Dr Sudath Gunasekara 6.8.2017.

Now that the days of RK as F/Minister are numbered the President has to choose a new man acceptable to the people and to the world at large at this critical hour who can face the challenges ahead of this position in time to come.

After Mrs Sirimavo Bandaranayaka and Luxman Kadiragamar I cannot think of any other who had fit in well to the shoes of that much coveted position. Had Lalith Atulathmudali lived I would have definitely suggested his name for this place without any hesitation. Everybody knows how appalling the record of the field of Foreign Affairs had been in the recent two years under the last F/Minister. About the incumbent I want comment as he got in to serious trouble owing to his misdeeds in the M/Finance even before he could pix his alignments in the new place.

The position of foreign Minister in any country in contemporary world politics calls for the highest attainments. Almost all countries often appoint men of the highest attainments and caliber as their foreign Ministers. The only country I think that does not follow this rule is Sri Lanka. Very often F/Ministers succeed as Prime Ministers in their countries. I still remember Krishna Menon of India, though he did not succeed Nehru, in our student days. How versatile. Silver tongued and flamboyant he was both at home and abroad is still a living legend.

A Foreign Minister is the one who represents his country and its image and interests in other countries. To do so effectively he /she should be a person well versed in the history, culture and the problems and needs of his country. He should also be a person who will defend and protect the interests of his own country and stand for it to the end. For this he needs to be a patriot of the first order.

To achieve these ends he has to be a man of high stature and character in addition to very high academic attainments and charisma. The ability to address any forum at least in one world language and convince any intellectual crowd, and a distinguished record either in arts, science, law or any other, are some of the other qualifications that could be mentioned as pre requisites for this assignment.

In spite of not so visible colourful performance to his credit in the field of politics, I think the best person to hold this position at the present juncture among all others in the Cabinet is Minister Sarath Amunugama who is wasting his times as Minister Special Assignments at present with no assignment at all.

As a person who has worked very closely with him as a relatively junior colleague both at district and National level for three decades starting in late 1960s, I know about his special abilities and attainments as well as achievements as a brilliant and colourful young Civil Servant more that any. The best period we were together was when he was AGA and ADDL GA Kandy and I was DRO Udadumbara, Sarath at that time was a model of a people friendly Civil Servant

The fact that he also comes from a Sri Lankan traditional village background and happens to be a product of the Trinity College Kandy, which produced the best Foreign Minister Sri Lanka had ever produced, that is Luxman Kadiragama, in my view, makes him the best person, out of all Ministers in the present Cabinet, to fill this gap.

Therefore as a responsible citizen of this country, who yearn for the good of the motherland, I wish the President will make the correct choice at this crucial juncture so that, Sarath the brilliant ex-Civil Servant, with the able new Secretary Prasad, will clean up the Augean mess that is the Foreign Ministry at the moment, and he will also have an able, reliable and dependable   F/M who will never betray the country and will definitely deliver the goods.