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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Snow Boy" data-source="post: 6483046" data-attributes="member: 3120">Fonseka's dual loyalty - කකුලක් රට කකුලක් මෙරටFonseka's dual loyaltyMr Sarath Upali Kongahage, one of the candidates in the presidentialelection,has moved a fundamental rights petition before the SupremeCourt, challenging the candidature of oppositon candidate SarathFonseka on the ground that owes his allegiance to the US, being agreen card holder, and he is, therefore, unfit to hold the office ofPresident of Sri Lanka and should he get elected, it should be heldinvalid.In the petition, filed after Election Commissioner DayanadaDissanayake overruled his objection to the candidature of Gen Fonsekaon the ground that it was not within his powers to decide the issue atthe nomination stage, has prayed that the acceptance of Gen Fonseka'snomination be declared contrary to the Constitution, that Gen Fonsekabe disqualified from being elected President and, in the event of hisvictory, declare his election as null and void.Since the petition is yet to be listed for hearing, Mr Kongahage toldAsian Tribune to mwhich he gave a copy of his petition that his ideawas to bring before the people before the election the dual loyalty ofGen Fonseka so that they could make an informed choice.In suport of his contention, Mr Kongahage has said that by obtaininggreen card, Gen Fonseka has "pledged his allegiance to the UnitedStates of America"."Having regard to the awesome concentration of power in the President,the Constitution mandates that to be eligible to ne nominated forelection, the candidate must first and foremost be a citizen of SriLanka(Art 31(1)".Under Art 32, a person elected President should take an oath tofaithfully perform duties and discharge functions of his office. "Aperson with allegiance to a foreign state will not be able tofaithfully 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 beineligible to be a candidate for the presidency. "Sole and exclusiveallegiance to this country is a sine qua non for citizenship".The green card (No AA-055-090-192) was proof of the fact that GenFonseka had permanent residency rights in the US and he hadvoluntarily manifested his intention to migrate to that country andbecome 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 withthe US". His two daughters are American citizens and are resident inOklahoma. One of the daughters is married to an American citizen ofSri Lankan origin.In November 2009, while holding the office of Chief of Defence Staff,Gen Fonseka left for the United States, ostensibly on an officialvisit. He was required by the US department of homeland security topresent himself for an interview on Nov 4, 2009, on alleged war crimescommitted by the Sri Lankan forces during the conflict with the LTTE."This was an attempt to implicate incumbent Defence Secretary in humanrights violations and war crimes, an agenda pushed by the pro-LTTE"formation" in the US "which has established a close rapport withofficials of the State Department such as former American Ambassadorto Sri Lanka Robert Blake, now the head of the South and Central AsiaAffairs’ Bureau in the State Department. Gen Fonseka was ready tooblige the US authorities and make serious disclosures affectingnational security and integrity of Sri Lanka".When the Government of Sri Lanka got wind of it, it directed GenFonseka to return to the country immediately.Quoting the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister, Mr Kongahage said:" The Chiefof Defence Staff is a high-level position. Whatever Gen Fonseka mayhave become3 aware of during his service with the Government of SriLanka and in the course of his duties, has the status of privilgedinformation. He has no authority to divulge or share this informationwith third parties without the prior approval and consent of SriLankan authorities".But for the timely intervention by the Government of Sri Lanka, GenFonseka might have divulged to the US authorities’ sensitive officialsecrets. "This is a clear illustration of conflict of interestthreatening the security and integrity of this country".Immediately after his return, Gen Fonseka visited the US embassy inColombo "for a reason which has not been disclosed".Disappointed by the defeat of the LTTE terrorism, the US and someother western powers were making frantic efforts to drag Sri Lankanleaders to an international tribunal for alleged war crimes. Being agreen card holder keen to be in the good books for influential USofficials, Gen Fonseka had "set the stage for US and other westernpowers to pressurize the UN Human rights agencies for an internationalinvestigation into allegations of war crimes committed by Sri Lankaduring the recent conflict with the LTTE".In this connection, Mr Kongahage cites remarks reportedly made by GenFonseka at a celebratory meeting held on July 18, 2009 that the"military had to overlook the traditional rules of war and even killLTTE rebels who came to surrender, carrying white flags". Thisstatement appeared in the US State Department report to the Congressin June 2009.In December 2009, Gen Fonseka told Sunday Leader editor fredrica Janszthat Defence Secretary Gothabaya Rajapaksa instructed BrigadierShavindra Silva, commander of the 58th division that all LTTE leadersmust be killed and not allowed to surrender. He also said in the sameinterview that on the night of May 17, 2009, desperate attempts weremade by three senior leaders of the LTTE trapped in the war zone tosave their lives, but they were shot dead as they were preparing tosurrender to the government forces.The "treacherous information", volunteered by Gen Fonseka after hefiled his nomination for the presidency, had caused an internationaluproar against the Government of Sri Lanka, the Defence Secretary andthe military establishment in Sri Lanka.Within five days of the Sunday Leader interview, the UN SpecialRapporteur, Mr Philip Alston wrote to the Government of Sri Lanka,calling for its observations based entirely on Gen Fonseka's pressstatement. Though Gen Fonseka made a feeble attempt to deny the saidstatement, Fredrica Jansz had stood by her story.Given Gen Fonseka's background, if by chance he got elected asPresident, it would expose Sri Lanka to "foreign infleunce" to thedetriment of its friendly relations with India. Mr Kongahage has citedan article published by Asian Tribune on Jan 1, 2010.If Gen Fonseka was elected President, the hard won victory of thesecurity forces against the LTTE would suffer a serious setback byreason of foreign manipulation, more particularly by the US-backedLTTE diaspora.The decision of the Tamil National Alliance, proxy of the LTTE, tosupport him "despite its earlier accusations of serious human rightsviolations and despite his notorious anti-minority credentials isevidence 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 shouldbe held null and void.- Asian Tribune -</blockquote>

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