FOREIGN MINISTER STICKS UP FOR HIS SISTER, SLAMS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 COLOMBO 001868

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/31/2015
TAGS: PGOV PREL KIRF CE MV
SUBJECT: FOREIGN MINISTER STICKS UP FOR HIS SISTER, SLAMS
PRIME MINISTER AND PLEDGES COOPERATION WITH THE UNITED
STATES

REF: (A) COLOMBO 1864 (B) COLOMBO 1858

Classified By: Ambassador Jeffrey J. Lunstead for reasons 1.4 (d).


1. (C) Summary. Sri Lankan Foreign Minister (and
brother of President Kumaratunga) Anura
Bandaranaike told the Ambassador he is
contemptuous of SLFP Presidential candidate
Mahinda Rajapakse's alliance with the Marxist JVP,
will not campaign very hard on Rajapakse's behalf
and is not at all sure he would want to be Prime
Minister in such a government ("a carnival of
fools"). He fears religious freedom would suffer
under a Rajapakse presidency. Bandaranaike said
he looked forward to working with the U.S. on
international issues given the shared democratic
tradition between the two countries. In
particular, he echoed U.S. concerns re Maldives
and reiterated Sri Lankan support for Afghan SAARC
membership. Engaging and intelligent despite his
lightweight reputation, the new FM is clearly
someone with whom we can work. End Summary

Campaign Off to Good Start
--------------


2. (C) The Ambassador, accompanied by DCM
(notetaker),called on Sri Lanka Foreign Minister
(and Presidential sibling) Anura Bandaranaike
October 28. Turning first to the ongoing
Presidential election campaign, the FM noted that
preparations seemed to be going well and that the
Election Commissioner was doing a very good job,
especially on difficult issues like making
preparations for voters to come out of LTTE-
controlled territory to vote. He commented that
the low level of election-related violence so far
is "too good to be true" and stated that his
sister is briefed daily on the security situation
and is "committed to peaceful elections." The FM
praised the recent announcement by the Election
Commissioner that in the event of polling
irregularities in a given district, there will be
repolling as opposed to just a recount.

Contempt for Rajapakse's JVP Alliance
--------------


3. (C) Turning to the substance of the campaign,
Bandaranaike characterized the alliance of his Sri
Lanka Freedom Party's (SLFP) candidate, current
Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse, with the Janatha
Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) and the Jathika Hela
Urumaya (JHU) as "disturbing" and "totally
contradictory to stated (SLFP) policy."
Bandaranaike claimed he had gone to the signing
ceremony of the joint SLFP/JVP pact without
knowing exactly what the occasion was and thus "I
had to sit through an attack on my sister." The
FM said that he had tried to "reform" the JVP by
sending them on international trips to broaden
their horizons. "It had no impact whatsoever," he
said. Bandaranaike chuckled about the JVP
admiration of North Korea and Cuba. Laughing
about the party's adulation of Venezuelan leader
Hugo Chavez, the FM commented: "Chavez sits on a
sea of oil. What does the JVP sit on, a sea of
tea?" The JVP "understanding of policy is zero,"
Bandaranaike concluded.

Hard to Campaign for "Carnival of Fools"
--------------


4. (C) This means that Rajapakse's dependence on
the JVP will, if he wins, make for "a hell of a
government to run," the FM assered. The
Ambassador asked the FM about the general
assumption that he would be Prime Minister (while
keeping the Foreign Minister portfolio) if
Rajapakse wins. Bandaranaike confirmed that could
well happen but said he was not sure if he wanted
to be "part of a ridiculous carnival of fools."
Asked about his sister's recent meeting with
opposition leader and United National Party (UNP)
leader Ranil Wickremasinghe, Bandaranaike said
that Ranil "has been making encouraging sounds of
a national consensus" and that the meeting had
been a "useful one-on-one session." Picking up
on the Ambassador's observation that there is a
significant congruence of position between the two
major Sinhalese parties, Bandaranaike agreed and
said he personally had always favored a Sinhalese
political consensus since otherwise "there will
never be a political solution that Tamils can
accept." He pointed out that his father, SWRD
Bandaranaike, had called for a federal system for
the country in 1936, making him by far the first
Sinhalese politician to do so.


5. (C) Asked the extent to which he will campaign
for Rajapakse, Bandaranaike said he is a loyal
SLFP member but it is very difficult for him to
restrain himself on the subject of Rajapakse and
the JVP. Thus, he will not share the stage with
the JVP and will only appear at rallies with his
sister. Bandaranaike said there will only be two
more such meetings before they both go to Dhaka
for the November 10 SAARC summit. He would also
tell voters in his constituency to vote for
Rajapakse but, beyond that, "good luck to him."
"I can't oppose my own party but my conscience
will not permit me to do more." Asked to handicap
the Presidential race, Bandaranaike said it will
be very close with Rajapakse "having a tough
time."

Religious Freedom Concerns
--------------


6. (C) Bandaranaike said one of his many concerns
with a Rajapakse presidency is that he fears
Rajapakse would not be able to stop the
reintroduction of anti-conversion legislation.
"This worries us very much." The SLFP has already
lost the Catholic vote due to this issue,
Bandaranaike opined and he said there was no
question that the JHU had been involved in church
burnings. He noted that his father's side of the
family is still Christian and emphasized that both
he and his sister are firmly committed to a multi-
religious Sri Lanka. The Ambassador reviewed U.S.
concerns about anti-conversion legislation which
he characterized as "detrimental" to Sri Lanka.
"I agree," Bandaranaike responded.

Shared Democratic Values as Basis for Cooperation
-------------- --------------


7. (C) Turning to the international arena
(discussion of Iran reported Ref A),the
Ambassador advised Bandaranaike that in Secretary
Rice's Washington meeting with subsequently-
assassinated Sri Lanka Foreign Minister Lakshman
Kadirgamar, the two had had an extensive
discussion of the democratic experience that the
U.S. and Sri Lanka share. The U.S. hopes that
those shared values will translate into practical
action, for instance in Sri Lankan support for the
U.S. in venues like the U.N. Human Rights
Commission on tough issues like human rights in
Cuba. Bandaranaike said he looked forward to
working with the U.S. and that the Ambassador
should never hesitate to bring up "tough issues"
with him.

Shared Concern on Maldives
--------------

8. (C) Asked about his recent official visit to
Maldives, Bandaranaike said that a fundamental
change is under way there and cited Gayoom's new,
younger cabinet as evidence of this. But ("with a
capital B"),the FM continued, the political
system is still clearly controlled by a "handful
of people" around Maldivian President Gayoom and
this is untenable. "He (Gayoom) is on the right
path but the pace is too slow. He needs to move
faster and ease control. Resentment of Gayoom is
growing." The Ambassador reviewed U.S. efforts to
promote peaceful democratic growth in Maldives and
U.S. concerns about the recent sentencing of
Jennifer Latheef to ten years and the hastily-
commenced trial of Mohamed Nasheed. Bandaranaike
said he planned to discuss Maldives at the SAARC
summit in Dhaka. Moreover, he continued, the
Commonwealth needs to do more. He would make sure
Maldives is on the agenda when he represents his
sister at the Commonwealth Heads of Government
Meeting (CHOGM) November 22-23 in Malta. The
Ambassador noted he was meeting with Maldivian FM
Shaheed on October 31 in Colombo. Bandaranaike
mused that perhaps he should as well.

Afghanistan/SAARC
--------------


9. (C) Picking up on the Foreign Minister's
references to the SAARC summit, the Ambassador
said that the U.S. firmly supported Afghan
membership in SAARC and understood that Sri Lanka
shared that view. "Yes," Bandaranaike replied.

Comment
--------------


10. (C) The Foreign Minister came across as a
friendly and intelligent interlocutor if not
always up to speed on the latest international
developments (but quick to understand and respond
appropriately once they were raised and
explained). Indeed, the rap on Anura over the
years has not been a lack of intelligence but
rather his playboy lifestyle and questionable work
ethic. It is debatable whether Bandaranaike
could bring himself to turn down the Prime
Ministership, if offered, but his contempt for
Rajapakse and his at best tepid commitment to work
for his party's presidential candidate were
unmistakable. On Maldives, Bandaranaike could
have been reading from the U.S. position paper.
From the career diplomat perspective one cannot
help but wonder how the FM relates to his
bureaucracy. He ignored several attempts by
Foreign Ministry staff in the meeting to draw his
attention to a detailed list of talking points
they had placed in front of him. Moreover, with a
baleful glance at the Foreign Ministry notetaker,
Bandaranaike told the Ambassador he would invite
him soon for a "one-on-one" lunch "so we can talk
freely." Bottom line: we can work with this guy-
-he is intelligent and understands our positions.
What we don't know is if he will be able to bend
the MFA bureaucracy, which still tends to hold on
to NAM solidarity and similar outdated ideas. End
Comment
LUNSTEAD