Appointments to high posts

When a new administration takes charge, the individuals who are appointed for the most prominent posts receive considerable attention from the public. The NPP leaders during the campaign trail gave an assurance that influential positions within the administration would be filled by competent and qualified individuals who possess the relevant experience. 

As the new Government was elected on a platform of heralding a systemic change, their selection of personnel to discharge the key responsibilities of the administration would be observed with keen interest by the general public.

In countries like the US, individuals to high-profile designations are chosen through a process called vetting by which an extensive background check is performed on the individuals before they are chosen. Even potential conflicts of interest too are taken into account through this background checking. Given the NPP’s pre-election claim of selecting people based on merit, one would have expected them to follow such a methodical process.

The appointment of an official from the Department of Customs as Secretary to President by Anura Kumara Dissanayake received mixed reactions. Some praised the academic accomplishments of the new Secretary while others claimed he was appointed as he had studied together with the President during his university days. Dr. Nandika Sanath Kumanayake has been in the service of Sri Lanka Customs since 1997, and he has a Ph.D. in Development Economics. However, the coveted post throughout the history had been occupied by a senior public servant representing either the SLAS or Planning Service. It was only during the tenure of Chandrika Kumaratunge, K. Balapatabendi, a person outside the Government service was selected for the powerful job. 

Before his appointment as Secretary to President, Kumanayake was a Deputy Director at the Department of Customs. Appointing a junior official to such a high-profile position perhaps would not have been the best course of action on the part of the President given the challenges he would experience during his tenure. Nevertheless, people would expect Dr. Kumanayake would do justice to the confidence that had been placed on him by the President.

Meanwhile, a number of retired individuals from the Tri-Forces had been given plum appointments. All these individuals actively contributed towards the NPP’s election campaign. The selection of retired military personnel brings back the memories of the Gotabaya Rajapaksa administration, in which many former military officials were entrusted with responsible tasks such as Secretaries and Chairmen of State Corporations. The empirical evidence suggests that people from military backgrounds fail to deliver when they are exposed to civilian or non-military assignments. Critical designations like Secretaries of Ministries should not be filled by retired policemen and army personnel. The NPP’s election campaign was based on the narrative of replacing the old guard with vibrant and youthful-looking people; hence, placing retired military commanders at the highest seats of decision-making among important State institutions would be a disappointment for those who expected a departure from the business as usual.

The NPP also gave an undertaking to depoliticise the Sri Lankan Foreign Service while assuring the voters they would refrain from filling the Foreign Service with the relatives and friends of politicians. The foreign service of every country includes political appointees. In the US for instance, ambassadors to strategically important countries like China are filled by politically connected individuals. Even in the Sri Lankan context, the foreign missions in China and India had been headed by people who had close connections to the political leadership of the Government due to the strategic importance of the two regional powers to the country’s foreign policy. In consideration of such circumstances, it would be in the best interest of the new administration to have a blend of career diplomats as well as few political appointments to maintain robust relations with its foreign partners.