By DPA,
Colombo : Sri Lanka’s new cabinet was sworn in Friday, two days after the ruling United People’s Freedom Alliance led by President Mahinda Rajapaksa recorded a landslide victory in the parliamentary elections, officials said.
President Rajapaksa, as head of the cabinet, retained the important portfolios of defence and finance and named 37 other members as cabinet ministers and another 39 as deputy ministers.
Professor G.L. Peiris, a former constitutional affairs minister who played a key role in the Norwegian-backed peace process during the current opposition’s stint in government in 2001, and later crossed over to the government, was named as foreign affairs minister.
Though Rajapaksa retained the finance portfolio for himself, he named his brother Basil Rajapaksa as economic development minister, giving him authority over future development following the end of the 26-year war against Tamil rebels last year.
Rajapaksa’s elder brother, Chamal Rajapaksa, was named as speaker of parliament at the inaugural session held Thursday, while the president’s son, Namal Rajapaksa, also took the oath as member of parliament.
A former plantations minister, D.M. Jayaratna, was named prime minister earlier, but his position is considered more of a ceremonial post as most powers are held by the executive presidency under the constitution.
Rajapaksa’s previous government was criticized for having a large cabinet of 58 ministers and over 50 deputy ministers and non-cabinet ministers, but this time the number has been restricted to 76.
Rajapaksa’s party received 60 percent of the vote in the parliamentary elections earlier in April, after he won the presidential elections in January.