Gota, Sison cross swords Controversial US funded voter education project 

by Shamindra Ferdinando-July 4, 2014

Defence and Urban Development Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa has directed that senior military officers as well as heads of those institutions coming under him meet US ambassador Michele J. Sison or her representatives only in his presence.

The decision was taken consequent to Ambassador Sison refusing to allow the head of the USAID in Colombo to meet Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa unless she, too, was invited to the same meeting.

The US embassy has told the Defence Ministry that as the USAID is under the purview of the Colombo mission and its head can meet Mr. Rajapaksa only in the presence of the ambassador.

Defence Secretary Rajapaksa told The Island last night that he wanted to discuss with USAID head an alleged move to influence the local electorate through a voter education project called ‘Election Support through Voter Education (ESVE) programme. It was nothing but a ruse to turn people against the government, he said. Calling the US project ‘Operation Regime Change’, the Defence Secretary said that political parties should take up this issue.

The government would like to know whether the USAID was still going ahead with the project which would further undermine bilateral relations, the Defence Secretary said.

The US made its move ahead of President Mahinda Rajapaksa seeking the views of members of his party as well as constituents whether they would prefer presidential or parliamentary polls first. Members were asked to fill up a questionnaire at a workshop at Beruwela attended by President Rajapaksa himself.

Responding to a query, an irate Defence Secretary said that he had sought a meeting with the USAID head as it had called for applications from NGOs to carry out the project. Had the embassy called for applications for the same purpose, he would have definitely discussed the issue with ambassador Sison, Defence Secretary Rajapaksa said.

Perhaps, Ambassador Sison had realized that it was a mistake to authorize what he called a political exercise aimed at undermining the government of the host country, the Defence and Urban Development Ministry Secretary said. The government had a right to know the basis on which the US had decided to launch a political project and the amount of funds made available to NGOs, he said. All those receiving funds for the implementation of that particular project would be investigated, he stressed.

Asked whether the US had funded or intended to fund NGO projects meant to educate voters in other countries and consulted the Ministry of External Affairs before the launch of the project, a US embassy spokesperson told The Island: "The embassy has no comment."

Defence Secretary Rajapaksa said that the US embassy had access to the Northern and Eastern Provinces as well as terrorist detention facilities in accordance with overall government policy. The government also welcomed visits by diplomatic representatives of other countries as well and military commanders briefed them the Defence Secretary said. But from now on there would be restrictions on meetings, he said, adding that he intended to request other ministries to do as the US envoy had done.