Sarath Fonseka

Field Marshal Gardihewa Sarath Chandralal Fonseka, (ගාර්දිහේවා සරත් චන්ද්‍රලාල් ෆොන්සේකා, சரத் பொன்சேகா; born 18 December 1950), commonly known as Sarath Fonseka, is a retired Sri Lankan army officer and politician.

Fonseka was born on 18 December 1950 in the coastal town of Ambalangoda in the south of Sri Lanka.

His father was Peter Fonseka, a school principal and his mother Egodage Piyawathie De Silva was a teacher.

He initially attended Madawalalanda Maha Vidyalaya (1955–1957) in Ampara, later receiving his secondary education from Dharmasoka College, Ambalangoda (1958–1965) and Ananda College, Colombo (1966–1969).

Fonseka represented his alma mater in cadeting, swimming and water polo events.

He was the college swimming and water polo captain in 1969 and later represented the defence services and the country in these sports.

He was a sergeant of the College Cadet Platoon.

Fonseka had joined the Ceylon Army in 1970 and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in June 1971 and rose through the ranks while completing training stints across South Asia and in the United Kingdom.

Fonseka joined the Ceylon Army on 5 February 1970 as a cadet officer and after completing his basic officer training at the Army Training Centre in Diyatalawa, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the 1st Battalion, Ceylon Sinha Regiment on 1 June 1971 during the 1971 Insurrection.

Serving with as platoon commander in the Sinha Regiment, he was promoted to lieutenant in 1973 and was promoted to the rank of captain in 1976.

During this time he underwent the Commando Officers Course (1973), Battalion Support Weapons Course (1976) and Counter Insurgency Jungle Warfare Course (1978) in India.

In 1980 he was promoted to the rank of major and in 1981 he attend the Company Commanders Course in Pakistan.

In the next few years he served as an instructor at the Sri Lanka Military Academy, Ampara Combat Training School and Infantry Training Centre, and later as the Chief Instructor and Deputy Commandant in the same training institutes.

In 1987, he graduated from Defence Services Command and Staff College, Mirpur in Bangladesh.

With the on set of the 1987–89 JVP Insurrection, he was appointed as military coordinating officer for Gampaha District.

Fonseka reputedly devised the plan which led to the capture of Premakumar Gunaratnam and gained a reputation for his humane treatment of detainees.

On his return was appointed commanding officer, 4th Sri Lanka Light Infantry and participated in the Vadamarachchi Operation. The following year he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and appointed Commanding Officer, 1st Battalion, Sri Lanka Sinha Regiment in 1989.

In 1991, he was promoted to colonel and served as a brigade commander, 3rd Brigade during Operation Balavegaya and distinguished himself as a Brigade Commander.

He saw extensive action throughout the 26-year civil war and over the years acquired a reputation as a tough battlefield commander and was often in the thick of the action in fighting against the Tamil Tigers, culminating in a term as Commander of the Army from 6 December 2005 – 15 July 2009.

As commander, he oversaw the final phase of the Sri Lankan Civil War, which resulted in the total defeat of the militant Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

He also survived an assassination attempt when an LTTE suicide bomber attacked his motorcade in April 2006.

Following the end of the war Fonseka was promoted to a four star rank in the Sri Lanka Army, becoming the first serving army commander to hold a four star rank.

He has been described as Sri Lanka's most successful army commander.

A few months after the defeat of the Tamil Tigers, Fonseka was appointed Chief of Defence Staff by President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

While his new post was of a higher rank, Fonseka saw the move as an attempt to sideline him.

He was the eighteenth Commander of the Sri Lankan Army, and under his command the Sri Lankan Army ended the 26-year Sri Lankan Civil War in 2009, defeating the militant group, Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam; he thereafter briefly served as the Chief of Defence Staff.

Amid rumours of his desire to enter politics, he subsequently retired from the post on 16 November 2009.

On 29 November 2009, Fonseka formally announced his candidature in the 2010 Sri Lankan presidential election.

His candidacy was endorsed by the main opposition parties, and Fonseka became the main opposition candidate challenging President Rajapaksa.

He campaigned under the sign of a swan, and the slogan Vishvasaniya Venasak (A Credible Change).

After retiring from the Army with the rank of General, he entered politics as the common opposition candidate in the 2010 presidential election contesting against President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Following his controversial defeat in the presidential election he was elected to Parliament in the general election that followed.

Soon after he was made a political prisoner and lost his parliamentary seat.

Following his election defeat, Fonseka was arrested on 8 February 2010, and the government announced he would be court-martialed for committing "military offences".

He was convicted for corrupt military supply deals and sentenced to three years in prison.

After serving more than 2 years in prison, Fonseka was released amidst local and international pressure on 21 May 2012.

Fonseka supported Maithripala Sirisena in the 2015 presidential election and following his victory, the newly appointed President Sirisena gave Fonseka a full pardon reinstating his civic rights, military rank and decorations.

Later he was promoted to the newly created rank of Field Marshal on 22 March 2015 becoming the first Sri Lankan Army officer to be promoted to the rank.

As per the pre-election statement, President Maithripala Sirisena, gave him the complete presidential pardon and acquitted him of all the charges against him on 22 January 2015, restoring his civic rights.

On 9 February 2016, he was appointed to Parliament as a national list candidate and served in the Cabinet of Ministers from 2016 to 2018 as Minister of Regional Development and thereafter as Minister of Wildlife and Sustainable Development until the 2018 Sri Lankan constitutional crisis.