CNI among officers to retire, new Military Int’l Chief named

By Shamindra Ferdinando

The JVP-led NPP government has decided against granting service extensions to current commanders of the Army, Navy and Air Force, as well as any other officer scheduled to retire on 31 Dec., 2024, according to sources.

Army Commander Lt. Gen. Vikum Liyanage and Navy Commander Vice Admiral Priyantha Perera are on their second extensions, whereas Air Force Commander Air Marshal Udeni Rajapaksa is on his first service extension. There have never been a previous instance of the Army, Navy and Air Force Commanders retiring simultaneously.

Among other officers expected to retire at the end of this year is Maj. Gen. Ruwan Kulatunga, Chief of National Intelligence (CNI). Kulatunga received the appointment in the second week of June, 2019, in the wake of the Easter Sunday carnage. Kulatunga succeeded retired DIG Sisira Mendis, one of those faulted by the Supreme Court for the failure to thwart the National Thowheed Jamaat (NTJ) terror attacks.

Sources said that Deputy Defence Minister Maj. Gen. (retd.) Aruna Jayasekera (NPP National List) had explained the government’s position with regard to service extensions to relevant officers. Unlike in the previous years, the newly retired officers were unlikely to be considered for diplomatic appointments, sources said. Ex-military chiefs who had been heading our diplomatic missions at the time of the change of government were recalled. Among the recalled were three former Navy Commanders, Admirals Jayanath Colombage (Indonesia), Ravi Wijegunaratne (Pakistan) and Nilantha Ulugetenne (Cuba). The NPP government also recalled Air Chief Marshal Sudarshana Pathirana from Nepal.

Within weeks after the general election held on 21 Nov., the NPP brought the State Intelligence Service (SIS) under DIG Dhammika Priyantha. The appointment brought the SIS under the police again. Following the 2019 presidential election, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa appointed Maj. Gen. Suresh Sallay as head of the SIS, in place of DIG Nilantha Jayawardena, also fined by the Supreme Court for failing to thwart the NTJ attacks. The government picked DIG Priyantha in spite of him not having served the intelligence services previously.

In spite of Jayawardena being accused of negligence, in early January 2023, on the recommendation of the then IGP Chandana Wickremaratne, he was promoted to the rank of Senior DIG and appointed Senior DIG Administration. However, in July, in the run up to the presidential election, the National Police Commission (NPC) sent Jayawardena on compulsory leave pending an internal disciplinary investigation into his part in the overall intelligence failure leading to the Easter Sunday attacks.

Near simultaneous attacks claimed the lives of 270 people. More than 400 others were wounded in the suicide blasts. Among the dead were approximately 40 foreigners.

In line with the NPP’s policy, the Office of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) would be scrapped and the coordinating of the armed forces brought under direct control of the Defence Ministry, sources said. Hence incumbent CDS General Shavendra Silva, the wartime GoC of the celebrated 58 Division (formerly Task Force 1) would retire on 31 Dec., 2024.

The appointment of Brig. Deeptha Ariyasena as head of the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI) was among the key changes effected by the new government. Several senior officers of the DMI had been moved to the Regimental Centre while the government is contemplating what one source called total overhaul of the intelligence community.

Ariyasena, who had been with the mechanized infantry, served in the East as Brigadier General Staff when Maj. Gen. Aruna Jayasekera functioned as the Security Forces Commander, East, in the post-war period. Ariyasena hadn’t served the intelligence services before the new appointment. Jayasekera retired in Oct. 2019 after having served the Army for over 30 years.

Political and military sources said that the NPP government’s concerns over the security apparatus needed to be addressed soon. Sources pointed out that Defence Secretary Air Vice Marshal Sampath Tuiyakontha and Maj. Gen. Aruna Jayasekera played a significant role in the NPP political campaign in the run up to the presidential and parliamentary polls and were instrumental in overseeing the changes.