US embassy cable - 05COLOMBO1485

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 COLOMBO 001485 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SA/INS AND INR/B 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/22/2015 
TAGS: PINR, PREL, PGOV, CE, Political Parties, current biographies 
SUBJECT: ALL IN THE FAMILY:  SRI LANKAN PRESIDENT APPOINTS 
YOUNGER BROTHER FOREIGN MINISTER 
 
REF: A. COLOMBO 1417 
     B. COLOMBO 1446 
     C. COLOMBO 1354 
 
Classified By: CHARGE D'AFFAIRES JAMES F. ENTWISTLE.  REASON:  1.4 (B,D 
). 
 
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SUMMARY 
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1.  (C) On August 22 President Chandrika Kumaratunga 
appointed Anura Bandaranaike, her younger brother and 
Minister of Tourism, Foreign Minister.  The move is viewed 
largely as a consolation prize for Bandaranaike after he 
failed to gain his party's--and his sister's--approval as the 
next presidential candidate.  Although well traveled and 
cosmopolitan, Bandaranaike has neither the broad-based, 
charismatic political appeal of his sister nor the 
intellectualism and international experience of his 
predecessor Lakshman Kadirgamar.  Family ties 
notwithstanding, it is unlikely that Bandaranaike will enjoy 
the same level of confidence that Kumaratunga had in his 
predecessor.  The possibility of impending presidential 
and/or general elections suggests that Bandaranaike may not 
hold his new post for long.  End summary. 
 
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HAVE MINISTRY, WILL TRAVEL 
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2.  (C) On August 22 President Chandrika Kumaratunga 
appointed her younger brother Anura Bandaranaike Foreign 
Minister, a post left vacant by the August 12 assassination 
of elder statesman and presidential confidant Lakshman 
Kadirgamar (Ref A).  While Bandaranaike will remain as 
Tourism Minister, his accompanying portfolios of Industries 
and Investment Promotion were reassigned to Finance Minister 
Dr. Sarath Amunugama.  Bandaranaike is expected to accompany 
his sister when she leaves on an official visit to China on 
August 26.  The appointment followed widespread speculation 
that Bandaranaike, disappointed in his bid to gain his 
sister's endorsement as the next Sri Lanka Freedom Party 
(SLFP) presidential candidate (Ref C), would receive this 
plum post as a consolation prize, despite his comparative 
lack of experience in the field.  The possibility that 
presidential elections (and perhaps general elections as 
well) may be held before the end of the year (Ref B) suggests 
that Bandaranaike may not encumber his new post for long. 
(Some local wags have quipped that his well-known 
predilection for foreign travel is his strongest 
qualification for the job.  When asked what he thought of 
Bandaranaike's appointment, the head of a prominent local 
think tank replied, "Well, he's always wanted the job.") 
 
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FAMILY MATTERS 
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3.  (C) That said, Bandaranaike has "always wanted" and never 
obtained several positions--Prime Minister, President, SLFP 
leader--that he believes are his birthright.  As the male 
heir to the Bandaranaike dynasty, the new Foreign Minister 
has the rare distinction of having both parents (father 
S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike from 1956 until his assassination in 
1959 and mother Sirimavo Bandaranaike from 1960-65, 1970-77 
and 1994-2000) and a sister (briefly in 1994) serve as Prime 
Ministers and leaders of the SLFP.  When it became apparent 
that his mother was bypassing him for the party leadership 
(and thus, as SLFP presidential candidate) in favor of his 
older sister Chandrika in 1993, Anura left the party his 
father founded, crossing the aisle to become a member of the 
opposition United National Party (UNP).  He returned to the 
party in 2001, netting the Tourism Ministry after the SLFP 
victory in general elections in April 2004.  As an architect 
of the short-lived alliance between the SLFP and the Marxist 
Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) and a JVP "booster" within 
the Cabinet, Bandaranaike has sometimes found himself at odds 
with his sister over the past year as relations between the 
coalition partners frayed.  (In general, he is reported to be 
closer to elder sister Sunethra.)  There is some speculation 
that, given Bandaranaike's aisle-crossing past and the 
prospect of impending elections, the Foreign Ministry 
portfolio may have been offered to keep him in the party fold 
after he was passed up as SLFP presidential candidate yet 
again--this time by his sister--on August 1 (Ref C). 
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POLITICS IN THE BLOOD 
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4.  (SBU) Bandaranaike was born on February 15, 1949.  He was 
educated at Royal College in Colombo (compulsory entrance 
examinations to this competitive institution were suspended 
the year academic underachiever Bandaranaike applied, only to 
be re-instituted the following year), graduating in 1966. 
Among his classmates was Ranil Wickremesinghe, former Prime 
Minister and current Leader of the Opposition.  Bandaranaike 
received a B.A. in Western History from the University of 
London in 1973.  Upon his return from the UK, his mother 
anointed him head of the SLFP Youth League and a member of 
the party central committee. 
 
5.  (SBU)  Bandaranaike, who has served in Parliament 
continuously since 1977, has enjoyed a longer career in 
politics than his more famous sister, who only entered 
national-level politics in 1994.  He was first elected to 
Parliament in 1977, winning one of only eight SLFP seats that 
year, and became Leader of the Opposition in 1983 after his 
mother, upon being expelled from Parliament by the then-UNP 
government, lost that position.  In 1989 he was re-elected to 
Parliament.  After losing out to sister Chandrika as his 
mother's chosen successor, he was rewarded for crossing over 
to the UNP in 1993 with the post of Minister of Higher 
Education, re-entering Parliament as a national list (or 
appointed) UNP MP the following year.  Following his election 
to Parliament on the UNP ticket in 2000, he was unanimously 
elected Speaker--and promptly switched his party affiliation 
back to SLFP.  The SLFP's victory at general elections in 
April 2004 brought him out of the opposition and into the 
Cabinet as Minister of Tourism, Industries and Investment 
Promotion.  The President's August 1 announcement put to rest 
rampant speculation (some of it fueled by Bandaranaike 
himself) as to which SLFP stalwart--Prime Minister Mahinda 
Rajapakse or little brother Anura--would secure Kumaratunga's 
blessing to succeed her as President.  Nonetheless, 
Kumaratunga signaled her intention to keep the family in 
politics and politics in the family with her designation of 
Anura as SLFP candidate for Prime Minister in upcoming 
elections (Ref C). 
 
6.  (C)  Bandaranaike has turned in an unimpressive 
performance as Tourism Minister, however, especially in the 
aftermath of the December 26 tsunami, which exacted an 
estimated USD 58 million in recovery costs on the devastated 
industry.  On vacation in Canada at the time of the tragedy, 
Bandaranaike was criticized for failing to return to his 
stricken homeland expeditiously, instead extending his 
holiday for another 12 days.  Once back in Sri Lanka, he was 
quoted widely in the local press as describing his sister's 
decision to ban post-tsunami reconstruction within 100 meters 
of the coastline as "stupid."  Following that incident, 
Bandaranaike reported to POL FSN, the President told her 
younger brother to "keep quiet," and selected trusted civil 
servants instead for high-profile roles in post-tsunami 
planning and reconstruction. 
 
7.  (C)  Director General of Commerce K.N. Weerasinghe 
(please protect), commenting on his experiences with 
Bandaranaike in his capacity as Investment Promotion 
Minister, described him as a charming "self-promoter," who 
has no scruples about claiming credit for the (successful) 
efforts of others.  For example, when the Minister 
accompanied Weerasinghe to Brussels for GSP negotiations, 
Bandaranaike played little substantive role in aiding the GSL 
effort.  When the negotiations proved fruitful, however, 
Bandaranaike, upon his return, released posters and 
advertisements congratulating himself for a job well done. 
Weerasinghe also characterized his former boss as forgetful, 
unable to remember basic points, even if given them 
repeatedly. 
 
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HEALTH PROBLEMS? 
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8.  (C)  A diabetic, Bandaranaike has extreme difficulty in 
walking. (At a recent wreath-laying ceremony in Colombo, he 
proved nearly unable to climb the four steps to the 
monument.)  An earlier drinking problem, however, is now 
reported to be under control, and some say he has recently 
slimmed down as he has "gotten serious" about his political 
future.  The Foreign Minister is an avid movie fan, who 
enjoys frequent "film watching" trips to California and 
swapping film trivia with interlocutors .  A Sinhala 
Buddhist, he is unmarried.  He speaks excellent English. 
 
ENTWISTLE