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Worsening trend of packing SL overseas missions with political appointees impacts country’s diplomatic relations
Political appointments to Sri Lanka’s overseas missions have skyrocketed with a rising pattern of parceling out “clerical” positions to supporters and relatives including the children of prominent politicians, the Sunday Times learns.
Examination of records show that some Sri Lanka missions have not had a career Ambassador in decades while some others are manned by political appointees at the level of Ambassador as well as in the middle. 
This worsening trend has systematically weakened Sri Lanka’s diplomatic relations with host countries, Foreign Ministry whistleblowers say.
According to a non-exhaustive list compiled from publicly available sources, there are at least 27 politically appointed High Commissioners, Ambassadors, Permanent Representatives, Consuls General and a Deputy High Commissioner.
In other ranks, Dulmini Attanayake, the daughter of Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MP Tissa Attanayake, is Third Secretary in Canberra, Australia; Subhashini Samaranayake, daughter of Director of Information Mohan Samaranayake, is Third Secretary in Vienna, Austria; Amila E Dissanayake, brother of Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) MP Duminda Dissanayake, is Third Secretary in Paris, France; and Randula Gunawardena, daughter of Minister Bandula Gunawardena, is Third Secretary in New York, USA. 
Information regarding clerical appointments is more difficult to get (many are local hires) but among recent appointments are Kasun the Silva, son of SLPP MP Piyal Nishantha de Silva, as a clerk to the Sri Lanka High Commission in London; and Gavantha Bologne, brother-in-law of SLPP MP and former State Minister of Foreign Affairs, as a clerk to Sri Lanka’s mission in Italy. Foreign Ministry sources said the list of politically appointed clerks has significantly grown in recent months.
The daughter of Public Security and Tourism Minister Prasanna Ranatunga was issued an appointment letter but reportedly refused to go to Sydney, Australia, saying her husband could not work there.
Two political appointees of the Gotabaya Rajapaksa administration—musician Rohana Beddage and Prof. Nalin de Silva–publicly declared they cannot perform their duties and left the Male (Maldives) and Yangon (Myanmar) missions.
Meanwhile, singer Neela Wickramasighe and SLPP loyalist Lakshman Hulugalle passed away while serving in Paris and in Sydney owing to chronic ill health. The former was Consul General in Milan (Italy) and the latter was Consul General in Sydney (Australia).
Recently, Foreign Affairs Minister G L Peiris was forced to issue a statement that comedian Bandu Samarasinghe was only nominated—and not appointed—as Ms Wickramasinghe’s replacement in Milan. Ministry sources said, however, that his son is “still roaming around the corridors” in anticipation of taking up a clerical position at the Sri Lankan mission in the Italian city.
“Some of these appointments are given for the purpose of family reunions and education, without any rational assessment of the need of the mission,” the sources said. “Missions such as London are over-burdened with staff.”
“The majority of Ambassadors and Consuls Genera are sent to foreign capitals, not for their expertise, extensive networks or capacity to become agents of change,” the pointed out. “These postings are just ‘end-of career bonuses’ in return for political support. Most are well past their prime and are unable to head missions, let alone attend to the day-to-day functions.”
“The second tier of appointments is to provide temporary employment for the kith and kin of the political elite,” they continued. “There is no justification for these appointments as there is a pool of better qualified and experienced officers in the Sri Lanka Foreign Service (SLFS). They haven’t enhanced the status quo of missions while the clerical jobs are clearly to appease a political clientele and camp-followers.”
Five more appointments were recently made to the Sri Lanka mission in Washington DC, USA, it was learnt this week. They are an IT/Information Administrator named Chinthana Dissanayake; a Clerical Assistant/Receptionist named Sandali Algama; an Information Officer named Puja Ferdinando; a Media Officer named Tracy Francis; and a Stenographer/Typist named Sameera Ishan.
Several of these jobs were created to accommodate the new hires, Ministry officials said. Only the Media Officer and Receptionist positions preexisted at the mission. The Embassy has around 20 computers and already has three IT employees.
“The unfortunate relation is that, for decades, many Sri Lankans see diplomatic missions as places that supporters of one regime or the other can use to spend a few years in a foreign country at State cost,” the sources lamented.
Even the relatively new South Asian nation of Bangladesh is investing heavily on grooming a professional Foreign Service, with training, systematic recruitment, provision of opportunities and allocation of funds for promotional activity. The Bangladesh Consul General in Milan had a double Masters and was an experienced career officer of 15 years. The Indian Consul General in the city had an MPhil in International Relations.
“If the Government is really in the process of reducing mission budgets, taking out some of the political appointees should be a priority as there is hardly any value addition that brought by them,” they emphasised. “Regular SLFS or clerical officers receive their emoluments. There’s no need to make special provisions for these political appointees.”
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