Disappointments over President’s appointments of ministry secretaries

The appointment of 10 new ministry secretaries recently by President Ranil Wickremesinghe has drawn the ire of some officials who had been bypassed for promotion, though they are higher on the list of seniority in the state service.

The decision to appoint several junior officials as ministry secretaries had left some of the seniors disgruntled. They include some additional secretaries of various ministries and district secretaries. Some of them, concerned that they may not get a chance to be a ministry secretary and retire without reaching the top post, have publicly questioned whether there is any point in having seniority lists anymore if this is how things are being done.

When contacted, a senior official at the President’s Office acknowledged that they were aware that the recent appointments had been met with anger among some senior officials, but said that appointing a ministry secretary was the President’s prerogative. The President had appointed several junior officials and some seniors on service extensions after reviewing their performances, he claimed.

“Each official will initially be in this post for one year. They have been given specific targets to meet. If they fail to achieve that, then those on extension will be sent home, while the juniors will be demoted. We are confident, however, that they will perform as we were looking for officials with proven records and don’t have allegations of wrongdoing against them,” the official said.

He stressed that there was no reason for senior officials to be disgruntled. “What they need to do is work well in the positions given to them. If they perform, they have nothing to worry about,” he added.