Did Fonseka Bribe Gota To Become The Army Commander?

February 23, 2015

Doubts have been raised over a donation made by former Army Commander Sarath Fonseka for Mahinda Rajapaksa‘s 2005 election campaign, as the funding had been done while he was serving as a state official in the Sri Lanka Army.

During an interview in the ITN, the Democratic Party leader in response to a question admitted that he donated Rs. 600,000 for the election campaign of Mahinda Rajapaksa upon the request of Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

“I was the second in command then, in the Sri Lanka Army. Gotabaya came to my residence, which was located within the premises of the Army headquarters and requested a donation for his brother’s election campaign. He even wept, stuttered and said they are extremely short of cash to run the election campaign. So although I did not have the financial capacity to make a significant contribution, I gave Rs. 600,000 that was in my current account and he promised to return it but never did,” Fonseka said.

He also states that although he was quite friendly with Mahinda Rajapaksa, he was not familiar with Gotabaya back then except on a professional level.

“He joined the Army later than me and I knew him as a Lieutenant Colonel that was junior to me. Once in 2001, I met him in the US at the house of an ex-serviceman on Christmas eve but he was very different then – quite feeble and weak,” Fonseka said.