By: AswathyNair
Sri Lanka’s new Cabinet, including four members of the ruling Rajapaksa family, took oath on Wednesday with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa retaining the Defence Ministry and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa assigend key finance portfolio after their party won a landslide victory in parliamentary elections that allowed the influential family to consolidate power for the next five years.
The Cabinet took oaths in the presence of President Gotabaya and his elder brother Mahinda in the central town of Kandy.
President Gotabaya retained the Ministry of Defence while Prime Minister Mahinda has been assigned three separate ministries, including the key finance portfolio.
Mahinda’s elder son, Namal Rajapaksa has been named the Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports – a first time Cabinet position since he entered parliament in 2010.
The eldest brother of the President, Chamal Rajapaksa holds a Cabinet ministry in addition to being the state minister of internal security. His son, Shasheendra Rajapaksa has also been given a state ministry.
One of the main feature in the Cabinet is that while the veteran politician Dinesh Gunawardena has been re-named the foreign minister, a new state ministry of regional cooperation affiliated to the foreign ministry has been created.
The Rajapaksa led Sri Lanka People’s Party (SLPP) won a landslide in the parliamentary election held last week by winning record 145 seats in the 225-member parliament.
The SLPP government has 150 members in the House and the combined Opposition strength is limited to 75.
The parliament is to meet on August 20 for its first session.
Sri Lanka was one of the very few Asian countries apart from Singapore to hold general elections in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
