Sarath Fonseka’s divided loyalty to US & Sri Lanka: High risk of foreign manipulation

All nations rightly guard against introducing “foreign influences” into their highest governing councils. The nations have all reasons to fear the “foreign influence” in their governance.

The prohibition by constitutional law or by tradition of a person with dual-loyalty to become the executive head is a fundamental policy of all governments to exclude foreign influence from their executive councils and duties.

In the January 26 presidential election Sri Lanka has faced an unusual situation in which one of the candidates is a Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR) of another country. And this country in question wields broad and almost unchallenged political, military and economic influence over global affairs to the extent that it is in a strong position to effect changes especially in the internal affairs of Third World Developing Nations.

If elected at the January 26 presidential poll this declared Common Opposition Candidate will bring far reaching consequences to the governance of Sri Lanka in allowing the introduction of “foreign influence” to the nation’s executive councils as he has divided loyalty to his country of birth and to the foreign nation that has granted him Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR) status.

Federal laws can be used to bring influence/coercion on Fonseka that will reflect in the decisions of the Fonseka administration introducing foreign influence to the governance of Sri Lanka

The Common Opposition Candidate Sarath Fonseka is a Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR) of the United States holding the U.S. Government issued USCIS Form 1-551. The United States Customs & Immigration Service (USCIS) issues this document declaring an alien a Lawful Permanent Resident for all purposes and subject to Federal regulations and laws.

Under the Constitution of the United States an alien who is made a LPR is barred from being elected to the position of President of the United States because the nation does not entertain a person to be its Executive President who has divided loyalty that brings foreign influence along with it.

With the declared candidacy of the former army commander General Sarath Fonseka backed by the opposition’s main conservative party the United National Party and the indigenous socialist Janatha Vimukthi Peremuna (JVP) Sri Lanka is on the verge of being manipulated or influenced by a foreign power who is alarmed by the recent geo-political formation of the South and East Asian Region with increased Indian and Chinese presence as noted by the November (2009) report of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Sri Lanka.

The United States has been an influential factor in Sri Lanka’s politics, economic development and to some extent her governance since 1948 Independence but never made any attempt of directly bringing its ‘influence’ into the governing council with an implicit and explicit indication for ‘regime change’ because of its disappointment with the current Rajapaksa regime acting independent of US/Western influence.

Facts have emerged that the Human Rights Unit of the US Department of Homeland Security did not act alone but was well armed with the reports/investigations/analyses supplied by the South and Central Asian Affairs Bureau of the US State Department to almost coerce former army commander Sarath Fonseka for an ‘interview’ on the US soil to implicate Sri Lanka’s incumbent defense secretary for alleged human rights violations and war crimes, an agenda pushed by the pro-LTTE ‘formation’ in the U.S. which has established a close rapport with officials of the State Department such as former American ambassador Robert Blake now the head of the Bureau.

Fonseka’s rapport, dialogue and contacts with the officials of the U.S. government will have a far reaching impact in the affairs of Sri Lanka should he become the Executive President.

As a Lawful Permanent Resident of the United States having his very close family residing in the U.S. State of Oklahoma the U.S. rightly possesses, under federal laws or otherwise, far reaching influence on Sarath Fonseka and his immediate family.

The United States having disappointed with the current Rajapaksa administration of its non-US/West independent governing style never adopted by any previous Sri Lankan regimes except Madam Sirima Bandaranaike’s in the seventies when she accused the West as ‘rapacious’, having failed to maintain the LTTE not as a terror group but as a ‘pressure group’ preventing its total annihilation to reign over the ‘Sinhalese-dominated’ government, having opened a special dialogue with the US-based pro-LTTE lobby to alter the path taken by the Rajapaksa administration after the defeat of the Tamil Tigers, beginning to realize that the U.S. has been marginalized with India-China stepping in to facilitate the creation of a geo-political formation in the South and East Asian Region with Libya, Iran, Burma and Pakistan solidly with Sri Lanka, having failed to drag Sri Lanka to international forums that deal with war crimes, human rights violations and other atrocities as envisaged by the new LTTE formation in the U.S, and finally failed to gain the ‘interview’ from Sarath Fonseka scheduled for November 4 (2009) to implicate Sri Lankan leaders of alleged war crimes and other atrocities it made a subtle move toward achieving the ‘regime change’ through Fonseka a Lawful Permanent Resident that the United States is able to use covert and overt influence should he becomes the next Sri Lanka president on January 26.

Fonseka Presidency: Vulnerable to Influence & Manipulation

Since the Executive President is a supreme policymaker of the government he heads, and the commander-in-chief who is the ultimate responsible person on vital national security matters he has immediate access to classified and top secret information. Further, the state guards trade and economic secrets with imminent political decisions the Executive President would not let foreign agents to know or discover.

Divided loyalty of the person who holds that coveted position is a security concern because it can lead to the voluntary and deliberate compromise of information one is obligated to protect.

Sarath Fonseka candidacy has posed Sri Lanka this serious and unusual situation.

All types of foreign contacts present some risk of foreign manipulation or influence. Friends, immediate family members, extended family members, and business and professional contacts all provide a potential avenue for a foreign intelligence service or other intelligence collector to contact, assess, develop, and attempt to obtain classified information or other protected information.

The foreign intelligence or security service can make a relative or friend's life better or worse and is more likely to be successful with the carrot than the stick.

The opposition presidential candidate Sarath Fonseka fits into the above description for many reasons: (1) He is a Lawful Permanent Resident of the United States subject to U.S. federal laws (2) Federal laws can be used to bring influence/coercion on Fonseka that will reflect in the decisions of the Fonseka administration introducing foreign influence to the governance of Sri Lanka (3) The U.S. authorities are aware that Fonseka needs to maintain his status as Lawful Permanent Resident to facilitate his two daughters and the son-in-law (Foreign intelligence or security service can make a relative or friend's life better or worse and is more likely to be successful with the carrot than the stick.) (4) Fonseka’s rapport, dialogue and contacts with the officials of the U.S. government will have a far reaching impact in the affairs of Sri Lanka should he become the Executive President.

Equal Preference: In the case of Sarath Fonseka because of his divided roots, born in Sri Lanka with the citizenship right and being a Lawful Permanent Resident of the United States, it goes beyond divided loyalty to an alarming level of ‘equal preference’.

Many nations through their constitutions or traditions have prevented anyone who possesses equal preferences or foreign preference to become head of state. Despite her charisma and leadership brought the Congress Party to political power in India a strong lobby prevented Sonia Gandhi from becoming the prime minister of that country because of her roots to Italy.

Despite Henry Kissinger became America’s powerful national security, defense and foreign policy advocate it was President Nixon who took final decisions on policy, national security and defense matters because of Kissinger’s roots to Germany.

Sarath Fonseka’s possession of equal preference is an invitation of foreign influence and manipulation that Sri Lanka never experienced since her Independence.

It raises the question about Fonseka’s loyalty and allegiance, and how Fonseka, should he become the president, would behave if faced with a conflict between the interests of the nation he heads as the Executive President or the country he is already a Lawful Permanent Resident ( the United States). A preference for a foreign country may cause Fonseka to make decisions that are contrary to the interests of Sri Lanka.

Equal Preference and/or Foreign Preference are similar to Foreign Influence in that both deal with potential conflicting foreign interests. Foreign Preference differs from the Foreign Influence guideline in that it focuses on the legal obligations associated with foreign citizenship (in this case Fonseka’s status as Lawful Permanent Resident of the U.S.) and expressions of foreign preference or equal preference, as distinct from circumstances that indicate potential vulnerability to foreign influence.

Sri Lanka, a sovereign and independent nation, is currently in a cross road. A formidable candidate for the president of the nation at the January 26 election, former army commander Sarath Fonseka, is currently has roots in a country which is in a position to manipulate and influence the destiny of Sri Lanka. The deep roots Fonseka has developed is through his status as the Lawful Permanent Resident of the United States which can hold the destiny of this South Asian nation on the palm Super Power bringing foreign influence and manipulations to the highest echelons of political power, the Executive Presidency.

It is this threat that Sri Lanka is facing with the candidacy of Sarath Fonseka who has divided loyalty, a serious threat to the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Sri Lanka.

- Asian Tribune -