Two members of Colombo University Council resign, more in the pipeline

Protest against unprincipled VC appointment

Two members of the Council of the University of Colombo, Mr. Tilak Karunaratne and Mr. Ajit Gunawardene have resigned from the Council with immediate effect protesting against the unprincipled manner in which a new Vice Chancellor of the University has been appointed by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

A third resignation from the 27-member Council, it is reliably understood, have been tendered and two more resignations are in the pipeline.

Of three names submitted to the president, Prof. Chandrika N. Wijeyaratne, who was ending her first term and had been strongly recommended for reappointment overwhelmingly scored the highest marks in the selection process (89.6) against those scored by the other two candidates, Prof. H.D. Karunaratne (66 marks), who was chosen, and Prof. Prathiba Mahanamahewa (64 marks).

The new appointee, a Viyath Maga activist, was backed by that organization.

Business leader Ajit Gunawardene, previously number two at JKH behind Ken Balendra, has said in his resignation letter to the UGC Chairman that he is quitting “on a matter of principle over the appointment of the VC that did not follow the principle of good governance of which I’m a firm believer.”

He has described Prof. Wijeyaratne, the former VC, as a “very effective leader and a further term, in his view, would have been highly beneficial to the university.”

Tilak Karunaratne, an alumnus of the University, industrialist, former MP and head of the SEC, who had served on the Council continuously for nearly 15 years, has said that he worked with five VCs and a Competent Authority since he was first appointed in 2007. Two of these were “political stooges of the Rajapaksas.”

The last two Vcs, Prof. Lakshman Dissanayake and Prof. Chandrika Wijeyaratne, were “totally apolitical” and in his considered view, Prof. Wijeyaratne was “the better of the two.”