The Hindu : International : Chandrika appoints 31-member Cabinet, retains key portfolios

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Apr 11, 2004

International

International

Chandrika appoints 31-member Cabinet, retains key portfolios

By V.S. Sambandan

COLOMBO, APRIL 10. The Sri Lankan President, Chandrika Kumaratunga, today appointed a 31-member Cabinet of Ministers. She hasretained the key portfolios of Defence, Constitutional Affairs and Education.

The Prime Minister, Mahinda Rajapakse, was appointed Minister of Highways, in addition to his Prime Ministerial duties.

Lakshman Kadirgamar, Ms. Kumaratunga's senior adviser on foreign affairs was appointed the Foreign Affairs Minister — the portfolio held by him during the earlier People's Alliance Governments between 1994 and 2001. Anura Bandaranaike,Ms. Kumaratunga's brother, was appointed Minister of Industry, Tourism and Industrial Development. Under the Sri Lankan Constitution, the President is also the Head of Cabinet.

The lone member from the Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP), Douglas Devananda, was given a Cabinetberth as the Minister for Agricultural Marketing Development, Hindu Affairs and Tamil Language Schools. Mr. Devananda was the only member from outside the United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) to join the Ministry.

The UPFA, which has 105 MPs in Parliament, is eight seats short of the simple majority mark in the 225-member House. To enjoy an effective working majority, it needs at least 114 MPs, to be able to appoint its MP as the Speaker. The support of two minority parties — the Ceylon Workers Congress with eight MPs and the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) with five members would take it well past the halfway mark.

While neither of the minority parties has pledged its backing to the UPFA Government yet, the nine-MP Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) comprising Buddhist monks has promised issue-based support from outside.

Some other key Ministers appointed today are: Sarath Amunugama (Finance), D.M. Jayaratne (Post and Telecommunications and Upcountry Development), Ferial Ashraff (Housing and Construction), and Dinesh Gunawardena (Urban Development and Water Supply). Another four Ministers from the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) who were not sworn in today due to ``a party rally'' are to be inducted shortly, Presidential Secretariat sources said.

The JVP denied daylong rumours that it had stayed away from today's ceremony due to ``disappointments in Ministerial portfolios.'' In addition to the Cabinet Minister, Ms. Kumaratunga named a 27-member team of Deputy Ministers.

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