Colombo: Sri Lankan President Mahinda
Rajapaksa on Friday unveiled a truncated 37-member cabinet and
appointed one of his brothers to a newly-created key
portfolio, while retaining crucial departments like Defence
and Finance with him.
All 37 members of the cabinet and 39 deputy ministers
were sworn-in by Rajapaksa at a ceremony at the Presidential
Secretariat here, an official release said.
The new cabinet is a sharply streamlined version of
the previous one which had a record 109 ministers.
While the cabinet has several old faces, Basil
Rajapaksa, the powerful senior Presidential Adviser, is among
the noted new comers.
He has been appointed the Economic Development
Minister, a newly-created portfolio with the mandate of
reviving the war-torn Tamil-dominated northern areas.
The President`s other two brothers are also in
politics. Gotabhaya is the Defence Secretary, while Chamal is
the new Speaker of Parliament.
In a bid to cement his grip on power, 63-year-old
Rajapaksa retained the key portfolios of Defence, Finance
and Planning, Ports and Aviation and Highways.
While Prof G L Peiris will replace Rohitha Bogollagama
as the Foreign Minister, former Prime Minister Ratnasri
Wickramanayake will be Public Management and Reforms Minister.
The ruling UPFA secured 144 seats, six short of
two-thirds majority in Parliament, while main Opposition
United National party got 60 seats and detained former Army
Chief Sarath Fonseka-led Democratic National Alliance 7 seats.
After the swearing in of the cabinet, Rajapaksa asked
the new ministers to work collectively towards fulfilling the
aspirations of the public.
PTI
