Bogollagama defends his postings

By Thalif Deen

Foreign Minister Rohita Bogollagama, who has been accused by his critics of ‘politicising’ the country's foreign service, vigorously defended the appointments made during his nine-month tenure in office.

Foreign Minister Rohita Bogollagama

In an interview at the United Nations last week, he said: “As Foreign Minister of Sri Lanka, I have inherited the foreign service, and I believe strongly that the foreign service has to measure up to the world at large. I want to make the Sri Lanka foreign service world class. And the promise of the foreign service has to be reflected in terms of delivery.”

He said that Sri Lanka “has maintained a high profile and high visibility at the United Nations and it has done more than its due share.”

“We have exceeded our profile the world over. We have some of the best in our foreign service.”

Excerpts from the interview:

Q: How do you respond to the charge that the foreign service is being politicised?

A: Within the nine months I have served as Foreign Minister, I have made 11 new appointments at the heads of mission level, of which seven are career diplomats: Karunathilake Amunugama to China, T.B. Maduwagedera to Germany, Ravinatha Ariyasinghe to Brussels, W.M. Seneviratna to Israel, Ranjith Jayasuriya to Stockholm, C.F. Chinniah to Poland and I. Ansar to Egypt. I have posted these senior foreign service officers, including additional secretaries, to key capitals. Is there a better record than this?

Q: What about the political appointees?

A: I have named four political appointees: Hemantha Warnakulasuriya to Italy, Tyronne Fernando to France, Aloy Ratnayake to the Philippines and Professor J.B. Dissanayake to Thailand. All four are distinguished professionals, and include a former President of the Bar Association, a former parliamentarian with over 25 years experience, a very renowned academic and a lawyer who was once chairman of Lake House.

Q: Do you still plan to continue with the foreign service exam to recruit career diplomats?

A: Yes, we will continue with the foreign service exams. It is a statutory requirement. There are no two words about it. After a long lapse, there is a deficit of about 45, which I am going all out to accommodate. We need a major presence in 55 missions all over the world. How can you manage with only 160 persons, as we have now? What's the ratio: only three per mission? We have some overseas missions with only one foreign service officer. We have other missions with none-- like our mission in Brussels. When I visited Brussels about two weeks ago, I discovered we did not have a single foreign service staffer there. Why was this allowed to happen?

Q: Is there a rule that a foreign service officer who retires will not be given any new diplomatic appointments?

A: We have not set any such rule. Once an officer retires from the foreign service, he or she is no longer a member of the foreign service. I don't have to lay down a rule there. Like any other retiree, he or she can be eligible or be available for everything else in the country. Eligibility does not cease because the contract has ceased-- whether it's the administrative, judiciary or the foreign service. Thereby, they can be picked to serve the country, whether internally or externally. How can we deny that or why should we deny that? And how can we lose so much of talent merely because you are an ‘ex’? An ex-ambassador? Or an-ex high commissioner?

Q: What about the second tier and third tier diplomats who were appointed from outside the foreign service?

A: We have had several career diplomats as second in command in Italy, Kuwait and Russia. We have a foreign service officer as head of our consulate in Jeddah and we have someone from the private sector in our new consulate in Frankfurt. We are going to open a consulate in Shanghai. We have a major advocate of the Palestinian cause, who also holds a doctorate, as head of our new office in Palestine. As for the four information officers, some of them are experienced ex-journalists who have served in Oslo and Chennai but they are being posted for limited periods -- 12 to 24 months.

Q: Are you planning to close down any missions-- for example, the one in Brazil?

A: No, we are not. In fact Brazil has decided to open a mission in Colombo. So have South Africa and Spain. This is because our bilateral relations have increased.

Q: What about widespread reports that you are having problems with your foreign secretary?

A: We have the best of relations. I don't know of any problems. Do you believe the newspapers?. He is somewhere down the corridors (in the UN delegate's lounge). I will get him down here. I am elected by the people to serve the country. I don't have any problems with anybody.