Tuesday, 17 April 2012 
Supervising MP of the External Affairs Ministry, Sajin Vass Gunarwadena has told several of his close confidantes that the President has assured him that Seneviratne would be appointed as the ministry secretary.
The President’s son, MP Namal Rajapaksa has requested the President to let Prof. G.L. Peiris remain as the External Affairs Minister and to appoint Seneviratne as the ministry secretary.
Seneviratne was the Sri Lankan High Commissioner in the UK when Namal was receiving his education in London and she had released two High Commission vehicles to Namal and his friends. Seneviratne’s husband had spent lavishly on Namal and his friends while in London. Seneviratne had also taken a luxury house in London from High Commission funds claiming that it would be used by Namal when he visits the UK.
Seneviratne’s husband had spent lavishly to fund Namal’s secret expenses. Although intelligence units have uncovered that Seneviratne’s husband had been involved in several deals with two LTTE members during the period, the investigations have been swept under the carpet by Namal.
However, it is learnt that Treasury Secretary Dr. P.B. Jayasundera is displeased that G.L. Peiris was trying to remove External Affairs Ministry Secretary Karunathilaka Amunugama and to get Seneviratne appointed as the Ministry Secretary by getting Gunawardena and Namal to make the request from the President. Jayasundera has explained to the President that the Chinese government might not be pleased if a sudden decision was taken to remove Amunugama since he played a key role in getting the Chinese government to provide aid to Sri Lanka during the war and has now got the Chinese to invest in the country.
The diplomatic community recognizes Amunugama as an official loyal to the Chinese.
The President has discussed the inefficiencies of the External Affairs Ministry with some of his close confidantes and they have advised him to strengthen ties with India and to appoint an official with good ties with Indians as the External Affairs Ministry Secretary.
They have said the ideal person for the job would be Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner to India, Prasad Kariyawasam.
We previously reported that the senior Foreign Service officials are divided into three groups as those supporting Europe, China and India.
