Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa called for a meeting with the Sri Lanka head of USAID, accusing the organisation of attempting to turn people against the government through a voter education programme.
US ambassador to the country, Michele Sison, has refused to authorise the meeting, unless she was also invited, The Island reported, causing Gotabhaya to order senior military officers as well as heads of other institutions under his purview to only meet the ambassador or her representatives in his presence. The defence secretary said that the government welcomed visits by diplomats from other countries and military commanders to the North-East and usually briefed them but that from now on there would be restrictions on these meetings.
Rajapaksa told The Island last night that he wanted to discuss what he called a move to influence the electorate through a voter education project called ‘Election Support through Voter Education (ESVE) programme, adding it was nothing but a “ruse” by USAID to turn people against the government and if it goes ahead, bilateral relations would be further undermined.
He said the government had a right to know why the US had launched this prgramme and how much money was made available to NGOs. The president’s brother further threatened that all those receiving funds for the implementation of the project would be investigated.
The defence secretary said that there was a US project called ‘Operation Regime Change’, and that political parties should take up this issue.
US envoy to be summoned over NGO ad (04 July 2014)