Amidst closure of six overseas missions new appointments taking place

By Shamindra Ferdinando

The government has nominated Sri Lanka’s former Ambassador in Norway lawyer Godfrey Cooray, as Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to Germany.

Cooray will succeed Manori Unambuwa, another non-career head of Sri Lankan mission. Corporate professional Unambuwa assumed duties in early July 2020.

Cooray recently returned to Colombo following the closure of Sri Lanka’s mission in Norway, in line with the cash-strapped government decision to close down some of its overseas missions.

Sources told The Island that Cooray offered to move to a smaller and cheaper place to reduce expenditure in a bid to convince the government to reverse its decision.

Manori Unambuwa received the top diplomatic appointment after having played a significant role in Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s 2019 presidential election campaign.

At the time of the last presidential election, the one-time Defence Secretary Karunasena Hettiarachchi served as Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to Germany, also accredited to Switzerland.

The government has also nominated former Foreign Secretary Admiral Jayanath Colombage as Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to Japan. Colombage will succeed Sanjiv Gunasekera, who suddenly gave up the top posting. Gunasekera announced his retirement on May 09 and concluded his term yesterday (15).

Sources said that new posting was taking place at a time Sri Lanka’s relations with Japan suffered a setback owing to the cancellation of several projects, including the light rail project proposed for Colombo. Admiral Colombage is the second ex-Navy Commander to receive posting as Colombo’s top envoy in Tokyo. Admiral of the Fleet Wasantha Karannagoda earlier served in Tokyo.

The Parliamentary High Post Committee recently called for public representations as regards the nomination of Cooray and Colombage. Sources said that the parliamentary process was routine and there hadn’t been instances where nominations got rejected at the all-party outfit chaired by Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena.

In late March this year the Foreign Ministry announced the decision to close down missions in Norway and Iraq and the Consulate General in Sydney. Sources said that the closure of missions was part of general restructuring of the country’s representation overseas. But, the Foreign Ministry had no option but to close down some missions to reduce expenditure in the face of the country experiencing a severe shortage of foreign exchange.

Sources said that Sri Lanka had never closed down missions due to financial constraints before.

On Dec 31, 2021, the Foreign Ministry closed down the Sri Lanka High Commission in Abuja, Nigeria, the Consulate General in Frankfurt, Germany and the Consulate General in Nicosia, Cyprus.

Sources said that since the financial situation had deteriorated further, the likelihood of the Foreign Ministry having to close down more missions couldn’t be ruled out.