK 
---------------------- 
 
¶5.  (C) Kumaratunga commented that politics in Sri Lanka had 
become such a "filthy and dangerous business" that "decent 
people don't want to enter politics any more."  She denied 
that she had any further political ambitions and said 
categorically that she was not seeking to make a comeback. 
However, she was contemplating making a statement about the 
 
COLOMBO 00000338  002 OF 002 
 
 
condition of the country before redeparting for London (where 
she lives near her grown children).  She added that even if 
she wanted to remain in Sri Lanka, the President had advised 
her against it: "Honestly, madam, I think you ought to go 
abroad." 
 
DRIFTING TOWARD DICTATORSHIP? 
----------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (C) Kumaratunga noted that President Rajapaksa is 
intolerant of criticism from any quarter.  For example, she 
said, he did not permit any discussion of Sri Lanka's 
problems with abductions and disappearances in Cabinet 
meetings.  This was one of the reasons that Foreign Minister 
Samaraweera had been sacked, she added.  She did not think 
the government was conducting serious investigations into 
these incidents.  She would not be surprised if the President 
invoked his powers under the Constitution, never used until 
now, to prorogue Parliament and rule by executive decree. 
Even ministers were intimidated to the degree that they were 
afraid to be seen meeting with her, she said, resorting 
instead to sending her "secret messages."  She feared the 
country was drifting toward a dictatorship. 
 
¶7.  (C) COMMENT: Some of the bile Chandrika directed at her 
successor undoubtedly stems from pique at being frozen out of 
the SLFP power structure.  Although some her criticism 
appears overblown, it reflects an undercurrent of unease in 
part of the ruling party at the President's autocratic style 
and the influence wielded by his closest, unelected advisors 
-- especially his two brothers Gothabaya and Basil.  So far, 
few members of the SLFP have dared to challenge the 
President's authority.  However, setbacks to the government, 
especially any significant military misadventures, could 
cause the latent discontent to break out into the open. 
BLAKE