Sri Lankan Cabinet sworn in

April 23, 2010 05:00 pm | Updated November 28, 2021 08:44 pm IST - Colombo

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Friday administered the oath of office and secrecy to 76 Ministers, 37 of whom hold Cabinet rank.

G.L. Peris, who held the portfolio of Export Promotion, has been designated as Foreign Minister. The former Prime Minister, Ratnasiri Wicremanayake, has been inducted into the Ministry with the portfolio of State Management and Reforms.

Basil Rajapaksa, younger brother of the President who functioned as his senior Adviser, is among the new faces in the Cabinet. He has been assigned the newly-created Economic Development Ministry.

Keeping his promise, Mr. Rajapaksa has slashed the number from 109 in the previous government. Yet, it is a large Ministry considering the fact that nearly 60 per cent of the 144 members of the ruling combine in the 225-member House are part of the government.

A few more are expected to be inducted. Sources said the leader of the Ceylon Workers Congress and Minister in the previous government, currently away from the nation, would be sworn-in later.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.