1. Sarath Fonseka 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.
Sarath 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 States.
Sarath Fonseka survived an assassination attempt when an LTTE suicide bomber attacked his motorcade in April 2006.
Sarath Fonseka has been described as Sri Lanka's most successful army commander.
On 29 November 2009, Sarath Fonseka formally announced his candidature in the 2010 Sri Lankan presidential election.
Sarath Fonseka's candidacy was endorsed by the main opposition parties, and Fonseka became the main opposition candidate challenging President Rajapaksa.
Sarath Fonseka campaigned under the sign of a swan, and the slogan Vishvasaniya Venasak.
Sarath Fonseka was convicted for corrupt military supply deals and sentenced to three years in prison.
Sarath Fonseka was born on 18 December 1950 in the coastal town of Ambalangoda in the south of Sri Lanka.
Sarath Fonseka's father was Peter Fonseka, a school principal and his mother Egodage Piyawathie De Silva was a teacher.
Sarath Fonseka initially attended Madawalalanda Maha Vidyalaya in Ampara, later receiving his secondary education from Dharmasoka College, Ambalangoda and Ananda College, Colombo.
Sarath Fonseka represented his alma mater in cadeting, swimming and water polo events.
Sarath Fonseka was the college swimming and water polo captain in 1969 and later represented the defence services and the country in these sports.
Sarath Fonseka was a sergeant of the College Cadet Platoon.
Sarath 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.
Colonel Sarath Fonseka was wounded that year in the Yaldevi operation, having been shot through the lung.
In 1995, Brigadier Sarath Fonseka won widespread plaudits for his role in Operation Riviresa - the army's operation to capture Jaffna town from the Tamil Tigers.
Sarath Fonseka was appointed Colonel of the Regiment of the Sri Lanka Sinha Regiment.
In 2000, with the imminent fall of Elephant Pass, Major General Sarath Fonseka was rushed in as Commander, Security Forces Headquarters - Jaffna and successfully defended the Jaffna peninsula from the massive offensive Operation Unceasing Waves III launched by the LTTE.
From May 2002 to November 2003 after he was again appointed the Commander, Security Forces Headquarters - Jaffna, Sarath Fonseka strengthened the defences of Jaffna and launched a new training programme for the infantry.
General Sarath Fonseka survived an LTTE suicide bomb attack on his unarmored staff car by a pregnant LTTE operative named Anoja Kugenthirarasah who infiltrated Army Headquarters by attending the regular maternity clinic provided for civilians at the military hospital.
Sarath Fonseka was gravely wounded in the attack along with his ADC; while nine others, including members of his security detail were killed.
Sarath Fonseka was conscious upon admittance and had communicated with his officers and the doctors.
Sarath Fonseka was later transferred to the military hospital at Army Headquarters and subsequently flown to Singapore for medical treatment.
Years later, in 2016 Sarath Fonseka requested President Maithripala Sirisena to take steps towards releasing the person imprisoned in connection with his attempted assassination.
Sarath Fonseka has been described as the mastermind of the military strategy behind the military victory in Sri Lanka's three-decade war against terrorism.
Sarath Fonseka abandoned conventional methods, matched the ingenious tactics and strategies of the LTTE, fully utilized the superior numerical strength and fire power of the Sri Lankan armed forces and kept up pressure on the enemy.
Sarath Fonseka broke tradition by insisting on the full deployment of naval and air power to aid the war on land and succeeded in getting the support of the other service commanders.
Sarath Fonseka broke army units into small groups and made these highly trained and motivated men who infiltrated Tiger-held areas, tracked down the fighting cadres of the LTTE and eliminated them.
Sarath Fonseka transformed the Sri Lankan army from its defensive posture to an offence force.
Sarath Fonseka empowered the frontline soldier, breaking the norms of conventional military attitude.
Sarath Fonseka changed the reactionary nature of the Army and formulated a plan that would end the war in a time frame of three years.
Sarath Fonseka reduced operations conducted along the main roads and expanded the battlefront in order to disperse the enemy manpower and firepower.
Sarath Fonseka inaugurated the northern campaign before the conclusion of the eastern campaign, thereby making it difficult for political intrusion to halt the war.
General Sarath Fonseka opted instead to attack the LTTE's strongest areas and opted for performance over seniority and selected officers with experience in the field.
Sarath Fonseka restructured the Army Intelligence Units which proved vital for the Navy and the Air Force to destroy LTTE ships, commanders and other targets.
Sarath Fonseka implemented strong measures to improve the discipline in the army, eradicate corruption and wastage.
Sarath Fonseka reduced the burden on the government and the citizen by the effective management of the resources at his disposal and personally ensured the unimpeded supply of ammunition.
Sarath Fonseka played a key role as Commander of the Army, and is considered as a national hero by the majority of Sri Lankans due to this achievement.
Sarath Fonseka was after promoted to general, becoming the first army commander to hold a full general rank, since it was traditionally awarded to retiring Commanders of the Army.
Sarath Fonseka was appointed Chief of Defence Staff by President Rajapaksa effective 15 July 2009.
Sarath Fonseka was the first person appointed CDS under the newly approved Chief of Defence Staff Act, which was supposed to give the CDS more responsibilities in co-ordinating the armed forces.
Sarath Fonseka officially handed over his letter of resignation to the President through the Defence secretary on 12 November 2009.
Sarath Fonseka requested to serve as CDS until the end of the month since he resigned to compete as a candidate for the presidential election which was held in January 2010.
Sarath Fonseka left office on 16 November 2009, President Mahinda Rajapaksa appointed Commander of the Sri Lanka Air Force Air Marshal Roshan Goonatilake to succeed Fonseka on 16 November 2009.
Sarath Fonseka asked President Ranil to create new high rank title to him as Marshal to help president in next presidential election.
Sarath Fonseka entering politics was a debate even during the war against LTTE.
Sarath Fonseka was installed as the common candidate by a coalition of political parties consisting mainly of the United National Party and the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna and had the support of former president Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga.
Immediately after declaration that Sarath Fonseka was ready for candidacy, President Rajapaksa called for new presidential elections two years before expiration of his term.
Sarath Fonseka suffered a number of setbacks in his election campaign.
In December 2009, A news item was published in local newspaper "Sunday Leader" quoting Sarath Fonseka saying that during the final few days of the war against LTTE, Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapakse gave orders to the army senior officers to execute three LTTE cadres who surrendered to the Army.
Sarath Fonseka claimed that the company referred in the accusation has no connection to his son-in-law's company although both companies share one name: Hicorp but the allegation was continuously reported in state media.
Sarath Fonseka booked 70 rooms of a five star hotel some hundred metres away from the President's House for the night of 26 January 2010.
Sarath Fonseka refused to accept the election results published by the Election Commissioner.
Sarath Fonseka said he would consider applying for asylum in Australia.
On 28 January 2010, CID began its new investigations on claims made by several ministers of Rajapaksa government that Sarath Fonseka was planning a coup to remove Rajapakse in case of close election results on 26 January in connection with this investigation, a media institution "Lanka" run by JVP who helped Sarath Fonseka during presidential election was sealed on 30 January 2010 by the CID with a court order.
Sarath Fonseka was arrested at his office in Colombo on 8 February 2010 by the military police as he was at the time in the army regular reserve following retirement, and taken into military custody.
In November 2011, Sarath Fonseka was sentenced to three years in jail and fined Rs.
Sarath Fonseka's party was placed 3rd in the district with 110,683 votes.
General Sarath Fonseka was a Member of the Sri Lankan Parliament, until he was sentenced to serve a two and half-year prison sentence which made him unable to continue his membership in the chamber according to the Sri Lankan Constitution.
Sarath Fonseka extended his support to Maithripala Sirisena in the 2015 Sri Lankan presidential election.
Sarath Fonseka requested reinstatement of his parliamentary seat which was taken by a member of his party after he lost it due to his conviction.
Sarath Fonseka joined the United National Party on 30 June 2016 and was appointed the chief organizer of Kalaniya seat of the party.
On 22 March 2015, Sarath Fonseka was promoted to the newly created rank of Field Marshal by President Maithripala Sirisena.
Sarath Fonseka is currently ranked 5th in the table of precedence in Sri Lanka.
Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka, contested the 2015 general election from his Democratic Party from Colombo district, however he was not elected neither was his party able to secure a seat during the election.
In February 2016, Sarath Fonseka signed a collective agreement between the Democratic Party and the ruling United National Party.
Sarath Fonseka contested for presidency again in 2024 as an independent candidate.
Sarath Fonseka was placed in a distant 9th position in the first count of votes with only 22,407 votes, thus eliminating from the race.