Maitripala was in US 2013 ‘Potential Leaders’ list
(Courtesy of Asian Tribune)
The pieces behind the nomination of Maitripala Sirisena as the Joint Opposition presidential candidate are slowly moving to form a larger scenario pointing in the direction of an invisible hand of external maneuvering, a possible covert involvement of the United States AID and Diplomatic offices in Colombo in the background.
The Colombo office of the USAID, which is functioning under the US Department of State, executes its Sri Lanka operation, at all times, with the connivance and coordination with the US diplomatic mission in Colombo, which too is under the same department.
Both the USAID office and US Diplomatic Mission in Sri Lanka work very closely not only to execute the US socio-economic assistance program but also coordinate with Sri Lanka’s development agencies and personalities who operate such agencies to promote American interests and further its foreign policy goals.
Both these offices coordinate and work together to identify ‘potential leaders’ in all field in Sri Lanka – which of course include the political arena – while the AID office goes about with its development agenda and the diplomatic mission executing its diplomatic program.
When former American ambassador Jeffrey Lunsted endeavored to influence the Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in 2005, convening sessions in many districts, to get them to raise a joint voice for the implementation of the Thirteenth Amendment of the Sri Lanka Constitution to bring pressure on the Government to effect devolution of political and administrative power to the provinces the USAID totally funded the project.
The USAID-funded project in 2005 with indigenous non-governmental organizations (NGOs) promoted a federal structure as a panacea for Sri Lanka’s all ills. The program was inaugurated under the former American ambassador Jeffrey Lunstead and it cleared showed the close coordination between the USAID and the US diplomatic mission.
Nomination of Heath Minister Maitripala Sirisena as a recipient of the Harvard Health Leadership Award for 2013 was a joint effort by the Colombo offices of the AID and US diplomatic mission, with the concurrence of Washington, an indication that they had identified Mr. Sirisena a ‘potential leader’.
Those who have closely associated with American diplomats are well aware that identifying a potential leader was/ and is done having extensive knowledge about the individual which include the persons developed mind-set in a given political environment, the persons attitude and perspective toward the organization and its individuals to which he is connected to and how useful the person can be to further American interests in the host country.
Washington State Department, throughout, is very knowledgeable of this process and is well briefed about those who get into this ‘List’.
The Colombo diplomats and USAID officials use many different maneuvers and techniques to obtain this vast knowledge of individuals.
Undoubtedly, the nomination of Health Minister Maitripala Sirisena as a recipient of the prestigious Harvard Health Leadership Award for 2013 was done after having this extensive knowledge. The Harvard health leadership award -2013 was presented to Minister Maitripala Sirisena at the annual leadership conference of the public health research institute of Harvard University in June 2013. Fifteen Latin American, Asian and African countries were represented by Ministers and other representatives. This is the first occasion when a Sri Lankan won the award. The award has been handed over, it was stated, for the contributions made by the Minister for minimizing the consumption of alcohol and smoking and adopting a National Drug Policy.
The USAID Washington is one of the major fund providers to the Harvard Public Health Education Institute of the Harvard University. Bureau for Global Health of the USAID (Washington) works very closely with the Harvard Institute under which Center for Global Tobacco Control functions.
The Office of Country Support (OCS) is the Bureau for Global Health’s hub to provide broad, strategic assistance and support to countries and missions. With changing initiatives and priorities, this support assists both country programs and HQ country teams in understanding and managing challenges involving business practices as they relate to field programs.
The Country Team (of USAID) in Colombo works and coordinates well with the foreign service officers (FSOs) in the United States Embassy, Sri Lanka not only executing projects/programs but also maintaining close contacts with individuals who are in responsible and coveted positions. Both these offices jointly develop ‘potential leaders list’ to promote US interests in the host country.
Earlier it was noted the manner in which a person is included in the potential leaders list. The two offices – AID and US Embassy – to jointly nominate Maitripala Sirisena as a recipient of the prestigious Harvard Award, and Washington to give its approval, despite the fact that the National Drug Policy was not fully successful, speaks volumes of American maneuvering in a host country to go well beyond the ‘tobacco and drug policy’ to manipulate the internal political environment to further US foreign policy objectives.
Mr. Maitripala Sirisena seems to be in the middle of this maneuvering of the ‘external force’ that endeavor to impose a different trajectory upon this South Asian nation Sri Lanka.
By Daya Gamage
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