Former Air Force Commander Air Chief Marshal Kapila Jayampathy (Rtd.) who was appointed as High Commissioner of Sri Lanka to Malaysia, is to remain despite a recall of non career diplomats by the new administration.
Authoritative sources at the Foreign Relations Ministry said, the appointment of senior security forces officers who have retired from service was a long standing tradition and hence, he will not be recalled.
The Foreign Relations Minister Dinesh Gunawardena, shortly after assuming office issued a circular recalling all non career diplomats appointed to foreign missions recently and also career diplomats who had ended their terms of service.
The source said the replacements will not be made immediately but would take some time.
The High Posts Committee of Parliament approved the posting of Former Airforce Commander Jayampathy in August this year. High Commissioner of Sri Lanka to Australia, J. C. Weliamuna, President’s Counsel, Ambassador of Sri Lanka to the Maldives, Nimal Karunaratne, a former Additional Surveyor General, and Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Qatar- International Business consultant and businessman Kithsiri Athulathmudali appointed in August along with him, are expected to return shortly. Of the 13 new appointments approved by the High Posts Committee last August, nine were career officers from the Foreign Service. According to Foreign Affairs Ministry data, the percentage of career diplomats who head Sri Lanka’s Missions overseas currently stand at 54%, from 37% at the commencement of 2019.
Of the 27 Heads of Mission appointed this year, 23 have been from the Sri Lanka Foreign Service.