US embassy cable - 04COLOMBO601

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 COLOMBO 000601 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR SA, SA/INS, INR/NESA; PLS PASS TO USTR J. 
ROSENBAUM 
 
NSC FOR E. MILLARD; TREASURY FOR R. ADKINS; COMMERCE FOR 
A. BENAISSA 
 
NEW DELHI PLEASE PASS TO CODEL DREIER 
 
E.O. 12958:     DECL: 04-06-14 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, PTER, PINR, CE 
SUBJECT:  Sri Lanka:  President swears in new PM, 
Mahinda Rajapakse; Cabinet slated to be named soon 
 
Refs:  (A) Colombo - OpsCenter 04-06-04 telecon 
-      (B) Colombo 587, and previous 
 
(U) Classified by Ambassador Jeffrey J. Lunstead. 
Reasons 1.5 (b,d). 
 
1.  (C) SUMMARY:  On April 6, President Kumaratunga 
swore in Mahinda Rajapakse, a senior leader in her SLFP 
party, as Sri Lanka's next prime minister.  A new 
cabinet may be sworn in the next day or so.  In the 
meantime, the President's UPFA grouping (SLFP plus JVP) 
continues to look for partners in order to attain a 
majority in Parliament (it has until April 22, when the 
new Parliament first sits to prove its majority status). 
Mission knows Rajapakse well.  He is affable and 
relatively moderate on peace process and economic 
issues.  Bio-data is provided in Para 8.  END SUMMARY. 
 
=================== 
Rajapakse is new PM 
=================== 
 
2.  (C) Early April 6, President Chandrika Kumaratunga 
swore in Mahinda Rajapakse, a senior leader in her Sri 
Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and former Opposition Leader, 
as Sri Lanka's new Prime Minister.  (Bio-data on 
Rajapakse is provided in Para 8.)  The ceremony followed 
Sri Lanka's parliamentary election on April 2 in which 
the President's United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) 
won the most seats in Parliament (see Reftels).  (The 
UPFA is an alliance of the SLFP and the Marxist Janatha 
Vimukthi Peramuna, "JVP.")  The swearing in ceremony, 
which was carried live on national television, was a 
brief one.  It took place in front of a large crowd of 
party supporters gathered at the President's Offices in 
Colombo's Fort area.  Before and after the ceremony, 
Rajapakse received the blessing of several Buddhist 
monks.  The ceremony itself was supposed to take place 
at an "auspicious" time specified to be 10:10 a.m., but 
-- as is the case with many events involving the 
President -- it started over an hour late. 
 
3.  (C) Rajapakse replaces Ranil Wickremesinghe as PM. 
Wickremesinghe, the leader of the United National Party 
(UNP) which fared very poorly in the election, had been 
prime minister since December 2001, and is slated to 
become the next Opposition leader in Parliament (if his 
party agrees).  He has now moved out of Temple Trees, 
the PM's official residence across from the Embassy, and 
Rajapakse is expected to move in shortly.  (Bradman 
Weerakoon, Wickremesinghe's secretary and the secretary 
for many previous Sri Lankan leaders, is scheduled to 
leave his post late April 6.  Weerakoon's replacement in 
this very important position has not been announced:  we 
have heard that it could be Lalith Weeratunga, who 
served as the secretary to Ratnasiri Wickremanayake, the 
previous People's Alliance, "PA," PM.  It is also 
possible that an assistant to Rajapakse could be named 
to the slot.) 
 
========================= 
Cabinet to be named later 
========================= 
 
4.  (C) A new cabinet is expected to be sworn in soon, 
perhaps as early as late April 6 or April 7.  Due to the 
influence of the JVP, which has vociferously complained 
about the large number of ministerial positions in 
previous governments, the UPFA cabinet should be 
relatively small by Sri Lankan standards, perhaps 30 or 
so ministers and a handful of deputy ministers.  (The 
UNP government maintained about 70 ministerial positions 
and the previous PA government had almost 70-80 at 
times.) 
 
5.  (C) Not unexpectedly, there is reportedly a debate 
going on within UPFA circles as to who should receive 
ministerial allotments.  The JVP appears set to receive 
at least four ministries, although there are reports 
that the party is arguing for more based on its 
impressive showing in the election.  We have been told 
by contacts that President Kumaratunga will retain 
control of the defense and internal security (formerly 
interior) portfolios, which she took over from the 
previous UNP government in November 2003.  Lakshman 
Kadirgamar, a close adviser to the President, is rumored 
to be the prime candidate to take over as foreign 
minister.  (Kadirgamar had been mentioned as a candidate 
to be PM, but lost out to Rajapakse.  He was foreign 
minister in the previous PA government from 1994-2001.) 
 
============================================= 
UPFA continues to try to gain majority status 
============================================= 
 
6.  (C) Even as a new PM was sworn in and a cabinet is 
being selected, the UPFA continues its efforts to 
convince smaller parties to join with it, so that it can 
attain the 113 seats or more necessary to form a 
majority in Sri Lanka's Parliament.  (The UPFA won 105 
seats in Parliament.  It has until April 22 -- the date 
the new Parliament first meets -- to show it has 
majority support in Parliament.  If it does not do so by 
that timeframe, a UPFA "minority" government could be 
subject to a vote of no confidence.)  The UPFA is 
reported to be working with the following smaller 
parties in order to obtain their support: 
 
-- The UPFA has approached the Jathika Hela Urumaya 
(JHU) party, which ran an all-Buddhist monk candidate 
slate and won nine parliamentary seats.  The JHU, for 
its part, has stated in the press that it has no plans 
to join in a government.  Various monks affiliated with 
the JHU have been quoted as stating that the party is 
willing to extend its support on individual items of 
legislation on a case-by-case basis, but that it will 
otherwise remain neutral in Parliament. 
 
-- Reports also indicate that the UPFA has made 
overtures to the tea estate Tamil Ceylon Worker's 
Congress (CWC), which won 6-7 seats.  The CWC has 
traditionally liked to be on the winning side, so that 
its leader, A. Thondaman, can maintain control of the 
ministry of plantations.  (This portfolio has been held 
by the CWC through several governments, including by 
Thondaman's grandfather, the CWC founder.)  In recent 
years, Thondaman has drawn closer to the Tamil Tigers, 
who have long been at odds with President Kumaratunga, 
and it is uncertain whether that factor may influence 
his decision on whether or not to link up with the UPFA. 
There are also reports that another tea estate party, 
the Upcountry People's Front (UPF), has been contacted 
by the UPFA.  (The UPF won one seat and is known to be 
very pro-Tamil Tiger.) 
 
-- The UPFA has also been in touch with the Sri Lanka 
Muslim Congress (SLMC), which secured five seats.  SLMC 
leader Rauf Hakeem is reported to want to hold on to his 
position as Minister of Ports and Shipping, a post that 
the SLMC has controlled through the previous UNP and PA 
governments.  Holding on to that ministry is hardly a 
fait accompli for Hakeem, however, as there are several 
Muslim MPs in the President's UPFA political grouping 
who broke with the SLMC earlier in the year and are 
known to be hostile to Hakeem.  Hakeem also does not get 
along well with Kumaratunga.  These factors may make the 
SLMC a bad fit for the UPFA. 
 
-- There are also reports that the UPFA has been in 
touch with the 4-5 MPs from the Tamil National Alliance 
(TNA) party who are reportedly aligned with eastern 
rebel leader Karuna.  (The TNA won a total 22 seats in 
the election.)  The TNA, which ran in the April 2 
election as the "Ilanki Tamil Arasu Katchchi" (ITAK - 
"Federal Party"), is reportedly holding a meeting late 
April 6 to discuss its posture regarding the upcoming 
Parliament.  A link-up with the UPFA by pro-Karuna MP's 
would no doubt enrage LTTE leader Prabhakaran. 
 
-- The anti-Tamil Tiger Eelam People's Democratic Party 
(EPDP) has already declared its support for the UPFA. 
The EPDP won one seat in the election. 
 
======= 
COMMENT 
======= 
 
7.  (C) Mission knows Rajapakse well and he has met with 
many high-level USG visitors to Sri Lanka.  He is 
affable and easy to approach, and seemingly moderate on 
peace process and economic issues.  He also appears 
relatively receptive to U.S. views.  That said, he is 
likely to be overshadowed by President Kumaratunga, who 
has a dominating personality (to put it mildly) and 
controls most of the key levers of power as president to 
boot.  There is little doubt that she will make 
virtually all of the key peace process and economic 
decisions.  (Rajapakse knows his place in the hierarchy: 
when asked by a journalist before his swearing-in 
ceremony today about his responsibilities in office, he 
replied straightforwardly enough, "the President will 
handle the peace process.")  Rajapakse is likely to get 
in his views, but only edgewise.  He also told the press 
today that he wants to see India more involved in the 
peace process.  It's not clear exactly what he means. 
END COMMENT. 
 
8.  Bio-Data on new Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse 
follows: 
 
-- Rajapakse, 58, who was sworn in as prime minister on 
April 6, was the Leader of the Opposition in the Sri 
Lankan Parliament from 2002-2004.  In a political career 
spanning over three decades, he was a Member of 
Parliament from 1970-77 and from 1989 until the present. 
He has served previously as minister of fisheries.  He 
is currently Senior Vice President of the Sri Lanka 
Freedom Party (SLFP), the leading constituent element of 
President Kumaratunga's People's Alliance (PA) grouping. 
In March 2002, President Kumaratunga appointed him 
Opposition Leader.  Since that appointment, Rajapakse 
has been involved in a rivalry with Anura Bandaranaike, 
a senior SLFP MP and the president's brother.  Along 
with Bandaranaike, Rajapakse has been hinting that he 
should be the next SLFP presidential candidate in 
elections expected in 2005-2006.  Rajapakse hails from 
Hambantota District in Sri Lanka's deep south.  His 
father, D.A. Rajapakse, who died in 1967, was a longtime 
SLFP MP and a minister.  Rajapakse is a lawyer by 
training.  He was an IVP participant in 1989.  A 
Sinhalese Buddhist, he is married and has three sons. 
 
End Bio-data. 
 
9.  (U) Minimize considered. 
 
LUNSTEAD