‘The practice of making ad hoc appointments to Sri Lankan Missions abroad, based on decisions of the Cabinet, has led to a visible politicization and deterioration of professional diplomacy, to the detriment of the quality of the services rendered by the Missions abroad, thereby adversely affecting the interests of Sri Lanka, a former Sri Lanka Foreign Service official, K. Godage, states in a petition to the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka.

Alleging that ‘appointments made contrary to the SLFS Minute are in violation of the petitioner’s fundamental rights and legitimate expectations and also those of the public’, the petitioner prays that the SC, among other things, ‘ Grant and issue an interim order suspending the operation of all irregular appointments made to Sri Lankan diplomatic missions overseas, outside or/in violation of the Sri Lanka Foreign Service Minute as evidenced by the decisions marked P-4(a), P-4(b), P-4(c), P-4(D), P-4(e) and P-4(f), and any further decisions made thereafter, until the final determination of this application’.

The petition prays that the SC ‘ Issue an interim order restraining the Cabinet of Ministers of Sri Lanka and/or 1st and the 3rd to the 49th Respondents, as constituting the Cabinet of Ministers, and/or any other Respondents, from making or directing or ordering any appointment/s to the Sri Lanka Foreign Service or to the Sri Lankan diplomatic missions overseas, and/or from granting any extensions to persons already appointed, until the final determination of this application’.

The petition points out that as recently as October 2008, 34 known irregular appointments of persons ‘from various undisclosed backgrounds’ have been made in violation of the SLFS Minute. The latter document sets out the conditions that a prospective recruit to the SLFS needs to meet to ensure the perpetuation of a ‘professional diplomatic service’.

The petition also prays that the SC ‘Declare and direct that it is only the President of the Republic, who, in terms of the clearly defined situations contemplated by Article 33( c ) of the Constitution and the 51st to the 59th respondents constituting the Public Service Commission, in terms of Article 55 of the Constitution, that can make appointments to the Sri Lanka Foreign Service and/or to Sri Lankan diplomatic missions overseas…’.

Pointing out that the stringent eligibility criteria laid out in the SLFS Minute for recruitments have been seriously violated through these irregular appointments, the petition goes on to point out that even after the 17th amendment to the Constitution, ‘the Cabinet has usurped the recruitment powers of the PSC and has proceeded to make a series of appointments outside the parameters of the Minute to accommodate personnel of their choice. A large number of political appointees/politically favoured persons were appointed to many diplomatic positions including Consul General, Minister, Minister Counsellor, Counsellor, First Secretary, Second Secretary, Third Secretary, which are all SLFS cadre positions. These appointees, lacked adequate knowledge, experience and skills in foreign relations, to conduct diplomacy in the countries to which they were posted to and have thereby compromised the image of the country and its bilateral/multilateral relations with the host country/multilateral organization(s)’.

The petition further indicates that appointments made by the Cabinet to overseas missions outside the parameters of the Minute, have been effected to fill cadre positions allocated to SLFS officers, ‘thus denying rightful posts due to SLFS officers and the legitimate expectations of the public to be served by qualified personnel’. It further says that in terms of the Minute, an SLFS officer is required to fulfill specific criteria before being assigned to a particular diplomatic rank. ‘None of these criteria are adhered to by the individuals appointed outside the Minute’.