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Sri Lankan Cabinet sworn in

V.S. Sambandan

Rajapakse retains the crucial portfolios of Finance and Defence

COLOMBO: Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse on Wednesday appointed a 25-member Cabinet of Ministers. Besides, 29 Deputy Ministers and 23 non-Cabinet Ministers were sworn in at a ceremony in the Presidential Secretariat.

Mr. Rajapakse retained the crucial portfolios of Finance, Defence, Religious Affairs and Relief, Rehabilitation and Reconciliation (Triple-R).

The key change in the Cabinet was the appointment of Mangala Samaraweera as the Foreign Affairs Minister in place of Anura Bandaranaike, brother of outgoing President Chandrika Kumaratunga.

Mr. Samaraweera (49) was Mr. Rajapakse's chief campaign manager and a frontbencher of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP). He is a second-generation political leader from the southern Matara district. He was a former Media Minister and Cabinet spokesperson.

Mr. Bandaranaike became the Foreign Affairs Minister after the assassination of Lakshman Kadirgamar. Mr.Samaraweera retains the Ports and Aviation portfolio.

Though Mr. Rajapakse's main electoral allies — the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) and the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) — did not join Cabinet, their leaders were present at the swearing in.

Mr. Rajapakse's Tamil ally K.N. Douglas Devananda, leader of the Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP), was elevated as Minister of Social Services and Social Welfare. He earlier held the Hindu Affairs and other portfolios.

Mr. Bandaranaike was initially named as the SLFP's prime ministerial choice. He did not campaign for Mr. Rajapakse citing his opposition to his alliances with the JVP and JHU. He was the second Minister to be sworn, immediately after Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake.

Mr. Rajapakse retained the Defence portfolio in accordance with a Supreme Court judgement that the position was "inalienable" from the presidency.

Change from past

In a change from the past, Mr. Rajapakse did not name specific Ministers for the main religions — Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam and Christianity.

Instead, he retained the Ministry of Religious Affairs and named a Deputy to assist him. He has also done away with the practice of appointing Ministers for specific regions.

Later in the evening, non-Cabinet Minister Sripathi Suriyaarachchi, resigned his post of Minister for Skills and Employment Promotion. He said he did not want to "waste public money" by taking what he said an "unknown ministery."

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