Kongahage questions Fonseka's dual loyalty

Mr Sarath Upali Kongahage, one of the candidates in the presidential election,has moved a fundamental rights petition before the Supreme Court, challenging the candidature of oppositon candidate Sarath Fonseka on the ground that owes his allegiance to the US, being a green card holder, and he is, therefore, unfit to hold the office of President of Sri Lanka and should he get elected, it should be held invalid.

In the petition, filed after Election Commissioner Dayanada Dissanayake overruled his objection to the candidature of Gen Fonseka on the ground that it was not within his powers to decide the issue at the nomination stage, has prayed that the acceptance of Gen Fonseka's nomination be declared contrary to the Constitution, that Gen Fonseka be disqualified from being elected President and, in the event of his victory, declare his election as null and void.

Since the petition is yet to be listed for hearing, Mr Kongahage told Asian Tribune to mwhich he gave a copy of his petition that his idea was to bring before the people before the election the dual loyalty of Gen Fonseka so that they could make an informed choice.

In suport of his contention, Mr Kongahage has said that by obtaining green card, Gen Fonseka has "pledged his allegiance to the United States of America".

"Having regard to the awesome concentration of power in the President, the Constitution mandates that to be eligible to ne nominated for election, the candidate must first and foremost be a citizen of Sri Lanka(Art 31(1)".

Under Art 32, a person elected President should take an oath to faithfully perform duties and discharge functions of his office. "A person with allegiance to a foreign state will not be able to faithfully perform the duties of the President".

Further, a person owing allegiance to another country in whatever form "will not come within the meaning of the term "citizen" and will be ineligible to be a candidate for the presidency. "Sole and exclusive allegiance to this country is a sine qua non for citizenship".

The green card (No AA-055-090-192) was proof of the fact that Gen Fonseka had permanent residency rights in the US and he had voluntarily manifested his intention to migrate to that country and become a citizen.

A green card holder "is bound by the laws of the United States, including laws against war crimes". Gen Fonseka "has strong links with the US". His two daughters are American citizens and are resident in Oklahoma. One of the daughters is married to an American citizen of Sri Lankan origin.

In November 2009, while holding the office of Chief of Defence Staff, Gen Fonseka left for the United States, ostensibly on an official visit. He was required by the US department of homeland security to present himself for an interview on Nov 4, 2009, on alleged war crimes committed by the Sri Lankan forces during the conflict with the LTTE.

"This was an attempt to implicate incumbent Defence Secretary in human rights violations and war crimes, an agenda pushed by the pro-LTTE "formation" in the US "which has established a close rapport with officials of the State Department such as former American Ambassador to Sri Lanka Robert Blake, now the head of the South and Central Asia Affairs’ Bureau in the State Department. Gen Fonseka was ready to oblige the US authorities and make serious disclosures affecting national security and integrity of Sri Lanka".

When the Government of Sri Lanka got wind of it, it directed Gen Fonseka to return to the country immediately.

Quoting the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister, Mr Kongahage said:" The Chief of Defence Staff is a high-level position. Whatever Gen Fonseka may have become3 aware of during his service with the Government of Sri Lanka and in the course of his duties, has the status of privilged information. He has no authority to divulge or share this information with third parties without the prior approval and consent of Sri Lankan authorities".

But for the timely intervention by the Government of Sri Lanka, Gen Fonseka might have divulged to the US authorities’ sensitive official secrets. "This is a clear illustration of conflict of interest threatening the security and integrity of this country".

Immediately after his return, Gen Fonseka visited the US embassy in Colombo "for a reason which has not been disclosed".

Disappointed by the defeat of the LTTE terrorism, the US and some other western powers were making frantic efforts to drag Sri Lankan leaders to an international tribunal for alleged war crimes. Being a green card holder keen to be in the good books for influential US officials, Gen Fonseka had "set the stage for US and other western powers to pressurize the UN Human rights agencies for an international investigation into allegations of war crimes committed by Sri Lanka during the recent conflict with the LTTE".

In this connection, Mr Kongahage cites remarks reportedly made by Gen Fonseka at a celebratory meeting held on July 18, 2009 that the "military had to overlook the traditional rules of war and even kill LTTE rebels who came to surrender, carrying white flags". This statement appeared in the US State Department report to the Congress in June 2009.

In December 2009, Gen Fonseka told Sunday Leader editor fredrica Jansz that Defence Secretary Gothabaya Rajapaksa instructed Brigadier Shavindra Silva, commander of the 58th division that all LTTE leaders must be killed and not allowed to surrender. He also said in the same interview that on the night of May 17, 2009, desperate attempts were made by three senior leaders of the LTTE trapped in the war zone to save their lives, but they were shot dead as they were preparing to surrender to the government forces.

The "treacherous information", volunteered by Gen Fonseka after he filed his nomination for the presidency, had caused an international uproar against the Government of Sri Lanka, the Defence Secretary and the military establishment in Sri Lanka.

Within five days of the Sunday Leader interview, the UN Special Rapporteur, Mr Philip Alston wrote to the Government of Sri Lanka, calling for its observations based entirely on Gen Fonseka's press statement. Though Gen Fonseka made a feeble attempt to deny the said statement, Fredrica Jansz had stood by her story.

Given Gen Fonseka's background, if by chance he got elected as President, it would expose Sri Lanka to "foreign infleunce" to the detriment of its friendly relations with India. Mr Kongahage has cited an article published by Asian Tribune on Jan 1, 2010.

If Gen Fonseka was elected President, the hard won victory of the security forces against the LTTE would suffer a serious setback by reason of foreign manipulation, more particularly by the US-backed LTTE diaspora.

The decision of the Tamil National Alliance, proxy of the LTTE, to support him "despite its earlier accusations of serious human rights violations and despite his notorious anti-minority credentials is evidence of the role assigned to him by the US-backed LTTE diaspora", Mr Kongahage has said.

He has prayed that in case Gen Fonseka is declared elected, it should be held null and void.

- Asian Tribune -