‘Prez shouldn’t have questioned loyalty of armed forces’

By Shamindra Ferdinando

Former Public Security Minister Rear Admiral (retired) Sarath Weerasekera said that the National People’s Power (NPP) government should explain the rationale in reducing the overall strength of the armed forces to 158,000 officers and men by 2030.

Weerasekera, who served as the Navy Chief of Staff at the time he retired at the onset of Eelam War IV, said that the NPP appeared to have adopted the proposal made by the Wickremesinghe-Rajapaksa government in late 2023.

Weerasekera was commenting on President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s recent declaration in Parliament that the strength of the Army, Navy and Air Force would be reduced to 100,000, 40,000 and 18,000, respectively, by 2030. The President said so addressing Parliament during the Committee Stage Debate on the 2025 Budget.

President Dissanayake, who is also the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, in addition to being the Defence Minister, owed the country an explanation as to whether he adopted the previous government’s plan and who actually formulated the strategy, the naval veteran queried.

At the height of the war in 2008/2009, the combined strength of the armed forces was around 300,000, the war veteran said. Acknowledging that since the conclusion of the war in 2009, the strength of the armed forces had been gradually decreased, the ex-parliamentarian emphasized the responsibility on the part of the incumbent government to be prepared to face any eventuality.

The former Minister said that having served the Navy for over three decades he was so disappointed to hear the President questioning the professionalism of the country’s armed forces. The President’s assertion that our armed forces had been loyal to individuals but not the State was nothing but an insult to those who defeated northern and southern terror, the ex-MP said.

There had never been a single instance of the armed forces disregarding political directives during the war in the north-east and at the time of southern insurrections in 1971 and 1987-1990, the SLPPer said.

The war veteran asked whether the reduction of the armed forces had been in line with the agreement the previous government finalized with the IMF. In 2024 the Parliament unanimously passed the controversial Economic Transformation Bill that guaranteed whoever won the presidential and parliamentary polls the IMF agreement would be followed.

The former Minister said that the NPP government couldn’t absolve itself of the responsibility for defending our armed forces at the Geneva-based UNHRC. Unfortunately, the NPP not only questioned the professionalism of our armed forces but their loyalty, as well, amidst ongoing Geneva sessions, the ex-parliamentarian who served as the Chairman of the Oversight Committee on National Security, during the previous administration, said.

Commenting on the recent directive to arrest military deserters in the wake of a legally discharged soldier killing Ganemulle Sanjeewa in a courtroom at Hulftsdorp, Weerasekera emphasized the government couldn’t rein in the underworld by such measures alone.

There could be instances of serving personnel carrying out hits for the underworld, Weerasekera said, urging the government to be cautious in addressing perennial issues, such as nexus between the armed forces men and the underworld.

Weerasekera said that the economy was still in dire straits and the country couldn’t afford to undermine the security apparatus. Reference was also made to recent happenings at the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI) where over a dozen Brigadiers and Colonels had been moved out to pave the way for a relatively junior officer to move up the ladder.

The former Minister pointed out that fresh uncertainty was developing in the wake of the NPP’s contentious approach to defence.