The Department of Chosen Ones’ explores how power truly operates inside the Sri Lankan state

An eye-opening and timely insider’s account of how patronage shapes nations, set against Sri Lanka’s recent political upheavals, has been launched by Sri Lankan economist and award-winning author Thisuri Wanniarachchi.

‘The Department of Chosen Ones’ is a memoir-driven exploration of how power truly operates inside the Sri Lankan state. Published by Vijitha Yapa Publications, the book traces Thisuri Wanniarachchi’s journey from a childhood shaped by war and ambition to the center of government, where she served in the Presidential Secretariat as Assistant Director of Sustainable Development and became the youngest member of Maithripala Sirisena’s executive staff.

From inside the state, the book reveals how patronage, loyalty, proximity, and silence, rather than merit or ideology, shape decisions and outcomes. It follows her resignation during the 2018 constitutional coup and her subsequent role leading Harsha de Silva’s team of analysts at the Ministry of Economic Reforms, where she confronted the same systemic forces from a different vantage point, while attempting to push reform from within. Along the way, the memoir features encounters with key political figures including Ranil Wickremesinghe, Mangala Samaraweera, Mahinda Rajapaksa, and senior bureaucrats such as Austin Fernando.

The narrative then moves into the world of international development, following her work across multiple countries and institutions and carrying the lessons learned inside Sri Lanka’s political system into new contexts. At the same time, the book remains deeply personal, reflecting on ambition, love, belonging, and the cost of dissent. It also incorporates the findings of Wanniarachchi’s PhD research on the impact of political patronage on Sri Lanka’s public sector, asking what it means to grow into one’s convictions in systems where survival so often depends on being chosen.

Thisuri won the State Literary Award for Best English Novel at just sixteen for her debut, Colombo Streets, and The Department of Chosen Ones marks her return to Sri Lanka’s literary scene with her first work of nonfiction.