US embassy cable - 03COLOMBO1688

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 COLOMBO 001688 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR SA, SA/INS, INR/NESA 
 
PLEASE ALSO PASS TOPEC 
 
E.O. 12958:    DECL:  09-29-13 
TAGS: PINR, PGOV, PREL, CE, Political Parties, current biographies 
SUBJECT:  Biographic sketches of up-and-coming Sri 
Lankan politicians 
 
Refs:  Colombo 1684, and previous 
 
(U) Classified by James F. Entwistle, Deputy Chief of 
Mission.  Reasons 1.5 (b,d). 
 
1.  (C) Para two contains brief biographic sketches of 
ten up-and-coming Sri Lankan politicians.  Four of the 
sketches are of governing United National Party (UNP) 
politicians, three are of opposition People's Alliance 
(PA) politicians, and one each from the radical Janantha 
Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), the Tamil National Alliance 
(TNA), and the Muslim National Unity Alliance (NUA). 
One of the biographic sketches is of a woman politician: 
Chandrani Jayasinghe of the UNP. 
 
2.  (C) Brief biographic sketches follow: 
 
UNP POLITICIANS 
=============== 
 
>>> NAVIN DISSANAYAKE:  Dissanayake, 34, is a UNP MP 
from Nuwara Eliya in Sri Lanka's central highlands.  He 
was first elected to Parliament in 2000 and was re- 
elected in 2001.  He currently serves as Deputy Minister 
of Plantation Industries.  He hails from a very well- 
known family; his father, Gamani, was a major UNP leader 
who was assassinated in 1994 by the Tamil Tigers.  He 
also benefits from his close relationship with Deputy 
UNP Leader Karu Jayasuriya, the Minister of Power and 
Energy, who is his father-in-law.  Dissanayake is 
clearly on his way up in UNP leadership ranks, but he 
has a bit of a controversial reputation.  He has a poor 
relationship with A. Thondaman, the head of the tea 
estate Tamil Ceylon Worker's Congress (CWC), the most 
influential party in Nuwara Eliya.  More importantly, he 
is believed to be currently on the outs with Prime 
Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, who is said to consider 
Dissanayake a bit of a loose cannon.  Friendly toward 
the U.S., he recently attended a USG-sponsored 
conference in Hawaii.  He was educated at Colombo's 
prestigious Royal College and graduated from the 
University of Sussex in the UK.  He is a lawyer by 
profession, attending the Middle Temple in London.  He 
speaks excellent English and is Sinhalese Buddhist. 
 
>>> SAJITH PREMADASA:  Premadasa, 36, is a UNP MP from 
Hambantota District in Sri Lanka's deep south.  He was 
first elected to Parliament in 2000 and was re-elected 
in 2001.  He serves the governing coalition as Deputy 
Minister of Health and Nutrition.  His father, then- 
President R. Premadasa, was assassinated by the LTTE in 
1993.  Due to his father's manifold connections, 
Premadasa has many links in UNP circles, which should 
help him as he tries to ascend into UNP leadership 
ranks.  Premadasa is highly respected as a well- 
informed, active MP.  He was educated at Royal College, 
and also studied in the UK and the U.S.  He is an IVP 
nominee in 2003.  His wife, Hema, is a well-known 
Colombo socialite.  He speaks excellent English and is 
Sinhalese Buddhist. 
 
>>> CHANDRANI JAYASINGHE:  Jayasinghe, 39, is a UNP MP 
from Anuradhapura District in north-central Sri Lanka. 
She was first elected to Parliament in 2000 and again in 
2001.  She comes from a political family; her father, 
the late Chandra Bandara, was the Minister of Power and 
Energy in President J.R. Jayawardene's government. 
Educated in Sri Lanka, she is a graduate of the 
prestigious St. Bridget's College in Colombo and the Sri 
Lanka Law College.  She is considered a possible 
candidate to become a minister or a deputy minister in 
any re-shuffling of portfolios.  She is a practicing 
attorney in Anuradhapura, as is her husband.  She speaks 
good English and is Sinhalese Buddhist. 
 
>>> SAGALA RATNAYAKE:  Ratnayake, 35, is a UNP MP from 
Matara District in Sri Lanka's deep south.  He was first 
elected to Parliament in 2000 and again in 2001.  His 
father, the late Kolitha Ratnayake, was the owner of a 
large tea estate and chairman of the State Plantation 
Corporation, which oversees all state-owned tea estates. 
At present, Ratnayake is Deputy Minister of Power and 
Energy, working under Minister Karu Jayasuriya.  He is a 
close ally of Prime Minister Wickremesinghe.  An 
excellent vote-getter, Ratnayake has a relaxed, 
easygoing manner.  He is a graduate of Colombo's Royal 
College.  He later attended Lewis and Clark College in 
Portland, Oregon, and has a bachelor's degree from the 
University of Munich in business administration.  He 
speaks good English and is a Sinhalese Buddhist. 
 
PA POLITICIANS 
============== 
 
>>> ARJUNA RANATUNGA:  Ranatunga, 40, is a PA MP from 
Colombo District.  He was first elected to Parliament in 
2001.  His father, Reggie Ranatunga, is a fellow PA MP, 
representing Gampaha District near Colombo.  Ranatunga 
entered politics after a highly successful cricket 
career with Sri Lanka's national team.  He was the team 
captain from 1989 to 1999, including during its Cricket 
World Cup win in 1996, and many Sri Lankans consider him 
a hero for his role in that victory.  Ranatunga is 
believed to be very close to President Kumaratunga, who 
reportedly convinced him to run for Parliament as a PA 
candidate.  He ran for president of the influential 
Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka in June 2003, 
but was defeated.  In addition to his political 
activities, he is involved in a private insurance 
business.  He is a graduate of Colombo's Ananda College, 
a well-known Buddhist high school.  He speaks excellent 
English and is Sinhalese Buddhist. 
 
>>> VADIVAL PUTHTHIRASIGAMONEY:  Puththirasigamoney, 52, 
is a PA MP from Nuwara Eliya district in Sri Lanka's 
central highlands.  He was first elected to Parliament 
in 2000 as a UNP member, switched parties, and was 
selected as a PA MP on the party's National list in 
2001.  He has long been a political and social activist 
on behalf of the tea estate Tamil community.  In an 
affiliation with the CWC early in his career, he was a 
high-level committee member for the party and a 
representative of its estate trade union.  Due to his 
party switching ways, Puththirasigamoney now maintains a 
frosty relationship with both the CWC and the UNP.  He 
was an IVP participant in 1988.  Most recently, he was 
the Deputy Mayor of Nuwara Eliya prior to his election 
to Parliament.  He speaks excellent English and is a 
Tamil Hindu. 
 
>>> DILAN PERERA:  Perera, 41, is a PA MP from the 
Badulla District in Sri Lanka's central highlands.  He 
was first elected to Parliament in 1994 and has been a 
member since that time.  In the previous PA government, 
Perera served as Deputy Minister of Justice.  Prior to 
his election to Parliament, he was a member of the Uva 
Provinical Council.  He is a graduate of Royal College 
and the Sri Lanka Law College.  He is considered a close 
associate of Dr. Sarath Amunugama, the chief PA 
spokesman and a senior MP.  Perera maintains a law 
practice in Badulla, speaks good English, and is 
Sinhalese Buddhist. 
 
JVP 
=== 
 
>>> VIJITHA HERATH:  Herath, 40, is a JVP MP from 
Gampaha District.  He is one of the relatively few 
public faces of the JVP (the party strictly controls its 
public interactions).  He is considered intelligent and 
articulate, and is said to be very close to JVP General 
Secretary Tilvin Silva.  Herath has made many strident 
 
SIPDIS 
comments against the direction of the peace process.  He 
also recently visited North Korea and was quoted in the 
press as expressing admiration for the system there. 
For these views and others, he is considered a firebrand 
of sorts even within JVP norms.  Although a member of 
the JVP throughout the group's 1988-89 insurrection, 
Herath did not serve in the group's military wing and 
was not implicated in any armed attacks on the 
government.  He speaks some English and is Sinhalese 
Buddhist. 
 
TNA 
=== 
 
>>> GAJENDRA KUMAR PONNAMBALAM:  Ponnambalam, 29, is a 
TNA MP from the All-Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC) 
representing Jaffna District.  His father, Kumar, was 
the head of the ACTC, but was assassinated in 2000.  His 
grandfather, G.G., was the founder of the ACTC and one 
of the most important Tamil politicians in Sri Lanka 
from the time of independence in 1948 until the 1970s. 
Ponnambalam, who is bright and quite articulate, is a 
strong advocate for Tamil causes and is considered 
relatively close to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam 
(LTTE).  He is willing to criticize the LTTE in private, 
however.  Ponnambalam is strongly pro-peace process and 
friendly to the UNP government.  A lawyer by training, 
he speaks excellent English and is a Tamil Hindu. 
 
NUA 
=== 
 
>>> M.L.A.M. HIZBULLAH:  Hizbullah, 40, is a NUA MP from 
Batticaloa District in the east.  He first entered 
Parliament in 1989.  He is very close to Ferial Ashraff, 
the leader of the NUA, and is an opponent of Rauf 
Hakeem, the leader of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress, the 
country's largest Muslim party.  Hizbullah is considered 
pro-peace process, but is a strong critic of the LTTE, 
especially over the group's harassment of Muslims in the 
east.  Hizbullah is an outstanding vote-getter, with a 
warm, friendly temperament.  While mildly critical of 
U.S. policy in the Middle East, Hizbullah denounces 
terrorism and refrained from publicly criticizing 
Operation Iraqi Freedom.  He was an IVP participant in 
1999.  He speaks excellent English and is a Muslim. 
 
3.  (U) Minimize considered. 
 
LUNSTEAD