President’s media pal to be given extension at SL Embassy in Rome

The Ministry of External Affairs has been issued a directive from the Presidential Secretariat that President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s former Media Coordinator Chandrapala Liyanage is not to be issued his letter of termination when his 2 year contract as Minister Councillor of the Sri Lankan Embassy in Rome came to an end on May 31, 2010.

Sources said that a cabinet paper is to be submitted recommending Liyanage’s extension at our mission in Rome.

  Media learns that Liyanage has been in Colombo on vacation for 10 months with his family after he allegedly crashed his car into someone in Rome and is wanted by the Italian authorities to answer charges about the incident. Liyanage and his family returned to Rome only on May 25th 2010, six days before his contract was completed. However we reliably learns that Liyanage was paid his full overseas allowance granted to Sri Lankan diplomats serving in missions abroad during his 10 month sabbatical – of nearly USD 4000.

Liyanage who was appointed by President Rajapaksa was Sri Lanka’s second highest ranking diplomatic officer at the Embassy in Rome, although he is not proficient in English or Italian and is in no way suited for diplomatic office. Sri Lankan Ambassador for Rome Attorney-at-Law Hemantha Warnakulasuriya is also reportedly unhappy about Liyanage’s continued stint at the mission since his misdeeds have seriously eroded the credibility of the Sri Lankan Embassy in the eyes of the Italian government.

Sources confirmed that Italian authorities were displeased by the fact that Liyanage had failed to appear in courts or made any response with regard to the hit and run incident and over the fact that his domestic aide has applied for citizenship in Italy while holding an official passport issued by the Sri Lankan government.

Given Liyanage’s appalling conduct, Ambassador Warnakulasuriya has told confidants that he will be appealing for a replacement to be posted to Rome. However sources said this change would be unlikely since Liyanage has been a Rajapaksa strongman since the 2005 Presidential Election.

Despite holding an important rank in an overseas mission, Liyanage was engaged in election duties during the January 26 presidential election and the April 8 parliamentary election, all the while drawing his full overseas allowance granted by the Foreign Ministry. Sources from the Presidential Secretariat confirmed that Liyanage was posted to Rome in order to rid him from the presidential offices where he was becoming a nuisance to other officers. Political observers said that Liyanage’s exit plan had been an expensive one for the state, with the Ministry of External Affairs being compelled to pay a massive allowance, provide housing and schooling for his children, towards an officer that is of absolutely no use to Sri Lanka in such a senior diplomatic capacity. Sources in Rome say that Liyanage’s only work in the last two years at the mission have been to conduct political work among Sri Lankan expatriates living there. 

Liyanage holds the second most senior diplomatic position at the Rome Embassy, despite two other extremely capable and experienced foreign service officers serving in lower ranked