US embassy cable - 04COLOMBO637

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 000637 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR SA, SA/INS, INR/NESA 
DEPARTMENT PLEASE ALSO PASS TOPEC 
NSC FOR E. MILLARD 
 
E.O. 12958:  DECL:  04-14-14 
TAGS: PGOV, PINS, PINR, CE, Political Parties 
SUBJECT:  Sri Lanka:  President swears in new Cabinet 
amid dispute with key coalition partner 
 
Refs:  (A) Colombo - SA/INS 04-14-04 unclass email 
 
-      (B) Colombo 620, and previous 
 
(U) Classified by Ambassador Jeffrey J. Lunstead. 
Reasons 1.5 (b, d). 
 
1.  (C) SUMMARY:  President Kumaratunga swore in Sri 
Lanka's new Cabinet on April 10.  As expected, the 
President kept control of the defense and internal 
security portfolios, while key SLFP advisers received 
most of the other top portfolios.  The radical JVP, a 
key SLFP ally in the recent campaign, boycotted the 
ceremony in a dispute over the ministries it was to 
receive.  The dispute may be papered over quickly and 
several JVP ministers sworn in soon, but, even if that 
happens, there is little doubt that the SLFP-JVP 
coalition is inherently fragile.  END SUMMARY. 
 
2.  (SBU) NEW CABINET SWORN IN:  President Chandrika 
Bandaranaike Kumaratunga named her new Cabinet, swearing 
in 31 ministers and roughly 30 deputy ministers on 
April 10.  (A full list of the ministerial appointments 
is contained in Ref A.)  The swearing in ceremony at the 
President's House in the Fort area of Colombo was 
delayed several hours due to a dispute with the Marxist 
Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna, "JVP," a key partner in the 
President's United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) 
coalition.  In the end, the swearing in ceremony went 
forward despite the JVP's decision to boycott the 
occasion. 
 
3.  (SBU) As expected, the President kept control of the 
defense and internal security (formerly interior) 
portfolios, while key Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) 
advisers received most of the other top portfolios 
(foreign ministry, finance, trade, etc.).  (The 
President also took control of the constitutional 
affairs and education ministries.)  Most of the rest of 
the ministerial positions were awarded to SLFP MPs, as 
well as members of other parties that had supported her 
alliance in the April 2 election.  Separate from the 
portfolios slated to go to the JVP (see below), several 
additional ministries -- including those connected with 
north/east rehabilitation, Buddhist affairs, and the 
upcountry tea plantations -- also remain without 
ministerial appointments. 
 
4.  (SBU) Key appointments in the new Cabinet follow 
(bio-data on key ministers will be provided via Septel): 
 
--  Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse was also made 
Minister of Highways. 
 
-- Lakshman Kadirgamar was appointed as Foreign 
Minister, the same position he held in the President's 
People's Alliance government from 1994-2001. 
 
-- Sarath Amunugama, SLFP spokesman and a senior MP, was 
appointed Finance Minister. 
 
-- Mangala Samaraweera, a senior SLFP MP and a former 
minister, was appointed Minister of Ports and Aviation. 
 
-- Anura Bandaranaike, President Kumaratunga's brother 
and a former minister, was appointed Minister of 
Industry, Tourism, and Investment Promotion. 
 
-- Jeyaraj Fernandopulle, a senior SLFP MP, was named 
Minister of Trade, Commerce, and Consumer Affairs. 
 
-- Ferial Ashraff, head of the Muslim National Unity 
Alliance (NUA), was appointed as Minister of Housing and 
Construction Industry, Eastern Province Education, and 
Irrigation Development. 
 
-- Douglas Devananda, head of the anti-Tamil Tiger Eelam 
People's Democratic Party (EPDP), was appointed Minister 
of Agricultural Marketing Development, Hindu Affairs and 
Tamil Language Schools and Vocational Training (North). 
5.  (C) DISPUTE WITH JVP:  In a sign of the fragility of 
the UPFA coalition, the JVP boycotted the April 10 
ministerial oath-taking due to differences with the 
President over four cabinet portfolios (National 
Heritage and Culture, Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, 
Rural Economy and Agriculture, and Lands and Irrigation) 
originally allotted to them.  Officially, the JVP's 
absence from the ceremony was due its leaders' 
participation in a rally commemorating the JVP's 1971 
armed insurrection.  According to contacts, however, JVP 
members boycotted the swearing in ceremony because 
significant portions of the portfolios that had been 
assigned them had been re-assigned to other ministries. 
For example, the JVP was angered that the Mahaveli 
(interior river system) Development sector had been 
removed from the agriculture ministry.  In addition to 
the complaints regarding Cabinet portfolios, the JVP was 
also reportedly unhappy that Mahinda Rajapakse had been 
named PM, over Lakshman Kadirgamar or even another 
member of the SLFP.  (Rajapakse, who hails from southern 
Sri Lanka, is a long-standing foe of the JVP, which is 
strong in that region.) 
 
6.  (SBU) In an effort to resolve the dispute with the 
JVP, the President has established a five-member 
committee.  At present, the President is refraining from 
further discussions with the JVP until she receives the 
recommendations from this committee.  There has been no 
indication from the committee, as of yet, regarding any 
schedule of meetings or date to present a report to the 
President. 
 
7.  (C) COMMENT:  The SLFP/JVP dispute may be papered 
over quickly and several JVP ministers sworn in soon, 
but, even if that happens, there is little doubt that 
the SLFP-JVP coalition is inherently fragile.  The JVP, 
after immense electoral success, is clearly feeling its 
oats and will bicker with the SLFP if it feels its voice 
is not being heard.  At the same time, President 
Kumaratunga is a brutal political infighter and almost 
certainly will not bow down to the JVP if she can help 
it.  All of this does not bode well for amity in the 
coalition.  In the meantime, the President has other 
troubles.  Although she has now appointed ministers for 
her new government, her coalition has yet to attain a 
majority in the Parliament.  At present, her UPFA 
alliance is still seven seats short of the minimum 113 
seats necessary.  During a April 11 meeting with a 
visiting U.S. Congressional delegation, Prime Minister 
Mahinda Rajapakse told Representative Dreier that 
establishing the UPFA's majority status was his top 
priority before the new Parliament convenes on April 22. 
Our guess is that majority status for the UPFA is 
attainable, but it may take a lot more bargaining with 
smaller parties.  END COMMENT. 
 
8.  (U) Minimize considered. 
 
LUNSTEAD